Joseph Henry Tiller (December 7, 1942 – September 30, 2017) was an American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

and coach. He served as the head coach of the

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

as an interim head coach in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

from

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, and

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

from

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, with a career record of . Tiller 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 Montana State from 1960 to 1963 and in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) a season in 1964. Tiller was known as one of the innovators of the

spread offense :''"Spread offense" may also refer to the four corners offense in basketball.'' The spread offense is an offensive scheme in gridiron football that typically places the quarterback in the shotgun formation, and "spreads" the offense horizontal ...

. Tiller was born in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

. After graduation from

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

, Tiller enrolled at the

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 ...

and played offensive line for the Bobcats, starting for three seasons. The

Boston Patriots Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

selected Tiller in the eighteenth round of the 1964 AFL draft. He played 1 year as an offensive lineman in the CFL, with the

in 1964. Tiller returned to his alma mater in 1965 as the line coach at the

. After helping the Bobcats to three consecutive Big Sky championships in 1966, 1967, and 1968, he reunited with Sweeney when he became the line coach and offensive coordinator for the

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

. Tiller then became and assistant with the Calgary Stampeders, eventually serving as the interim head coach in 1976, where he led the team to their only two wins of that season. He then spent the eight seasons as an assistant at

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

1983 to 1986,

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

1987 to 1988, and Washington State from 1989 to 1990. Tiller accepted the job as head football coach for the University of Wyoming Cowboys in 1991. Tiller led the team to one

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

(WAC) title, and a berth in the WAC Championship Game in 1996. From there, he was hired away as the Purdue University Boilermakers head coach, leading them to the first

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 ...

title since 1967. In 2008, he passed

Jack Mollenkopf Kenneth Webster "Jack" Mollenkopf (November 24, 1903 – December 4, 1975) was the head football coach at Purdue University from 1956 until 1969. Mollenkopf was also an assistant coach at Purdue from 1947 to 1955 under Stu Holcomb. Mollenkopf w ...

as Purdue's all-time winningest head coach.

Early life and playing career

Born and raised in

, Tiller attended Rogers High School. Upon his high school graduation, he attended

in Bozeman, where he played

for the Bobcats under head coaches Herb Agocs and Jim Sweeney, and was a member of

Delta Sigma Phi Delta Sigma Phi (), commonly known as Delta Sig, is a fraternities and sororities, fraternity established in 1899 at City College of New York, The City College of New York (CCNY). It was the first fraternity to be founded based on religious and e ...

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

. As a senior Tiller was named an Honorable Mention All-American and was invited to the

East–West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

. Tiller was selected in the 1964 AFL draft by the

; he was the 140th pick overall ( 18th round) but chose to sign with the

of the

. After one season in the CFL, he returned to Montana State to begin his coaching career under Sweeney.

Coaching career

Early career

Tiller's first coaching job came in 1964, when he was a student assistant for Montana State. The following year, he was promoted to full-time assistant coach, working with offensive and defensive lineman, as well as an instructor in physical education. Sweeney left after the 1967 season and Tiller was retained by new head coach Tom Parac. In

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, Tiller rejoined Sweeney as the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

coach at

in Pullman. In

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, he was promoted to

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

and offensive line coach. During the

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 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

season, he helped Andrew Jones to a season where he ran for 1,059 yards with 9 TD and averaged 96.3 rushing YPG. In

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, Tiller returned to the Calgary Stampeders as an assistant coach and spent the next eight seasons in the Calgary organization; he served as the interim head coach for the final six weeks of the

season, posting a record and the team finished at He returned to the front office In

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, Tiller became defensive coordinator at Purdue under head coach Leon Burtnett. Guided by junior quarterback

Jim Everett James Samuel Everett III (born January 3, 1963) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for ...

, the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

team became the first in school history to defeat Notre Dame,

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, ...

, and

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

in the same season. Finishing in the regular season, the Boilermakers accepted an invitation to play in the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played annually in Atlanta, Georgia, since December 30, 1968. The first three Peach Bowls were played at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Grant Field on the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech c ...

, where they were defeated by

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, Tiller was let go at the end of the

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

season when Burtnett resigned. Taking over as the offensive coordinator at Wyoming in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, where Craig Burnett threw for 3,131 yards with 21 TD vs 16 INT and Gerald Abraham ran for 1,305 yards with 13 TD. In 1988, Randy Welniak threw for 2,791 yards with 21 TD vs 11 INT and ran for 415 yards with 16 TD. RB Dabby Dawson ran for 1,119 yards and 9 TD as well. As offensive coordinator in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

at Washington State under head coach Mike Price, he helped RB Steve Broussard to 1,237 yards with 13 TD. Quarterbacks, Aaron Garcia and Brad Gossen combined to throw for 2,963 yards with 20 TD vs 16 INT. In

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, quarterbacks Brad Gossen and

Drew Bledsoe Drew McQueen Bledsoe (born February 14, 1972) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football for Washi ...

combined to throw for 2,514 yards with 15 TD vs 7 INT.

Wyoming (1991–1996)

Tiller began his head coaching career at

, when he was hired to replace Paul Roach, who was stepping down as football coach but remained as the athletic director. Tiller received a 5-year contract with a base salary of $65,000. During his time as head coach, Tiller lead the Cowboys to a record and one bowl appearance in six years. His best team was his final season in

, which notched a record in WAC play winning the Pacific Division), but was left out of a bowl after losing to BYU in the inaugural WAC Championship game—to date, the last team to finish ranked in a major poll and not receive a bowl invitation while eligible. He continued to provide stellar quarterback and running back play despite some subpar records during his tenure at Wyoming. *1991: QB Tom Corontzos threw for 2,868 yards with 19 TD vs 8 INT. *1992: RB Dwight Driver ran for 1,027 yards with 11 TD. *1993: QB Joe Hughes threw for 3,135 yards with 24 TD vs 10 INT. RB Ryan Christopherson ran for 1,014 yards with 9 TD. *1994: QB John Gustin threw for 2,757 yards with 17 TD vs 13 INT. RB Ryan Christopherson ran for 1,455 yards with 10 TD. *1995: QB Josh Wallwork threw for 2,363 yards with 21 TD vs 13 INT. WR Marcus Harris had 1,423 yards with 14 TD. *1996: QB Josh Wallwork threw for 4,090 yards with 33 TD vs 15 INT. WR Marcus Harris had 109 catches for 1,650 yards with 13 TD.

Purdue (1997–2008)

On the strength of his final season at Wyoming, Tiller was hired by

. Tiller inherited a program that had only had five winning seasons in the previous 18 years. However, the Boilermakers made an immediate splash in the second game of his rookie season with a nationally televised upset of Notre Dame. Tiller led the Boilermakers to ten bowl berths in twelve years, most notably the 2001 Rose Bowl—their first major-bowl appearance since the

Bob Griese Robert Allen Griese ( ; born February 3, 1945) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He earned All-American hono ...

-led Boilermakers went to the 1967 Rose Bowl, and only the second major-bowl appearance in school history. The

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

season also saw the Boilers' first Big Ten title in 33 years. Prior to Tiller's tenure as head coach, Purdue had played in only five bowl games, most recently in 1984 when he was the defensive coordinator. In

against

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said t ...

, Tiller won his 85th game at Purdue to become the winningest coach in school history, topping the previous mark set by

(1956–1969). Tiller's " basketball on grass" offense, originated by legendary high school coach Jack Neumeier, and learned from Tiller's coaching colleagues

Jack Elway John Albert Elway Sr. (May 30, 1931 – April 15, 2001) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at California State University, Northridge from 1976 to 1978, at San Jose State University from 1979 to 1983, and at Stanford ...

and

Dennis Erickson Dennis Brian Erickson (born March 24, 1947) is an American football coach who most recently served as the head coach for the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) league. He was also the head coach at the University of ...

, was well renowned for its ability to score and score effectively, befuddling opposing defenses. This was especially the case when quarterback

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is sec ...

led the team from 1997 to 2000. His Purdue squads were shut out only once, by

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

, in a 12–0 defeat at

Ross–Ade Stadium Ross–Ade Stadium is a stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana, on the campus of Purdue University. It is the home field of Purdue Boilermakers football. History The stadium was built in 1924 to replace Stuart Field, which had been hosting Pur ...

on October 28, 2006. Tiller retired following the 2008 season and was succeeded by former

Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky University (Eastern or EKU) is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. It also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, and Manchester and offers over 40 online undergraduate and graduate options. History Founding ...

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Danny Hope. In his final game as a head coach, the Purdue Boilermakers beat their in-state rival

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

in their traditional season-ending Old Oaken Bucket Game by a score of 62 to 10 at

. Tiller was the first coach to use the spread offense in the

, although many others have since brought their own version of the spread, including

Jim Tressel James Patrick Tressel (born December 5, 1952) is an American politician and retired college football coach who has served as the 67th lieutenant governor of Ohio since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, Tressel previously was the president ...

, Randy Walker at Northwestern,

Rich Rodriguez Richard Alan Rodriguez (; born May 24, 1963), also known as Rich Rod, is an American college football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach at West Virginia Mountaineers football, West Virginia University, his second sti ...

, and Ron Zook at

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Under Tiller and his spread offense, Purdue annually had one of the top offenses in the Big Ten.

Death

Tiller died at his home in

Buffalo, Wyoming Buffalo is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 4,415 at the 2020 census, down from 4,585 at the 2010 census. The city had experienced an economic boom due to methane production from the C ...

, on September 30, 2017, at the age of 74, after battling recent health issues. Numerous tributes were made to Tiller following his passing by former players, fellow coaches, and former teams that he led.

Head coaching record

College

CFL

References

External links

Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiller, Joe 1942 births 2017 deaths American football offensive linemen Players of Canadian football from Ohio Calgary Stampeders coaches Calgary Stampeders players Montana State Bobcats football coaches Montana State Bobcats football players Purdue Boilermakers football coaches Washington State Cougars football coaches Wyoming Cowboys football coaches Players of American football from Toledo, Ohio People from Buffalo, Wyoming