Bill Meek

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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)
1951-1954 1955-1956 1957-1961 1966-1973	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]

[edit] 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.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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

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

v • d • e Kansas State Wildcats Head Football Coaches Pratt • Ehrsam • Williamson • Hanson • Moulton • Moore • C.E. Dietz • G. O. Dietz • Booth • Ahearn • Lowman • Bender • Clevenger • Bachman • McMillin • Waldorf • Fry • Adams • Haylett • Fiser • Francis • Graham • Meek • Mertes • Weaver • Gibson • Rainsberger • Dickey • Parrish • Snyder • Prince

v • d • e SMU Mustangs Head Football Coaches Morrison • Rix • Bell • Stewart • Russell • Woodard • Meek • Fry • Smith • Meyer • Collins • Gregg • Rossley • Cavan • Bennett • Jones

v • d • e Utah Utes Head Football Coaches C.B. Ferris • Cummings • Wilson • Holmes • Maddock • Bennion • Norgren • Fitzpatrick • Armstrong • Curtice • Nagel • Giddings • Meek • Lovat • Howard • Stobart • Fassel • McBride • Meyer • Whittingham

v • d • e Houston Cougars Head Football Coaches Wallace • Lee • Meek • Lahar • Yeoman • Pardee • Jenkins • Helton • Dimel • Briles • Sumlin