The Michigan State community lost one of the greatest players to ever put on a Spartan football uniform this week.

MSU announced Tuesday that former All-American and College Football Hall of Famer Don Coleman passed away Monday at the age of 88.

As a senior in 1951, Coleman helped Michigan State to a 9-0 record and the first football national championship in school history. He also became the first unanimous All-American the program had ever produced.

Coleman weighed in at 185 pounds but was one of the best offensive lineman in the country throughout his three-year career, during which Michigan State went 23-4. He also played some defense and on special teams and later became the first Spartan to ever have his jersey retired (No. 78).

It wasn't until Coleman's senior year of high school at Flint Central that he began playing football, and Duffy Daugherty -- then the offensive line coach for Michigan State -- recruited him to East Lansing. After graduating in 1952, Coleman was selected in the eighth round of the 1952 NFL Draft by the Chicago Cardinals but soon left football to join the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant. When he left the Army in 1954, Coleman became a teacher back in Flint and eventually became a principal.

In 1968, Coleman want back to Michigan State as an assistant professor in intercollegiate athletics and spent one season as an assistant for Daugherty. He remained at Michigan State until health issues forced him to retire in 1992, serving in various roles, including assistant director of student affairs, assistant dean of the grad school and professor in the College of Osteopathic Medicine.

According to Michigan State, details on funeral arrangements for Coleman will be sent out soon.