Bill Quinter was an American and Canadian football player, coach, and executive who served as

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded i ...

Early life

Quinter was born on September 2, 1939, in

Takoma Park, Maryland Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, and part of the Washington metropolitan area. Founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1890, Takoma Park, informally called "Azalea City", is a Tree C ...

. A tight end and linebacker, he played high school football in

Wheaton, Maryland Wheaton is a census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, situated north of Washington, D.C. and northwest of downtown Silver Spring. Wheaton takes its name from Frank Wheaton (1833–1903), a career officer in the ...

, and college football for the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Ath ...

. He signed with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

in 1962, but was cut after the preseason. He then signed with the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

, where he spent four seasons as a defensive lineman. In 1967 he signed with 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 ...

, but was cut before the season began. He spent some time that season on the Atlanta Falcons

taxi squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

Coaching

Quinter began his coaching career in 1968 as the offensive line coach at

Indiana State Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

. In 1969, he joined

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

as freshman football coach. In 1971 he was moved to receivers coach. In 1973 he became an assistant with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

. In 1976 he was a defensive assistant for the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third ...

. In 1977 he joined the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

as defensive line coach.

Football executive

After the 1982 season, Lions head coach Vic Rapp was fired and Quinter was reassigned to the front office as director of player development. He helped recruit Kevin Konar, Rick Klassen, Nick Hebeler, and John Pankratz to the team and was involved in the creation of the CFL's scouting combine and yearly player development camp for Canadian college players. On December 5, 1984, he was named general manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. During his tenure with Saskatchewan, the team had an 11-22-2 record and did not make the playoffs. He and head coach

Jack Gotta Jack "Jocko" Gotta (November 14, 1929 – June 29, 2013) was an American-born Canadian professional football player, coach, and general manager. Gotta played Tight End at Oregon State in 1952 and Hamilton Air Force Base from 1954-1956. He si ...

were fired on December 8, 1986, even though they each had a year remaining on their contracts. According to team president Tom Shepherd, their dismissals were necessary to end internal feuding between the two. During his time in Saskatchewan, Quinter signed a number of players who would help the team win the

1989 Grey Cup The 77th Grey Cup was the 1989 Canadian Football League championship game played between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at SkyDome in Toronto; this was the first Grey Cup game held at the stadium as it opened in June 198 ...

, including

Bobby Jurasin Robert Jurasin (born August 26, 1964) is a former defensive lineman for the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 1986–1997 and the Toronto Argonauts in 1998. He was a CFL All-Star in 1987, 1988, 1992 and 1997. He was a part of the Roughriders 1989 ...

, Gary Lewis,

Dave Albright David J. Albright (January 25, 1960 – January 26, 2023) was an American gridiron football linebacker who played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. He played high school football for Marina High School and colleg ...

Tim McCray Tim McCray (born August 20, 1960 in Waycross, Georgia) was a Canadian Football League running back for the Ottawa Rough Riders from 1984 through 1985, and for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1986 through 1990. He was an All-Star in 1989, the sam ...

, Ken Moore, and Harry Skipper. In 1987, Quinter joined the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play their h ...

as director of player personnel. He was with the Bombers when they won the

76th Grey Cup The 76th Grey Cup was the 1988 Canadian Football League championship game that was played at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, between the BC Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Blue Bombers defeated the favoured Lions 22–21. This was the first Gr ...

. In 1990 he returned to the BC Lions as director of player personnel. The Lions won the

1994 Grey Cup The 82nd Grey Cup was the 1994 Canadian Football League championship game played between the Baltimore Football Club and the BC Lions at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was the first championship in professional football histor ...

, however Quinter was fired the following May due to conflict with general manager

Eric Tillman Eric Tillman (born July 24, 1957) is an American-born Canadian football executive who is the vice president of football operations for the Atlantic Schooners. He was previously the general manager of the BC Lions (1993–94), Toronto Argonauts ...

. He joined the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

as a scout in 1996 and was promoted to director of pro scouting in 1998. He was fired in May 1999. From 2000 to 2008, Quinter was a pro scout with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. Quinter died on April 12, 2014, at his home in

West Kelowna West Kelowna, formerly known as Westbank and colloquially known as Westside, is a city in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. The city encompasses several distinct neighbourhoods, including Casa Loma, Gellatly, Glenrosa, Lakeview Heights, Sha ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinter, Bill 1939 births 2014 deaths BC Lions coaches Calgary Stampeders coaches Indiana State Sycamores football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Toronto Argonauts coaches BC Lions personnel New Orleans Saints personnel Seattle Seahawks personnel Winnipeg Blue Bombers personnel Canadian football defensive linemen Indiana Hoosiers football players Ottawa Rough Riders players Indiana University Bloomington alumni People from Wheaton, Maryland Sportspeople from Montgomery County, Maryland Saskatchewan Roughriders general managers