- Bill Davidson (American football)
Bill "Bull" Davidson, (ca. 1935 - 1999), was head
American football coach and associate athletic director atArkansas State University in the 1970s. He was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and coached his 1975 team to a perfect season during its first year at the Division I level.Bill Davidson amassed a 51-32-1 record as head coach of the Arkansas State Indians, now the Red Wolves, football team from 1971 to 1978. This record included a perfect 11-0 season in 1975. Davidson also participated in an 11-0 perfect season as an assistant coach in 1970, with the team earning the NCAA College Division national championship. When head coach
Bennie Ellender headed to his alma mater Tulane, Davidson was elevated to the head coaching job. ASU's record with Davidson as an assistant coach from 1963-1970 was 52-20-4. Davidson coached 11All-America ns during his tenure.Davidson attended high school at
Manila, Arkansas where he playedbaseball andbasketball since Manila did not have a football team at the time. In 1953, he enrolled at Arkansas State and went out for the football team. During his career as a player, he lettered three times as a center andlinebacker .After graduating from college, Davidson coached high school football and earned a 28-7 record at
Earle, Arkansas from 1957 to 1959 and a 28-5-1 record atJonesboro, Arkansas from 1960 to 1962. He took theoffensive coordinator and offensive line coach positions at Arkansas State in 1963.During Davidson's tenure, ASU gained a reputation as a physically tough and intimidating team. In 1975, ASU moved to
NCAA Division I and dominated all eleven teams they faced that year by a combined score of 355-81. Davidson's team trailed only twice after half-time the entire year and never in the fourth quarter. ASU led the nation inrushing that year at 340.5 yards per game and ranked in the national top ten in seven defensive categories. Davidson's team took 13 of 22 slots on theSouthland Conference 's all conference team. Nearly 20 of Davidson's players from the 1975 perfect team were signed by NFL teams. Davidson earned the Southland Conference Coach of the Year that year and the team established the nation's longest winning streak (15 games) at the time. The 1975 season was almost unimaginable for a small college in its first year at the Division I level.Davidson retired as Arkansas State head coach in 1978 due to health problems. Davidson earned the Southland Conference Coach of the Year trophy again in his last year. Davidson returned to work in the 1980s when he served as an associate athletic director for the school.
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