Bill Edwards

William Miller Edwards (June 21, 1905 – June 12, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Western Reserve University, Vanderbilt University and Wittenberg University in a career lasting more than 30 years, compiling a win-loss-tie record of 168–45–8. Edwards also coached the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1941 to 1942, tallying a 4–9–1 record, and served as an assistant coach for the NFL's Cleveland Browns in the late 1940s.

Raised near Massillon, Ohio, Edwards was the son of an immigrant from Wales who worked in the area's coal mines. He played football at Massillon Washington High School and enrolled at Ohio State University, where he stayed for a year before transferring to Wittenberg University. After college, Edwards began his coaching career at high schools in Ohio. He got his first job as a college head coach in 1935 at Western Reserve, now known as Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, Ohio and guided the team to a 49–6–2 record over six seasons. Edwards was then hired to coach the Lions, but his brief stay there was unsuccessful, and he was fired at the beginning of the 1942 season. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy later that year and served in the military during World War II until his discharge in 1946.

Edwards spent a year selling sporting goods in Cleveland, returning to football in 1947 with the Browns as an assistant to head coach Paul Brown, a close friend and former Massillon schoolmate. After two years as the team's tackle coach, he was hired by Vanderbilt in 1949. He stayed there for four years and amassed a 21–19–2 record, but resigned in 1953 under pressure from alumni. After two years as an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina, Edwards was hired by Wittenberg, his alma mater, as head football coach and athletic director. He spent the rest of his career there, serving as head coach until 1968 and remaining as athletic director until 1973. While at Wittenberg, he was named the country's college football coach of the year twice, and his teams posted an overall record of 98–20–4. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986. Edwards, described as a tough but compassionate coach, had an influence on many men he worked with, including Steve Belichick, the father of former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick. Steve Belichick played for Edwards at Western Reserve and with the Lions, and coached with him at Vanderbilt and North Carolina. Edwards was the godfather of Bill.

Early life and college Edwards grew up in Massillon, Ohio and attended Massillon Washington High School. He was a schoolmate of Paul Brown, who later became the coach of the Cleveland Browns and helped found the Cincinnati Bengals in the National Football League. The son of a Welsh coal miner, Edwards dropped out of school when he was 14 to help his family by working in the mines of East Greenville, near Massillon.

Edwards enrolled at Ohio State University where he captained the Buckeyes freshman football team and was roommates with Paul Brown, his former Massillon teammate. A tough player, Edwards did not like to wear a helmet, saying "you skin your ears a little without them, but I never had any trouble." Grantland Rice, a prominent sportswriter of the time, called him the best center in college football. The following year, he got his first head coaching job at Fostoria High School in Fostoria, Ohio. When Reserve head coach Sam Willaman died suddenly in August 1935, players lobbied for Edwards to take his place; Edwards got the job. He met with officials at Marquette University and was considered a candidate for coaching duties at the University of Colorado and for the National Football League's Detroit Lions. Both Edwards and Dugan Miller signed two-year contracts. Detroit went on to lose all the rest of its games after John Karcis was named his replacement.

Edwards enlisted in the U.S. Navy later in 1942 as America's involvement in the war intensified. Edwards was discharged in 1946, and spent a year in the sporting goods business in Cleveland, Ohio before reuniting with Brown, who had become the first coach of the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). Edwards took a position as a tackle coach and remained with the team for two seasons. The Browns won the AAFC championship in both of Edwards's years as an assistant; the team won all of its games in 1948, turning in professional football's first perfect season.

Vanderbilt, North Carolina, and Wittenberg Edwards was hired as Vanderbilt University's head football coach and athletic director in 1949, replacing Henry Russell Sanders when Sanders left to become head coach at the University of California, Los Angeles. He instituted a modern T formation offense to replace Sanders's more traditional single-wing formation. He then moved to the University of North Carolina, where he was an assistant on the football team's coaching staff in 1953 and 1954.

Edwards was hired as athletic director and head football coach at Wittenberg, his alma mater, in 1955. He put in a pro-style offense and focused on passing because his players were smaller than many opponents. Edwards's teams were unbeaten three times and lost one game in five of his seasons there. By the end of his career, Edwards's 168–45–8 overall college record gave him the second-best winning percentage in the country among active coaches with at least 100 wins. He was also inducted into the Western Reserve Hall of Fame and the Vanderbilt Hall of Fame in 1986.

Edwards was also close with Steve Belichick, who played for him at Western Reserve and for the Detroit Lions and later served as an assistant under him at Vanderbilt and North Carolina. Belichick's son Bill was named after Edwards, who was also Bill's godfather. Bill Belichick later became an assistant and head coach in the NFL and became the head coach of the New England Patriots.

Head coaching record College

Professional

Team Year Regular season PostseasonWonLostTiesWin %Finish Won Lost Win % ResultDET194146136.363rd in NFL West Division - - - DET19420300.05th in NFL West Division - - - Professional Total 4 9 1 28.57 - - - 0 league titles in 2 seasonsSource: Pro-Football-Reference.com