William Conrad Heiss Jr. (April 25, 1923 – May 27, 2020) was an

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

player and coach of multiple sports. He served as the head football coach at

Adams State College Adams State University is a public university in Alamosa, Colorado, United States. The university's Adams State Grizzlies athletic teams compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. History Adams State was founded in 1921 as a teacher' ...

(1948–1949),

St. Cloud State University St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. In the fall of 2023, it ...

(1950),

Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory, the college offers over 40 majors a ...

(1951–1953), and the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNCO or UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado, United States. It was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has offi ...

(1963–1965), compiling a career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

record of 40–34–5. Heiss was also the head

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach at Colorado College for one season in 1951–52, tallying a mark of 2–14, and the head

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

coach at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

from 1955 to 1959, amassing a record of 70–61–1. His 1957 baseball team won the

Skyline Conference The Skyline Conference is an List of NCAA conferences, intercollegiate athletic conference based in the New York City area that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division III, Division III. The league was orig ...

championship. Heiss played college football at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

in the mid-1940s.

Early life and playing career

Heiss attended

West Aurora High School West Aurora High School, or WAHS, is a public four-year high school located in Aurora, Illinois. It is part of West Aurora Public School District 129. The school is also referred to as "West," and "West High,". History High school classes ...

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in northeastern Illinois, United States. It is located along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River west of Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, second-most populous city in Illinois, with a popul ...

. He then played football at the

, primarily as an

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

, from 1944 to 1946. The 1946 Illinois team won the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

championship, with Heiss leading the team in pass receptions on offense and interceptions on defense. On October 26 of that season, Illinois visited

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

for a game that ultimately decided the conference title. With the Illini trailing 7–0 in the first half, Heiss caught a 30-yard pass from

Perry Moss Perry Lee Moss (August 4, 1926 – August 7, 2014) was an American football player, coach, and executive. Moss played tailback at the University of Tulsa and quarterback at Illinois during the 1940s. As a Tulsa tailback, he was on the Orange ...

, advancing to the Michigan 16-yard line and setting up a touchdown by Paul Patterson that tied the score going into halftime. Illinois won the game, 13–9. The Illini finished the season at the

Rose Bowl Rose Bowl or Rosebowl may refer to: * Rose Bowl Game, an annual American college football game * Rose Bowl (stadium), Pasadena, California, site of the football game, and the home stadium of the UCLA Football team * Rose Bowl (cricket ground), West ...

on January 1, 1947, beating

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, 45–14.

Coaching career

University of Detroit

Heiss was an assistant football coach and freshman basketball coach at the

University of Detroit The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Catho ...

in 1947–48.

Adams State

Heiss was the fifth head football coach at

Alamosa, Colorado Alamosa is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat of Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. Alamosa is located along the Rio Grande. The city population was 9,806 in the 2020 Unit ...

and he held that position for two seasons, from 1948 until 1949, winning the New Mexico conference in 1949. His coaching record at Adams State was 11–5–1.

St. Cloud State

During 1950–51, Heiss was the head football, wrestling, and tennis coach at St. Cloud State Teachers College. He won conference and AAU championships in wrestling.

Colorado College

From 1951 to 1953, Heiss was the head football coach at

Iowa State

Heiss was an assistant football coach at

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

in 1954.

Denver

From 1955 to 1959, Heiss was an assistant football coach and head baseball coach at the

. In March 1958, he interviewed for the head football coaching position at

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...

Northern Colorado

Heiss coached at the

Greeley, Colorado Greeley is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,795 at the 2020 United States census, an increase of 17.12% since the ...

for three seasons, from 1963 to 1965, compiling a record of 12–14–2. A rarity occurred in the 1964 season when the opposing team,

Northern Arizona Northern Arizona is an unofficial, colloquially defined region of the U.S. state of Arizona. Generally consisting of Apache, Coconino, Mohave, Navajo, and Yavapai counties, the region is geographically dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the ...

, forfeited the game on December 10, 1964. From 1965 to 1981, Heiss was the head tennis coach at Northern Colorado. He twice won the school's Coach of the Year award.

Death

Heiss died on May 27, 2020.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heiss, William 1923 births 2020 deaths American football ends American football fullbacks Adams State Grizzlies football coaches Colorado College Tigers football coaches Colorado College Tigers men's basketball coaches Denver Pioneers baseball coaches Denver Pioneers football coaches Detroit Titans football coaches Detroit Mercy Titans men's basketball coaches Illinois Fighting Illini football players Iowa State Cyclones football coaches Northern Colorado Bears football coaches St. Cloud State Huskies football coaches St. Cloud State Huskies wrestling coaches College tennis coaches in the United States Players of American football from Aurora, Illinois Players of American football from Springfield, Illinois Coaches of American football from Illinois Baseball coaches from Illinois Basketball coaches from Illinois Tennis coaches from Illinois