The University of Missouri announced some tragic news this morning as Missouri football legend John Kadlec passed away in Columbia, Mo., at the age of 86.

Missouri’s athletic website memorialized Kadlec on Wednesday with a special tribute page featuring a photo of him as a Mizzou football player.

More commonly referred to as “Mr. Mizzou,” Kadlec was involved with the Missouri football program since 1947 when he initially joined the team to play under legendary head coach Don Faurot.

Once he graduated from Missouri, Kadlec had several coaching stints at Missouri until 1977 and then became the Director of the Tiger Scholarship Fund at Missouri in 1986. His career with the Tigers transitioned to the broadcast booth in 1995 when he joined the Tiger Radio Network as the Missouri football color analyst for 16 seasons.

All in all, Kadlec’s career at Missouri spanned more than 50 years in several different capacities. He was a beloved figure throughout the program.

“Coach was such an amazing man, he was an absolute treasure for anyone who knew him,” Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel said in a statement. “For me personally, he was someone I could always talk to, he always had some great wisdom to share, and he was always there for me in the toughest times… It’s hard to put into words how much he’ll be missed.”

Kadlec was inducted into the Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996 and the team’s practice fields were named in his honor.