Bill Edwards
Bill Edwards went 168–45–8 as a head coach, 1935–1968, at Western Reserve, Vanderbilt and Wittenberg. Share
20 seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1935–40 at Western Reserve; 1955–68 at Wittenberg. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 168–45–8 career
- Seasons
- 24
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Hall of Fame
- 1986 inducted
- Best season
- 1950 7–4
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Western Reserve * | 9–0–1 | 1st | |||
| 1936 | Western Reserve * | 10–0 | 1st | |||
| 1937 | Western Reserve * | 8–2 | 1st | |||
| 1938 | Western Reserve * | 9–0 | 1st | |||
| 1939 | Western Reserve * | 5–3–1 | 3rd | |||
| 1940 | Western Reserve * | 8–1 | 1st | Sun W | ||
| 1941–48: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1949 | Vanderbilt | 5–5 | 7th | |||
| 1950 | Vanderbilt | 7–4 | 7th | |||
| 1951 | Vanderbilt | 6–5 | T–7th | |||
| 1952 | Vanderbilt | 3–5–2 | 11th | |||
| 1953–54: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1955 | Wittenberg * | 4–3–2 | T–7th | |||
| 1956 | Wittenberg * | 5–2–1 | T–4th | |||
| 1957 | Wittenberg * | 7–2 | 2nd | |||
| 1958 | Wittenberg * | 8–1 | 1st | |||
| 1959 | Wittenberg * | 5–3 | 6th | |||
| 1960 | Wittenberg * | 8–1 | T–3rd | |||
| 1961 | Wittenberg * | 8–1 | 1st | |||
| 1962 | Wittenberg * | 9–0 | 1st | |||
| 1963 | Wittenberg * | 8–0–1 | 1st | |||
| 1964 | Wittenberg * | 8–0 | 1st | |||
| 1965 | Wittenberg * | 6–2 | T–2nd | |||
| 1966 | Wittenberg * | 8–1 | 2nd | |||
| 1967 | Wittenberg * | 8–1 | T–4th | |||
| 1968 | Wittenberg * | 6–3 | 6th | |||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 7 | 1–6 | 14% |
| Against top-10 teams | 4 | 0–4 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 15 | 5–9–1 | 37% |
| Conference games | 29 | 11–17–1 | 40% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 20 | 11–7–2 | 60% |
| At home | 23 | 13–9–1 | 59% |
| On the road | 18 | 7–10–1 | 42% |
| At neutral sites | 1 | 1–0 | 100% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 23 | 15–8 | 65% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 19 | 6–11–2 | 37% |
His own 42 games on file, 1949–1952, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Vaught 1949–1952 | 3–0–1 | Ole Miss | 4 | |
| Bob Neyland 1949–1952 | 0–4 | Tennessee | 4 | |
| Red Drew 1949–1951 | 3–0 | Alabama | 3 | |
| Gaynell Tinsley 1949–1951 | 1–2 | LSU | 3 | |
| Bob Woodruff 1950–1952 | 1–2 | Florida | 3 | |
| Bobby Dodd 1949–1952 | 0–3 | Georgia Tech | 3 | |
| Henry Frnka 1949–1951 | 0–3 | Tulane | 3 |
Bill Edwards’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Ole Missseries | 4 | 3–0–1 |
| Floridaseries | 4 | 2–2 |
| Tennesseeseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| Tulaneseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| Alabamaseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| Auburnseries | 3 | 2–1 |
| LSUseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| Georgia Techseries | 3 | 0–3 |
Also a player: Bill Edwards’s playing career.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Springfield HS (OH) high school | Assistant coach | |
| 1932–33 | Fostoria HS (OH) high school | Head coach | |
| 1934 | Western Reserve | Assistant coach | |
| 1935–40 | Western Reserve | Head coach | |
| 1941–42 | Detroit Lions NFL | Head coach | |
| 1943 | Saint Mary’s Pre-Flight service team | Assistant coach | |
| 1947–48 | Cleveland Browns NFL | Assistant coach | |
| 1949–52 | Vanderbilt | Head coach | |
| 1953–54 | North Carolina | Assistant coach | |
| 1955–68 | Wittenberg | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Sam WillamanCase Western Reserve
- Spike NelsonSaint Mary’s Pre-Flight
- Paul BrownCleveland Browns
- George BarclayNorth Carolina
Assistants who became head coaches
Worked under (4)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Willaman | Case Western Reserve | 1934 | Assistant coach | |
| Spike Nelson | Saint Mary’s Pre-Flight service team | 1943 | Assistant coach | |
| Paul Brown | Cleveland Browns NFL | 1947–48 | Assistant coach | |
| George Barclay | North Carolina | 1953–54 | Assistant coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (2)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles McClendon | Vanderbilt, 1952: assistant coach | LSU | |
| Gary Tranquill | Wittenberg, 1962–68: defensive assistant | Navy |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.