Billy Tohill (April 5, 1939 – April 11, 2000) 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 served as head coach at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

(TCU) from 1971 to 1973. A native of

Batesville, Mississippi Batesville is a city in Panola County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,523 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 7,463 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Batesville is one of two county seats which th ...

, Tohill played at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

from 1958 to 1960, where he was awarded letters in 1959 and 1960. He served as an assistant at TCU before taking over as head coach for Jim Pittman, who died midway through the 1971 season. Seventeen months after replacing Pittman, Tohill had a serious automobile accident that nearly killed him and left him with a prosthetic foot. Tohill compiled an 11–15 record overall at TCU. He was fired after the 1973 season. In 1974, Tohill became part of the recruiting team and the coach of the defensive backs for the

Birmingham Americans The Birmingham Americans were a professional American football team located in Birmingham, Alabama. They were members of the four-team Central Division of the World Football League (WFL). The Americans, founded in late December 1973, played in t ...

of the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 in sports, 1974 and most of its second in 1975 in sports, 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a w ...

(WFL). One of his final coaching jobs was at Pelham High School in Alabama, where in 1986 he coached the Panthers in their first winning season ever. In 1988, Tohill lead Pelham to a 7–3 season, which was, at the time, the best season the program had ever experienced. In early 1990, Tohill would resign as football coach and athletic director of Pelham High School. Although the reasons were never made clear, it was stated that this move was due to clashes with the school administration. He would go on to be an assistant coach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1991, which was UAB's inaugural football season. Tohill would retire from coaching altogether after the 1991 season at UAB. Tohill lived in

Hoover, Alabama Hoover is a city in the Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson and Shelby County, Alabama, Shelby counties in north central Alabama, United States. Hoover is the largest suburban city in Alabama and the sixth largest city in Alabama. The populati ...

until his passing in 2000. Current

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

head football coach,

Dabo Swinney William Christopher "Dabo" Swinney (; born November 20, 1969) is an American college football coach, currently serving as the head football coach at Clemson Tigers football, Clemson University. Swinney took over as head coach of the Clemson Tiger ...

, played high school football for Tohill at Pelham High School. In 2016 and 2018, Swinney led Clemson to the College Football Playoff National Championship, making Swinney the first former player of Tohill's to win a national title as a head coach.

Head coaching record

College

Notes

References

1939 births 2000 deaths Birmingham Americans coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football players TCU Horned Frogs football coaches Tulane Green Wave football coaches UAB Blazers football coaches High school football coaches in Alabama Sportspeople from Batesville, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi {{1970s-collegefootball-coach-stub