Samuel Orville Weir (born March 18, 1941) is an American former

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 ...

coach and player. He was the interim head football coach for the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

in 1982. He played college football for Arkansas State and professionally for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

and

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

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), the

Orlando Panthers The Orlando Panthers were a professional American football team based in Orlando, Florida. Founded in 1958 as the Franklin Miners, the team spent its first four years in the Eastern Football Conference, then three further years in the Atlantic Co ...

of the

Continental Football League The Continental Football League (COFL) was a professional American football Minor league football (gridiron), minor league that operated in North America from 1965 through 1969. It was established following the collapse of the original United Fo ...

(COFL), and the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

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).

Early life and playing career

Weir was born on March 18, 1941, in

Walnut Ridge, Arkansas Walnut Ridge is a city in and the county seat of Lawrence County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 5,098 at the United States Census's 2019 estimate. Walnut Ridge lies immediately north of Hoxie. The two towns form a contiguous urban ...

. He attended Walnut Ridge High School. He played

for Arkansas State as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

and

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

from 1960 to 1964. He was also a member of the

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

team where he was named MVP. After going

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in the

1965 NFL draft The 1965 NFL draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 28, 1964. The first player selected was Tucker Frederickson, back from Auburn, by the New York Giants. The draft was marked by the failure of the St. Loui ...

, Weir was signed by the

of the

(AFL). He was officially listed as a flanker and played in nine games where he recorded a single reception. He also was used as a

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

. In 1966, he was traded to the

, also of the AFL. With the Jets, he played in eleven games before suffering a broken hand late in the season. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

and was not retained following the season. In 1967, Weir signed with the

of the

(COFL). In two seasons, he helped lead the team to an overall record of 21–5 and two COFL championships. He retired following the 1968 season. In 1974, Weir briefly came out of retirement for the

of the

(WFL).

Coaching career

In 1967, while playing for the Orlando Predators, Weir served as the

junior varsity A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At High school, ...

coach for Evans High School. In 1968, he served as a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for the Predators. In 1969, Weir earned his first head coaching position as the head football coach for Batesville High School. He held the position for two years before joining his alma mater, Arkansas State, as the team's

wide receivers A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense, WR gets its name from the player being spli ...

coach. In 1973, he moved to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and served as the head football coach for Lakeview High School. He led Lakeview to a 6–4 record in his last season. In 1975, Weir served a one-year stint as head coach for Lake Brantley High School. He rejoined Evans High School in 1976. In two seasons he led the Trojans to an overall record of 17–5 and two conference championships before resigning after the 1977 season. After not coaching in 1978, he was hired for his fifth head coaching position as he was hired by Lake Howell High School. After leading the school to its first conference championship and an 8–2 record, he resigned. In 1981, Weir earned his second college football coaching position as he was hired as the associate

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 ...

for UCF under head coach

Don Jonas Donald Walter Jonas (born December 3, 1938) is an American former football player and coach. Jonas played professionally as a quarterback in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was also the first head coach of the UCF Knights (1979–1981). ...

. After one season as an assistant and following Jonas' retirement, Weir was promoted to interim head coach for the Knight's 1982 season during their first year as an

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

program. He led the team to a 0–10 record before opting not to apply for the full-time position. In 1983, Weir returned to the high school ranks as the head coach for West Orange High School. He resigned after one season to work for a business in

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

. Not long after, in 1984, he began a five-year stint as head coach for

Edgewater High School Edgewater High School is a public secondary school located in the College Park section of Orlando, Florida. It is operated by the Orange County Public Schools system. The athletic teams are known as the 'Fighting Eagles' with colors red and wh ...

. He finished his inaugural season going 0–10. He resigned after the 1988 season. In 1992, he returned to Edgewater as the

offensive backfield The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage, and players positioned there on offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including the quarterback and running backs ( halfbacks and fullb ...

coach. In 1995, after not coaching for the previous two years he was hired as the head coach for his high school alma mater, Walnut Ridge High School. After one season he retired. In 2008, Weir was hired as the head coach for Salem High School. He retired after four seasons with the school.

Head coaching record

College

High school

References

External links

Arkansas State Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weir, Sammy 1941 births Living people American football quarterbacks American football wide receivers Arkansas State Red Wolves football coaches Arkansas State Red Wolves football players Arkansas State Red Wolves men's track and field athletes Houston Oilers players Houston Texans (WFL) players New York Jets players UCF Knights football coaches High school football coaches in Arkansas High school football coaches in Florida Player-coaches Coaches of American football from Arkansas People from Walnut Ridge, Arkansas Players of American football from Arkansas Track and field athletes from Arkansas