Bill Meek

College coach infobox
Name = Bill Meek


Caption =
DateOfBirth = 1922
Birthplace = flagicon|Connecticut Waterbury, CT
DateOfDeath = death date and age|1998|5|28|1922|1|1
Deathplace = Dallas, Texas
Sport = Football
College =
Title =
CurrentRecord =
OverallRecord = 78–88–7
Awards =
Championships = Missouri Valley Conference ("1956")
CFbDWID = 1590
Player = Y
Years = 1940-1943
Team = Tennessee
Position = Quarterback
Coach = Y
CoachYears = 1951-1954
1955-1956
1957-1961
1966-1973
CoachTeams = Kansas State
Houston
SMU
Utah
FootballHOF =

William M. Meek (1922 – death date|1998|5|28 [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401E6D9163BF932A35755C0A96E958260 "New York Times:" Bill Meek, 76, Football Coach Who Was Don Meredith's Tutor] ] ) 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. [ [http://www.nba.com/marty_bythebay.html Nba.Com Marty The City By The Bay ] ]

Collegiate coaching career

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 5-3-1 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. 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.

References

* Stallard, Mark (2000). "Wildcats to Powercats: K-State Football Facts and Trivia" (ISBN 1-58497-004-9)

External links

* [http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=1590 Complete coaching record]

Persondata
NAME=Meek, Bill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Meek, William M.
SHORT DESCRIPTION=College football coach
DATE OF BIRTH=1922
PLACE OF BIRTH=Waterbury, Connecticut
DATE OF DEATH=May 28, 1998
PLACE OF DEATH=Dallas, Texas