Bill Yeoman

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Bill Yeoman
Bill Yeoman portrait.jpg
Yeoman, c. 1962
Biographical details
Born(1927-12-26)December 26, 1927
Elnora, Indiana, U.S.
DiedAugust 12, 2020(2020-08-12) (aged 92)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Playing career
1945 Texas A&M
1946–1948 Army
Position(s) Center
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1954–1961 Michigan State (assistant)
1962–1986 Houston
Head coaching record
Overall160–108–8
Bowls6–4–1
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
4 SWC (1976, 1978, 1979, 1984)
Awards
SWC Coach of the Year (1984)
Texas Sports Hall of Fame
Houston Sports Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2001 (profile)

William Frank Yeoman (December 26, 1927 – August 12, 2020) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Houston from 1962 to 1986. [1] In his tenure, he became the winningest coach in Houston Cougars football history, with an overall record of 160–108–8. [2] Yeoman revolutionized offensive football in 1964 by developing the Veer option offense. Yeoman also played a prominent role in the racial integration of collegiate athletics in the South by being the first coach at a predominantly white school in the State of Texas to sign a black player. Yeoman's Cougars finished the season ranked in the top ten of the AP Poll four times and finished 11 times in the AP or UPI top 20. [3]

Contents

Playing career

Yeoman played center for Army from 1946 to 1948 under head coach Earl Blaik. The 1946 team was 9–0–1 with a backfield of two Heisman Trophy winners: Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard. Yeoman was a team captain in 1948 and chosen as a second-team All-American. The Army football teams in which he played compiled a combined 22–2–4 record. [4]

Coaching career

From 1950 to 1953, Yeoman served in the United States Army. After his return from the Army, [4] he became an assistant coach under Duffy Daugherty at Michigan State from 1954 to 1961. [5]

Houston

After serving as an assistant coach for eight seasons at Michigan State, Yeoman was hired to become the head coach of the University of Houston Cougars in 1962. In his first year, Yeoman guided the team to a 7–4 record and a victory in the Tangerine Bowl. After a losing season in 1963, Yeoman began experimenting with a new offense named the Veer, which used a split-back alignment. [6] Yeoman became the first head college football coach of a major program in the state of Texas to award a scholarship to an African American player. Warren McVea, from San Antonio, signed with UH on July 11, 1964. [1] [5]

Running the Veer offense, Houston led the nation in total offense for three consecutive years in the late 1960s, with averages of more than 400 yards per game each year. The 1968 offensive total was the highest in the country (42.5 points per game), and set an NCAA record. [4] This average was aided in part by the Cougars' 100–6 victory over Tulsa that marked the last time that a team scored 100 points in a top-division college football game.

Houston joined the Southwest Conference in 1976, and the Cougars posted a 10–2 record that included a 30–0 win at rival Texas and a victory over Maryland in the 1977 Cotton Bowl Classic. [3] [7] Yeoman finished as the runner-up for the AFCA Coach of the Year award and won Coach of the Year in the state of Texas. [1] During Yeoman's career, the Cougars won four Southwest Conference Championships (1976, 1978, 1979, 1984), [4] and he earned a 6–4–1 record in bowl games including a win over Nebraska in 1980 Cotton Bowl Classic. [3] [8]

In 1986, allegations surfaced that illegal recruiting inducements and extra benefits had been tendered to UH football players. Yeoman was alleged to have handed out cash to players. [9] Due in part to the investigation, Houston forced Yeoman to retire at the end of the season after a 1–10 campaign. [10]

Yeoman coached 46 All-Americans, and 69 players who later competed in the National Football League, during his career. [1] Former Baylor head coach Art Briles also played for Yeoman at UH. In 1988, the NCAA slapped Houston with three years' probation for over 250 major violations in the latter part of Yeoman's tenure. The Cougars were banned from bowl games in 1989 and 1990 and kicked off live television in 1989. They were also limited to 15 scholarships for the 1989 season. [11] The NCAA said that the penalties would have been even harsher (including being limited to 20 scholarships for 1990 and 50 paid recruiting visits for 1989) had Yeoman still been coach. [10] As it turned out, the penalties that were imposed were harsh enough that the Cougars would need almost the entire decade of the 1990s to recover; they would only have two winning seasons from 1991 to 2004.

Later life and honors

Yeoman as coach of the Houston Cougars Bill Yeoman coaching team.jpg
Yeoman as coach of the Houston Cougars

Yeoman was inducted into the University of Houston Hall of Honor in 1998. [12] The College Football Hall of Fame inducted Yeoman in 2001, [4] and two years later the Texas Sports Hall of Fame named him as an inductee. [1] [4] Also in 2002, Yeoman received the Paul "Bear" Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award. [13] Yeoman died on August 12, 2020, at the age of 92 from kidney failure and pneumonia. [14]

Head coaching record

YearTeamOverallConferenceStandingBowl/playoffs Coaches#AP°
Houston Cougars (NCAA University Division / Division I independent)(1962–1975)
1962 Houston 7–4W Tangerine
1963 Houston 2–8
1964 Houston 2–6–1
1965 Houston 4–5–1
1966 Houston 8–217
1967 Houston 7–319
1968 Houston 6–2–22018
1969 Houston 9–2W Astro-Bluebonnet 1612
1970 Houston 8–31319
1971 Houston 9–3L Astro-Bluebonnet 1417
1972 Houston 6–4–1
1973 Houston 11–1W Astro-Bluebonnet 139
1974 Houston 8–3–1T Astro-Bluebonnet 1119
1975 Houston 2–8
Houston Cougars (Southwest Conference)(1976–1986)
1976 Houston 10–27–1T–1stW Cotton 44
1977 Houston 6–54–4T–4th
1978 Houston 9–37–11stL Cotton 1110
1979 Houston 11–17–1T–1stW Cotton 55
1980 Houston 7–55–3T–2ndW Garden State
1981 Houston 7–4–15–2–13rdL Sun
1982 Houston 5–5–14–3–14th
1983 Houston 4–73–57th
1984 Houston 7–56–2T–1stL Cotton
1985 Houston 4–73–55th
1986 Houston 1–100–89th
Houston:160–108–851–35–2
Total:160–108–8
      National championship        Conference title        Conference division title or championship game berth

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The 1978 Houston Cougars football team, also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH, represented the University of Houston in the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Cougars were led by 17th-year head coach Bill Yeoman and played their home games at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. The team competed as members of the Southwest Conference, winning the conference with a 7–1 conference record. This was Houston's first outright conference title and second overall, in only their third year in the league. They were invited to the 1979 Cotton Bowl Classic, played on New Year's Day, where they were defeated by Notre Dame. Houston was ranked 10th in the final AP Poll of the season and 11th in the Coaches' Poll.

The 1979 Houston Cougars football team, also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH, represented the University of Houston in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Cougars were led by 18th-year head coach Bill Yeoman and played their home games at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. They competed as members of the Southwest Conference, finishing as co-champions with Arkansas. This was Houston's second consecutive conference championship, and their third overall in their first four years as members of the conference.

The 1984 Houston Cougars football team, also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH, represented the University of Houston during the 1984 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Cougars were led by 23rd-year head coach Bill Yeoman and played their home games at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. The team competed as members of the Southwest Conference, finishing as co-champions with SMU with a conference record of 6–2. Houston was invited to the 1985 Cotton Bowl Classic, where they lost to Boston College.

The 1975 Houston Cougars football team, also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH, represented the University of Houston in the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. It was the 28th year of season play for Houston. The team was coached by 12th-year head coach Bill Yeoman who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001. The team played its home games in the Astrodome, a 50,000-person capacity stadium off-campus in Houston at the Astrodomain. Houston competed as a member of the NCAA in the University Division, independent of any athletic conference. It was their fourteenth year of doing so. The Cougars had been admitted to the Southwest Conference two years prior, but were ineligible for conference play until the 1976 season.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Yeoman, Bill". Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  2. ↑ Brown, Mike (July 2, 2008). "Past tense". Tulsa World. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Bill Yeoman". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on August 26, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bill Yeoman at the College Football Hall of Fame
  5. 1 2 Rexrode, Joe (April 22, 2009). "Perles, Yeoman were both football innovators". Lansing State Journal. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  6. ↑ Scoggins, Chip (August 25, 2007). "The veer: Houston coach rode his offense to Hall of Fame". Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Archived from the original on June 21, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  7. ↑ Boyles, Bob; Guido, Paul (2007). 50 Years of College Football: A Modern History of America's Most Colorful Sport. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. p. 894. ISBN   978-1-60239-090-4 . Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Houston stuns Huskers 17–14". The Daily Reporter. United Press International. January 2, 1980. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Houston Football Coaches Accused of Paying Players". The Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. March 17, 1986. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  10. 1 2 "Legislative Services Database - LSDBi". web1.ncaa.org.
  11. ↑ "NCAA comes down hard on Houston for violations". The Vindicator. Associated Press. December 17, 1988. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Hall of Honor Inductees". University of Houston. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  13. ↑ "The Lifetime Achievement Award". Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards. Archived from the original on December 20, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  14. ↑ Maisel, Ivan (August 12, 2020). "Hall of Fame football coach Bill Yeoman, innovator of veer formation, dies at 92". ESPN.com . ESPN . Retrieved August 12, 2020.
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