Al Conover (born 1938) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

player and coach. Most notably, he served as head coach at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universit ...

from 1972 to 1975, compiling a record of 15–27–2 in four seasons before resigning to enter private business. A native of

Largo, Florida Largo is the third largest city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, as well as the fourth largest in the Tampa Bay area. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 82,500, up from 69,371 in 2000. Largo was first incorporated in 1 ...

, Conover attended Largo High School, where he starred on the football squad and earned an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Stat ...

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private university, private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, North Carolina, Wake Forest, north of Rale ...

.. He spent four years on the

Demon Deacon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, anime ...

squad, protecting

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Norm Snead Norman Bailey Snead (born July 31, 1939) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants, and San Francisco 49ers. He played col ...

tackle Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking ...

under coaches

Paul Amen Paul Johannes Amen (July 6, 1916 – June 4, 2005) was a prominent Nebraskan with notable accomplishments in both athletics and banking. He served as the head football coach at Wake Forest University from 1956 to 1959, compiling a record of 11� ...

and Billy Hildebrand.. Returning to Largo after graduation, he served as his alma mater's head swimming coach and assistant football mentor. In 1963, he was hired as a graduate assistant by Florida State University head coach

Bill Peterson William E. Peterson (May 15, 1920 – August 5, 1993) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. His career included head coaching stops at Florida State University, Rice University and with the Houston Oilers o ...

, and later became offensive line coach.. After helping the Seminoles to a

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised nati ...

appearance in 1967, Conover was hired by

Y C McNease Y C McNease (born c. 1936) is a former American college football coach. He was the head football coach at the University of Idaho for the 1968 and 1969 seasons. Playing career Born in Raleigh, Mississippi, McNease graduated from Leland High S ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and W ...

. When Peterson moved on to

in 1971, he hired Conover as offensive coordinator. Peterson left for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

one season later, and Conover was selected as his successor. In his first year as Rice head coach, he guided the Owls to a 5–5–1 record, the program's best since 1963.. Known for his flamboyance, he brought a

coffin A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation. Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewe ...

onto the practice field to "bury" the Owls' mistakes during the 1973 season. Following a 3–8 season in 1975, Conover resigned to enter private business.

Head coaching record

† 3–8 in 1975 and 15–27–2 overall per NCAA due to forfeit win over Mississippi State.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conover, Al 1938 births Living people American football offensive tackles Florida State Seminoles football coaches Idaho Vandals football coaches Rice Owls football coaches Wake Forest Demon Deacons football players People from Largo, Florida Coaches of American football from Florida Players of American football from Florida