| Bill Lewis | |
|---|---|
| Sport(s) | Football, baseball |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | August 5, 1941 |
| Place of birth | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Playing career | |
| Football 1959–1962 Baseball 1960–1963 |
East Stroudsburg East Stroudsburg |
| Position(s) | Quarterback (football) Pitcher, infielder (baseball) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1963–1965 1966–1968 1969–1970 1971–1972 1974–1976 1977–1979 1980 1981–1988 1989–1991 1992–1994 1996–2004 2005–2007 |
East Stroudsburg (QB/WR/DB) Pittsburgh (DB) Wake Forest (DB) Georgia Tech (DB) Arkansas (DB) Wyoming Georgia (DB) Georgia (DC/DB) East Carolina Georgia Tech Miami Dolphins (nickle package) Notre Dame (AHC/DB) |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1995 | Marist School (GA) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 45–52–2 |
| Bowls | 1–0 |
| Statistics | |
| College Football Data Warehouse | |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| AFCA Coach of the Year (1991) | |
Bill Lewis (born August 5, 1941) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Wyoming (1977–1979), East Carolina University (1989–1991), and the Georgia Institute of Technology (1992–1994), compiling a career college football record of 45–52–2.
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Lewis was named the University of Wyoming's 22nd head football coach in December 1976 following the hiring of Fred Akers by the University of Texas at Austin to be the Longhorn's head coach. Lewis compiled a 14–20–1 (.414) win-loss record as Wyoming's coach through the 1977 to 1979 seasons. He was fired at the conclusion of the '79 season and replaced by Pat Dye. His largest margin of victory was 51–21 over the University of Texas at El Paso during the 1978 season. His worst loss as the Cowboy's head coach came against LSU the year before, 1977. The LSU Tigers pounced on Wyoming, 66–7, in Baton Rouge. He produced two noted NFL prospects, Ken Fantetti, a linebacker who went on to play for the Detroit Lions for seven years (1979–1985) and Guy Frazier another linebacker who played six years in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals (1981–1984) and the Buffalo Bills (1985–1986).
In his most successful head coaching position, Lewis lead the East Carolina Pirates to an 11–1 record and a Peach Bowl victory over North Carolina State in 1991. The program had not had a winning season since 1983 before Lewis came there. Lewis served as head coach at East Carolina for three seasons (1989–1991) before departing for Georgia Tech. The 1991 Pirates finished the season with their highest national ranking, #9 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll, and Lewis received 1991 National Coach-of-the-Year honors from the American Football Coaches Association, United Press International, and Scripps-Howard.
Bill Lewis assumed the head coaching position at Georgia Tech in 1991 following Bobby Ross's departure to coach the NFL's San Diego Chargers. Lewis held the position from 1992 until midway through the 1994 season; he resigned (though some reports say he was effectively fired) after a 1–7 start and was replaced by defensive coordinator George O'Leary, who coached the final three games of the season, all losses. Lewis finished his tenure at Georgia Tech with an overall record of 11–19 (.367).
From 2005 to 2007, Lewis served as the assistant head coach and defensive backs coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish under Charlie Weis.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyoming Cowboys (Western Athletic Conference) (1977–1979) | |||||||||
| 1977 | Wyoming | 4–6–1 | 4–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1978 | Wyoming | 5–7 | 4–2 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1979 | Wyoming | 4–8 | 2–5 | 7th | |||||
| Wyoming: | 13–21–1 | 10–10 | |||||||
| East Carolina Pirates (NCAA Division I-A Independent) (1989–1991) | |||||||||
| 1989 | East Carolina | 5–5–1 | |||||||
| 1990 | East Carolina | 5–6 | |||||||
| 1991 | East Carolina | 11–1 | W Peach | 9 | 9 | ||||
| East Carolina: | 21–12–1 | ||||||||
| Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1992–1994) | |||||||||
| 1992 | Georgia Tech | 5–6 | 4–4 | T–4th | |||||
| 1993 | Georgia Tech | 5–6 | 3–5 | 6th | |||||
| 1994 | Georgia Tech | 1–7 | 0–6 | ||||||
| Georgia Tech: | 11–19 | 7–15 | |||||||
| Total: | 45–52–2 | ||||||||
| #Rankings from final Coaches' Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll. |
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