| Bill Meek | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sport | Football | |
| Born | 1922 | |
| Place of birth |  Waterbury, CT |
|
| Died | May 28, 1998 (aged 76) | |
| Place of death | Dallas, Texas | |
| Career highlights | ||
| Overall | 78–88–7 | |
| Coaching stats | ||
| College Football DataWarehouse | ||
| Championships | ||
| Missouri Valley Conference (1956) | ||
| Playing career | ||
| 1940-1943 | Tennessee | |
| Position | Quarterback | |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||
| 1947 1951-1954 1955-1956 1957-1961 1966-1973 |
Maryland (asst.) Kansas State Houston SMU Utah |
|
William M. Meek (1922 – May 28, 1998[1]) was a successful college football coach at four NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision schools (formerly known as Division I-A).
Meek was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, but his family moved to Birmingham, Alabama in his youth. In college, he earned three letters playing as a back-up quarterback for the University of Tennessee. He graduated from UT in 1943.
Meek had his first head coaching experience at age 22, with the Fort Benning Doughboy football club in 1944, during World War II. Most of the starters on the team were members of the great Army teams of the early 1940s, and the team defeated all opponents except for a 0-7 loss to Auburn University. Marty Blake, currently the NBA director of scouting, was one of the team managers.[2]
Contents |
Collegiate coaching career
Meek served as an assistant coach throughout the remainder of the 1940s. In the 1947 season he coached under Jim Tatum at the University of Maryland.[3]
In 1951, Meek was offered the his first collegiate head coaching position, at Kansas State. Meek was offered the job even though he told the hiring committee at K-State that the program was a huge mess. His first season he posted a 1-7-1 record, typical for Kansas State at the time. However, when he learned after the season that an ineligible player had participated, he immediately self-reported the violation to the NCAA and the school voluntarily forfeited the win and the tie. The following season, Meek's squad went 1-9, but a foundation was being built. At the same time, Meek – who had already proven his integrity – accepted the services of several former Army players who resigned from the academy after violating the honor code in 1951. In 1953, Kansas State posted a 6-3-1 record, the first winning season at the school since Wes Fry's 1936 team. Upon starting that season 5-1, K-State also received its first national ranking, at #18 in the Coaches Poll on October 28, 1953. The following year was even better, with Kansas State posting a 7-3 record and playing for an Orange Bowl berth in their final game (they went on to lose at Colorado). Meek left Kansas State following the 1954 season, when the school refused to give raises to his assistants. Kansas State wouldn't have another winning record for 16 years.
In 1955, Meek took over as the head coach at the University of Houston. In two years at Houston, from 1955 to 1956, Meek compiled a 13-6-1 record. In his second season, Meek led the Cougars to the Missouri Valley Conference championship.
In 1957, Meek took the job as head coach of the SMU Mustangs. During his tenure, from 1957 to 1961, he compiled a 17-29-4 record, while coaching All-American quarterback Don Meredith. By far his worst season at SMU was 1960, when his team went 0-9-1, with the only game decided by less than 10 points being the 0-0 tie with Texas A&M.
From 1962 to 1965, Meek worked as an assistant football coach, including a stint in professional football. He finished his career as head coach for the University of Utah, guiding the team to a 33-31 record between 1966 and 1973. His 1969 Utes squad posted an 8-2 record.
Coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas State (Big 7 Conference) (1951–1954) | |||||||||
| 1951 | Kansas State | 0–9* | 0–6* | 7 | |||||
| 1952 | Kansas State | 1–9 | 0–6 | 7 | |||||
| 1953 | Kansas State | 6–3–1 | 4–2 | 2-T | |||||
| 1954 | Kansas State | 7–3 | 3–3 | 5 | |||||
| Kansas State: | 14–24–1 | 7–17 | |||||||
| Houston (Missouri Valley Conference) (1955–1956) | |||||||||
| 1955 | Houston | 6–4 | 2–2 | 3 | |||||
| 1956 | Houston | 7–2–1 | 4–0 | 1 | |||||
| Houston: | 13–6–1 | 6–2 | |||||||
| Southern Methodist (Southwest Conference) (1957–1961) | |||||||||
| 1957 | Southern Methodist | 4–5–1 | 3–3 | 4 | |||||
| 1958 | Southern Methodist | 6–4 | 4–2 | 2-T | |||||
| 1959 | Southern Methodist | 5–4–1 | 2–3–1 | 4 | |||||
| 1960 | Southern Methodist | 0–9–1 | 0–6–1 | 8 | |||||
| 1961 | Southern Methodist | 2–7–1 | 1–5–1 | 8 | |||||
| Southern Methodist: | 19–29–4 | 10–19–3 | |||||||
| Utah Utes (Western Athletic Conference) (1968–1973) | |||||||||
| 1968 | Utah | 3–7 | 2–3 | 5 | |||||
| 1969 | Utah | 8–2 | 5–1 | 2 | |||||
| 1970 | Utah | 6–4 | 4–2 | 3 | |||||
| 1971 | Utah | 3–8 | 3–4 | 4-T | |||||
| 1972 | Utah | 6–5 | 5–2 | 2-T | |||||
| 1973 | Utah | 7–5 | 4–2 | 3 | |||||
| Utah: | 33–31 | 23–14 | |||||||
| Total: | 77–90–6 | ||||||||
| National Championship Conference Title Conference Division Title | |||||||||
| *1951 season record reflects voluntary forfeits by the school. |
See also
- Kansas State Wildcats football
- Houston Cougars football
- SMU Mustangs football
- Utah Utes football
- Utah Utes football under Bill Meek
References
- Stallard, Mark (2000). Wildcats to Powercats: K-State Football Facts and Trivia (ISBN 1-58497-004-9)
- ^ "New York Times: Bill Meek, 76, Football Coach Who Was Don Meredith's Tutor". http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401E6D9163BF932A35755C0A96E958260.
- ^ "NBA.com Marty The City By The Bay". http://www.nba.com/marty_bythebay.html.
- ^ Terrapin, University of Maryland Yearbook, Class of 1948, p. 237.
- ^ "William M. "Bill" Meek Records by Year". College Football Data Warehouse. http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=1590. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
| Preceded by Ralph Graham |
Kansas State University Head Football Coach 1951– 1954 |
Succeeded by Bus Mertes |
| Preceded by Clyde Lee |
University of Houston Head Football Coach 1955– 1956 |
Succeeded by Harold Lahar |
| Preceded by Woody Woodard |
Southern Methodist University Head Football Coach 1957– 1961 |
Succeeded by Hayden Fry |
| Preceded by Mike Giddings |
University of Utah Head Football Coach 1966– 1973 |
Succeeded by Tom Lovat |
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