William Meridas Meek (August 14, 1920 – May 28, 1998)''Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014''.

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. To qualify fo ...

. was an

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. He served as the head football coach at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public insti ...

(1947–1950), the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

(1951–1954),

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , pr ...

(1957–1961), and the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of D ...

(1968–1973), compiling a career college football record of 78–88–7.

Early life

Meek was born in

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in ...

, to Joseph A. Meek and Josephine E. Gaudiosi. His paternal grandmother was born in Germany, while his maternal grandparents emigrated from Italy. His family moved to

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, in his youth. In college, he earned three letters playing as a back-up quarterback for the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

; he graduated in 1943.

Coaching career

Meek had his first head coaching experience at age 22, with the Fort Benning Doughboy football club in 1944, while serving in the Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Most of the starters on the team were members of the great

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

teams of the early 1940s, and the team defeated all opponents except for a 0–7 loss to Auburn University.

Marty Blake Marty Blake (March 22, 1927 – April 7, 2013) was a general manager of the Atlanta Hawks franchise, and the NBA's longtime Director of Scouting. He was a recipient of the Basketball Hall of Fame's John Bunn Award. Life Born in Paterson, New Je ...

, later the NBA director of scouting, was one of the team managers. Following the war, Meek left the Army with the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Meek served as an assistant football coach throughout the remainder of the 1940s. From 1947 to 1950, he coached under

Jim Tatum Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim'' ...

at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the Flagship un ...

. During his tenure there, Meek was credited with the development of backs Ed Modzelewski and Bob Shemonski.Meek, Aide at Maryland U., Named Kansas State Coach
''Sunday Herald'', February 4, 1951. In 1951, Meek was offered his first collegiate head coaching position at

with an initial salary of $8,000. Meek was offered the job even though he told the hiring committee at Kansas State that the program was in disarray. His first season he posted a 1–7–1 record, typical for Kansas State at the time. When he learned after the season that an ineligible player had participated, he self-reported the violation to the NCAA and the school voluntarily forfeited the win and the tie. The following season, the squad went 1–9. Meek 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 6–3–1 record, the first winning season at the school since

Wes Fry Wesley Leonard "Cowboy" Fry (December 10, 1902 – November 11, 1970) was an American football player, coach of football and baseball, and professional football executive. He served as the head football coach at Oklahoma City University in 1933 a ...

's 1936 team. After starting that season 5–1, K-State also received its first national ranking, at #18 in the

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officiall ...

on October 28, 1953. The following year was even better, with Kansas State posting a 7–3 record and playing for an

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in ...

berth in their final game (they went on to lose at Colorado). 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 January 1955, Meek took over as the head coach at the

. 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 The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern United ...

championship and was named the Missouri Valley Coach of the Year. In 1957, Meek took the job as head coach of the

SMU Mustangs The SMU Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, United States. The Mustangs were founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor, Rice, Texas, Texa ...

. During his tenure, from 1957 to 1961, he compiled a 17–29–4 record, while coaching All-American quarterback

Don Meredith Joseph "Dandy" Don Meredith (April 10, 1938 – December 5, 2010) was an American football quarterback, sports commentator, and actor. He spent all nine seasons of his professional playing career (1960–1968) with the Dallas Cowboys of the Nat ...

. 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 a 0–0 tie with

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

. From 1962 to 1967, Meek worked as an assistant coach, including stints as Director of Pro Personnel for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

and as a scout for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

. Meek was offensive coordinator for Army during the 1966 and 1967 seasons. Meek took his final coaching job in

1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

, as head coach at the

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

. He guided the WAC team to a 33–31 record in six seasons, and his

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 ** Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

team posted an record. Six weeks after the Utes'

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

season ended, Meek resigned in and assistant coach Tom Lovat, an alumnus, was promoted.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meek, Bill 1920 births 1998 deaths American football quarterbacks Army Black Knights football coaches Dallas Cowboys scouts Denver Broncos executives Houston Cougars football coaches Maryland Terrapins football coaches Kansas State Wildcats football coaches SMU Mustangs football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football players Utah Utes football coaches United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War II Players of American football from Birmingham, Alabama Sportspeople from Birmingham, Alabama Sportspeople from Waterbury, Connecticut Coaches of American football from Alabama Players of American football from Alabama American people of German descent American people of Italian descent