Billy Russell Kinard (December 16, 1933 – June 30, 2018) 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. He played professionally as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

and

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) and the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL). Kinard played

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 ...

at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

(Ole Miss) before being drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the second round of the

1956 NFL draft The 1956 NFL draft had its first three rounds held on November 28, 1955, at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and its final twenty-seven rounds on January 17–18, 1956, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, Califo ...

. He played professionally for four seasons and retired in 1960. Kinard later served as the head football coach at Ole Miss from 1971 to 1973 and at

Gardner–Webb University Gardner–Webb University (Gardner–Webb, GWU, or GW) is a private Christian university in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. It was founded as Boiling Springs High School in 1905. Gardner–Webb is classified among "Doctoral/Professional Univer ...

in 1978, compiling a career coaching record of 20–14–1.

Coaching career

In 1970, Kinard's older brother, a former Ole Miss and NFL star, Frank "Bruiser" Kinard, became the athletic director at Ole Miss. He hired the younger Kinard to be the new

Ole Miss Rebels football The Ole Miss Rebels football program represents the University of Mississippi, also known as "Ole Miss". The Ole Miss Rebels, Rebels compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Colleg ...

coach. After the third contest of the 1973 season,

Johnny Vaught John Howard Vaught (May 6, 1909 – February 3, 2006) was an American college football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) from 1947 to 1970 and ag ...

replaced Kinard, returning for his second stint as Ole Miss' athletic director and head football coach.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinard, Billy 1933 births 2018 deaths American football defensive backs American football halfbacks Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches American Football League players Auburn Tigers football coaches Buffalo Bills players Cleveland Browns coaches Cleveland Browns players Florida Gators football coaches Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs football coaches Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Green Bay Packers coaches Green Bay Packers players New England Patriots coaches Ole Miss Rebels football coaches Ole Miss Rebels football players High school football coaches in Florida Coaches of American football from Mississippi Players of American football from Jackson, Mississippi

Coaching career

Head coaching record

See also

Notes

References

External links