Former Michigan quarterback Ryan Mallett dead at 35; reportedly drowned in Florida

Ryan Mallett, a former Michigan football quarterback who spent one season in Ann Arbor, died on Tuesday, his employer confirmed.

The Deltaplex News first reported that Mallett drowned in Destin, Florida, and was transported to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

“It is with great sadness that we share the loss of Coach Ryan Mallett,” read a post on the White Hall, Arkansas, School District Facebook page, where Mallett was hired as the head football coach a few months ago. “Coach Mallett was a beloved coach and educator. We ask that you remember his family, team, students, fellow coaches, and the White Hall School District staff in your prayers.”

A Batesville, Arkansas native, Mallett spent his freshman year at U-M in 2007, before he transferred to Arkansas (2008-10), where he’s one of the school’s most decorated signal callers and holds more than a dozen records.

Seen by some evaluators as a first-round NFL talent, Mallett was selected No. 74 overall in the third round of the 2011 NFL draft by the New England Patriots. He spent three seasons with New England (2011-13), parts of two years in Houston (2014-15) and the final three years of his playing career in Baltimore (2015-17).

In total, he started eight games and appeared in 13 others across six NFL seasons; he went 190-for-345 passing (55.1%) and threw nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Mallett was ranked by 247Sports as U-M’s third-best recruit since the tracking of such metrics began. The five-star quarterback was rated the No. 5 overall player in America and No. 1 in Texas, where he was a standout at Texas High School (Texarkana) and was Texas Gatorade Player of the Year in 2006.

Mallett played in parts of 11 games in Lloyd Carr’s final season in Ann Arbor, completing 61 of 141 passes (43.3%) for seven touchdowns and five interceptions. He largely backed up for Chad Henne and is widely known for his three-touchdown performance in Michigan’s 38-0 romp of Notre Dame.

However as a pro style quarterback, Mallett’s style didn’t quite fit the new direction of the roster when U-M hired coach Rich Rodriguez, who featured a spread offense.

Mallett opted to transfer to hometown Arkansas where he became a star as he was named second-team All SEC for the Razorbacks in both seasons (2009-10) as he threw for nearly 7,500 yards, 62 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.

A 6-foot-7, 250-pound pro-style quarterback with a massive arm, Mallett still owns sixteen school records in Fayetteville, including passing yards in a season (3,627), passing yards in a game (408), passing touchdowns in a season (30) and passing touchdowns in a game (five, which he did three times).