Bill Yeoman
Encyclopedia
Bill Yeoman is a former American football
player and coach in the United States. Starting in 1962, he was the University of Houston
's head coach, holding the position through 1986. In his tenure, he became the winningest coach in school history, with an overall record of 160–108–8. 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 AP
Top 10 four times and finished 10 times in the Top 20.
for Army
from 1946 to 1948 under legendary 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. Bill Yeoman is still the only underclassman to ever captain an Army team.
. After his return from the Army, he became an assistant coach under Duffy Daugherty
at Michigan State
from 1954 to 1961.
in 1962. The Cougars had only begun playing football in 1946 and had enjoyed little success or prominence in the program’s short history. Yeoman established a winning tradition in his very first year at Houston, guiding 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. The Veer option offense would revolutionize college football and help the Cougars to become a perennial power.
Yeoman became the first head college football coach of a major program in the state of Texas
to give a scholarship
to an African American player. Warren McVea
, from San Antonio, signed with UH on July 11, 1964. The recruitment of McVea was part of an overall move by the University of Houston athletic department in 1964 to integrate their athletic programs. The other prominent black athletes signed by UH that year were basketball players Elvin Hayes
and Don Chaney
.
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. 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 Cotton Bowl Classic. 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. During Yeoman's career, the Cougars won four Southwest Conference Championships (1976, 1978, 1979, 1984), and he earned a 6–4–1 record in bowl games including a Cotton Bowl Classic win over Nebraska in 1980.
Yeoman's tenure at UH was not without controversy. 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. Due in part to the investigation, Houston forced Yeoman to retire at the end of the season after a 1-10 campaign.
Yeoman coached 46 All-Americans
, and 69 players who later competed in the NFL
, during his career. In his 25 years as the headman at UH he had taken the program from obscure upstart to regional power. In the process, his offensive innovations had helped to revolutionize college football. When Yeoman arrived on campus, UH was a little-known independent program that had been to only one bowl game. When Yeoman retired, UH was a member and four-time champion of a major athletic conference.
In 1988, the NCAA slapped Houston with three years' probation for numerous 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. 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.
inducted Yeoman in 2001, and two years later the Texas Sports Hall of Fame
named him as an inductee. Also in 2002, Yeoman received the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award Lifetime Achievement Award. The University of Houston named the Yeoman Field House, where Houston track and field compete, after him. Yeoman currently works as a fundraiser and Development Officer in the athletic department of the University of Houston.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player and coach in the United States. Starting in 1962, he was the University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
's head coach, holding the position through 1986. In his tenure, he became the winningest coach in school history, with an overall record of 160–108–8. Yeoman revolutionized offensive football in 1964 by developing the Veer
Veer
The Veer is an option running play often associated with option offenses in American football, made famous at the collegiate level by the Houston Cougars. It is currently run primarily on the high school level, with some usage at the collegiate and the professional level with varying degrees of...
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 AP
AP Poll
The Associated Press College Poll refers to weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...
Top 10 four times and finished 10 times in the Top 20.
Playing career
Yeoman played centerCenter (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
for Army
Army Black Knights football
The Army Black Knights football program represents the United States Military Academy. Army was recognized as the national champions in 1944, 1945 and 1946....
from 1946 to 1948 under legendary head coach Earl Blaik
Earl Blaik
Earl Henry "Red" Blaik was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and United States Army officer. He served as the head football coach at Dartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at the United States Military Academy from 1941 to 1958, compiling a career college...
. The 1946 team was 9–0–1 with a backfield of two Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
winners: Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard
Doc Blanchard
Felix Anthony "Doc" Blanchard is best known as the college football player who became the first ever junior to win the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award and was the first ever football player to win the James E. Sullivan Award, all in 1945. He played football for the United States Military Academy at...
. Yeoman was a team captain
Captain (sports)
In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...
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. Bill Yeoman is still the only underclassman to ever captain an Army team.
Coaching career
From 1950 to 1953, Yeoman served in the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. After his return from the Army, he became an assistant coach under Duffy Daugherty
Duffy Daugherty
Hugh Duffy Daugherty was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Michigan State University from 1954 to 1972, where he compiled a career record of 109–69–5. Duffy's 1965 and 1966 teams won national championships...
at Michigan State
Michigan State Spartans football
The Michigan State Spartans football program represents Michigan State University in college football as members of the Big Ten Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level...
from 1954 to 1961.
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 CougarsHouston Cougars football
The Houston Cougars football program is an NCAA Division I FBS football team that represents the University of Houston. The team is commonly referred to as "Houston" or "UH" . The UH football program is currently a member of the Conference USA intercollegiate athletic conference, and is coached by...
in 1962. The Cougars had only begun playing football in 1946 and had enjoyed little success or prominence in the program’s short history. Yeoman established a winning tradition in his very first year at Houston, guiding 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
Veer
The Veer is an option running play often associated with option offenses in American football, made famous at the collegiate level by the Houston Cougars. It is currently run primarily on the high school level, with some usage at the collegiate and the professional level with varying degrees of...
, which used a split-back alignment. The Veer option offense would revolutionize college football and help the Cougars to become a perennial power.
Yeoman became the first head college football coach of a major program in the state of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
to give a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to an African American player. Warren McVea
Warren McVea
Warren McVea was a football player who made civil rights history by becoming the first African-American to play the sport for the University of Houston....
, from San Antonio, signed with UH on July 11, 1964. The recruitment of McVea was part of an overall move by the University of Houston athletic department in 1964 to integrate their athletic programs. The other prominent black athletes signed by UH that year were basketball players Elvin Hayes
Elvin Hayes
Elvin Ernest Hayes is a retired American basketball player and radio analyst for Houston Cougars men's basketball, where he played college basketball...
and Don Chaney
Don Chaney
Donald Ray Chaney is an American former professional basketball player and coach, most notable for his long stints as a player on the Boston Celtics.-Career as a player:...
.
Running the Veer offense, Houston led the nation in total offense
Total offense
Total offense is an American football and Canadian football statistic representing the total number of yards rushing and yards passing by a team or player...
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. This average was aided in part by the Cougars' 100–6 victory over Tulsa
Tulsa Golden Hurricane football
The University of Tulsa's Golden Hurricane football team represents Tulsa in Conference USA. Tulsa is currently coached by first-year head coach Bill Blankenship. The football team was coached by Todd Graham until he accepted the head coaching job at Pittsburgh....
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
Texas Longhorns football
The Texas Longhorns football program is the intercollegiate football team representing The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. The team currently competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big 12 Conference which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National...
and a victory over Maryland
1976 Maryland Terrapins football team
The 1976 Maryland Terrapins football team represented University of Maryland in the 1976 NCAA Division I-A college football season. The Terrapins offense scored 294 points while the defense allowed 115 points...
in the Cotton Bowl Classic. Yeoman finished as the runner-up for the AFCA Coach of the Year
AFCA Coach of the Year
The AFCA Coach of the Year award is given annually to a college football coach by the American Football Coaches Association . The award has had several different sponors over the years, including Eastman Kodak Corporation, and thus also been named the Kodak Coach of the Year Award.-Football Bowl...
award and won Coach of the Year in the state of Texas. During Yeoman's career, the Cougars won four Southwest Conference Championships (1976, 1978, 1979, 1984), and he earned a 6–4–1 record in bowl games including a Cotton Bowl Classic win over Nebraska in 1980.
Yeoman's tenure at UH was not without controversy. 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. Due in part to the investigation, Houston forced Yeoman to retire at the end of the season after a 1-10 campaign.
Yeoman coached 46 All-Americans
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
, and 69 players who later competed in the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, during his career. In his 25 years as the headman at UH he had taken the program from obscure upstart to regional power. In the process, his offensive innovations had helped to revolutionize college football. When Yeoman arrived on campus, UH was a little-known independent program that had been to only one bowl game. When Yeoman retired, UH was a member and four-time champion of a major athletic conference.
In 1988, the NCAA slapped Houston with three years' probation for numerous 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. 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.
Later life and honors
Yeoman was inducted into the University of Houston Hall of Honor in 1998. The College Football Hall of FameCollege Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
inducted Yeoman in 2001, and two years later the Texas Sports Hall of Fame
Texas Sports Hall of Fame
The Texas Sports Hall of Fame recognizes athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made "lasting fame and honor to Texas sports". It was established in 1951 by the Texas Sports Writers Association. Once it made its first induction in 1951, Texas became the first U.S...
named him as an inductee. Also in 2002, Yeoman received the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award Lifetime Achievement Award. The University of Houston named the Yeoman Field House, where Houston track and field compete, after him. Yeoman currently works as a fundraiser and Development Officer in the athletic department of the University of Houston.