William Stephen Arnsparger (December 16, 1926 – July 17, 2015) was an American college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach. He was born and raised in

Paris, Kentucky Paris is a home rule-class city in Bourbon County, Kentucky. It lies northeast of Lexington on the Stoner Fork of the Licking River. Paris is the seat of its county and forms part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. As ...

, served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

during World War II, and graduated from

Miami University (Ohio) Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

in 1950. Immediately upon graduation, Arnsparger was hired as an assistant coach with the Miami football program, beginning a long career in the profession. Arnsparger is best known for serving as a

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

teams that won consecutive

Super Bowls The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

(

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

and

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

) and reached another (1982), all under head coach

Don Shula Donald Francis Shula (January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American football defensive back and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. The head coach of the Miami Dolphins for most of his ca ...

. Arnsparger's defenses were an important part of the Dolphins' success, and earned two nicknames over his tenure – the "No-Name-Defense" in the 1970s and the "Killer B's" in the 1980s. Later in his career, he served as the defensive coordinator for another Super Bowl runner-up, the 1994 San Diego Chargers. Before coaching in the NFL, Arnsparger served as a defensive assistant for several

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

teams. He was also the head coach of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

(1974–1976) and the Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers (1983–1986), and served as the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

(1986–1992).

Early years

Arnsparger was born in

, in 1926. He attended Paris High School, where he was an all-state football player under the school's longtime football and basketball coach,

Blanton Collier Blanton Long Collier (July 2, 1906 – March 22, 1983) was an American football head coach who coached at the University of Kentucky between 1954 and 1961 and for the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League (NFL) between 1963 and 1970. H ...

. The relationship would have a major impact on his future career. After serving in the

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

during World War II, Arnsparger attended

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

, where he played for the

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

football team under coach

Woody Hayes Wayne Woodrow Hayes (February 14, 1913 – March 12, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University (1946–1948), Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (1949–1950), and Ohio State University (1951 ...

and was a member of

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...

Fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...

(Alpha Chapter). He graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in 1950.

College assistant coach

Miami University

After graduating, Arnsparger remained at Miami to begin his coaching career as an assistant under Hayes for the 1950 season. Miami went 9-1 and were

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

champions.

Ohio State

Woody Hayes was hired as the head coach of the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...

in 1951 and brought Arnsparger with him from Miami to serve as the Buckeyes' line coach, a position he held through the 1954 season.

Kentucky

In 1954, Arnsparger re-connected with his high school coach Blanton Collier, who had been hired as head football coach at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. Arnsparger was hired as an assistant at Kentucky and remained there for the eight years until Collier was fired on January 2, 1962. During the 1959 season, he was joined on the coaching staff by a young coach who had served at the University of Virginia the previous year. That coach was

, with the two coaches forging a strong bond that would tie them for much of the next quarter century.

Tulane

Arnsparger moved on to an assistant position with

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, in 1962. After two years, he resigned the post on March 6, 1964, to become the defensive line coach for the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

under Shula.

National Football League

Baltimore Colts

In 1964, Arnsparger became the defensive line coach for the

. That season, the Colts reached the

(NFL) Championship game and remained one of the strongest teams of the 1960s, competing in

Super Bowl III Super Bowl III was an American football game played on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name "Su ...

on January 12, 1969.

Miami Dolphins

When Shula left to become head coach with the

after the end of the

1969 NFL season The 1969 NFL season was the 50th regular season of the National Football League, and its last before the AFL–NFL merger. To honor the NFL's fiftieth season, a special anniversary logo was designed and each player wore a patch on their jerseys ...

, he brought along Arnsparger, who was promoted to

. In just two seasons, the formerly moribund team had reached the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

, with Arnsparger fashioning what became known as the " No-Name Defense." World championships in each of the next two seasons, including an undefeated season during 1972, made Arnsparger a prime candidate for a head coaching position.

New York Giants

Following the Dolphins' 24–7 victory over the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

Super Bowl VIII Super Bowl VIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

, Arnsparger was named head coach of the

, but managed just seven wins in his thirty-five games. Arnsparger coached the Giants in three different home stadiums during his tenure: the

Yale Bowl The Yale Bowl Stadium is a college football stadium in the northeast United States, located in New Haven, Connecticut, on the border of West Haven, about 1½ miles (2½ km) west of the main campus of Yale University. The home of the American footb ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

;

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.Jets in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

; and finally,

Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands or The Swamp) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and it primarily hosted sp ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

. Arnsparger was fired in mid-season on October 25, with the team having lost all seven of its games, succeeded by assistant coach

John McVay John Edward McVay (January 5, 1931 – October 31, 2022) was an American football coach and executive. He rose through the coaching ranks from high school, through the college level, and to the National Football League (NFL). He played college ...

Return to the Dolphins

Just two days after his dismissal from the Giants, Arnsparger was rehired by Shula and was restored to his previous position as Miami's defensive coordinator while adding the title of assistant head coach. In the team's first game under his leadership, the Dolphins won a 10–3 defensive battle with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

, who had averaged thirty points per game entering the contest. Miami finished the

1976 NFL season The 1976 NFL season was the 57th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 28 teams with the addition of Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This fulfilled one of the conditions agreed to in 1966 for the 1 ...

with a 6–8 mark, then narrowly missed a playoff berth the following season. During the next two seasons, the Dolphins reached the postseason, but dropped their first playoff game. During the strike-shortened

1982 NFL season The 1982 NFL season was the 63rd regular season of the National Football League. A 57-day-long players' strike reduced the 1982 season from a 16-game schedule per team to an abbreviated nine game schedule. Because of the shortened season, th ...

, Miami reached

Super Bowl XVII Super Bowl XVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1982 Miami Dolphins season, Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1982 Washington Redskins season, Washington Reds ...

, but dropped a 27–17 decision to the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. Bill Arnsparger again had created an elite defensive unit, known as the Killer B's (so named because of the number of surnames beginning with "B" on the Dolphins defense).

LSU head coach

On December 2, 1983, Arnsparger was introduced as the head football coach at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

, though he stayed on as the Dolphins' defensive coordinator until the end of the NFL season. As the Tigers' head coach, Arnsparger led LSU to two Sugar Bowl berths in three seasons, in 1984 and 1986, both times against

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. In 1984, LSU finished in a tie for second behind

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, but the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) presidents voted to strip Florida of the conference championship due to NCAA rules violations and LSU participated in the Sugar Bowl instead. His 1986 LSU squad won the school's first outright SEC title since 1970 and the Tigers' last in the pre-

championship game In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match sy ...

era, though the season was marred somewhat by an upset home loss to

, his alma mater. By 1985, Arnsparger was growing frustrated with various scandals in the LSU athletic department, particularly involving

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach

Dale Brown Dale Brown (born 2 November 1956) is an American writer and aviator known for aviation techno-thriller novels. At least thirteen of his novels have been ''New York Times'' Best Sellers. Early life Brown was born in Buffalo, New York, and w ...

. After

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

ran a cover story about the university's issues, Arnsparger met privately with athletic director

Bob Brodhead Robert Edgar Brodhead (December 20, 1936 – February 11, 1996) was an American gridiron football player, executive, and college athletics administrator. He was the athletic director at Louisiana State University (LSU) from 1982 to 1987. He is ...

to complain that the negative coverage was harming football recruiting and to threaten to leave the school if something wasn't done. Shortly after the final regular season game in 1986, Arnsparger announced he was resigning to become the

at Florida.

University of Florida athletic director

At Florida, Arnsparger was tasked with cleaning up an athletic department which had been roiled by

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

violations and subsequent punishments. The

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of ...

team had been found in violation of many NCAA rules in the early 1980s and was still suffering under significant sanctions and probation when Arnsparger arrived, a situation which weakened the financial strength of the entire athletic department. More problems surfaced in 1989. Head football coach

Galen Hall Galen Samuel Hall (born August 14, 1940) is a retired American college and professional football coach and player. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and an alumnus of Penn State University, where he played college football. Hall was previously t ...

was accused of committing minor rules violations, which became a major issue with the NCAA because of the just-completed probation. Though Hall denied the allegations, he was forced to resign in the middle of the 1989 season, and the football program was placed back on NCAA probation the following year. At about the same time, the NCAA was investigating allegations that the

Florida Gators men's basketball The Florida Gators men's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in NCAA Division I's Southeastern Conference (SEC). Home games are played in the O'Connell Center, Exactech Arena at the ...

program had allowed sports agents to pay star players. Less than a month after the head football coach has been forced to resign and just days before the start of the 1989–90 basketball season, long-time head basketball coach

Norm Sloan Norman Leslie Sloan Jr. (June 25, 1926 – December 9, 2003) was an American college basketball player and coach. Sloan was a native of Indiana and played college basketball and football at North Carolina State University. He began a long career a ...

was forced to take an early retirement and his entire coaching staff was dismissed. Sloan subsequently claimed that the allegations were false and that Arnsparger's zealous attempts to clean up Florida's athletic department turned into a "witch hunt" that unfairly punished him and his staff. Former

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

coach

Don DeVoe Donald Eugene DeVoe (born December 31, 1941) is a former American college basketball coach and former player. DeVoe played college basketball for Ohio State University, and later served as the head coach for Virginia Tech, the University of Wyom ...

was quickly hired as interim basketball coach, but despite being the defending SEC champions, the team struggled to a 7–21 record and DeVoe was not retained. Despite having both of the university's marquee sports placed on NCAA probation in 1990, Arnsparger was able to rebuild Florida's athletic program by establishing better compliance procedures and by hiring new coaches who would bring success while following NCAA guidelines. In December 1989, Arnsparger hired

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former American football, football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often ...

as Florida's new football coach. Spurrier, who had won the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

as Florida's quarterback in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, would become the school's all-time wins leader in his twelve years in Gainesville, leading the Gators to their first six conference titles and the 1996 national championship. After the basketball team's disappointing 1989–90 season, Arnsparger hired

Lon Kruger Lonnie Duane Kruger (born August 19, 1952) is a retired American college and professional basketball coach (sport), coach who was most recently the men's basketball head coach of the University of Oklahoma. Kruger played college basketball for K ...

as Florida's new coach. Kruger led the Gators to their first Final Four appearance in 1994 and set the stage for later and greater success under

Billy Donovan William John Donovan Jr. (born May 30, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He has served as head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) since September 2020 after previously coa ...

. The university's overall athletic program improved under Arnsparger; Florida won its first three SEC All-Sports Trophies during his tenure, beginning an ongoing period in which the Gator sports program has been named the conference's best for 28 out of the next 32 years. During his time at Florida, Arnsparger was thought by some athletic department staff and boosters to be "domineering" and that, keeping with his background in coaching, he was "inflexible... sticking by his game plan at all costs.". In hindsight, observers gave him credit for setting up the university's athletic department for unprecedented success after his tenure.

Jeremy Foley Jeremy N. Foley (born December 1, 1952) is an American university sports administrator and former college athlete. Foley was an award-winning athletic director for the Florida Gators Division I sports program of the University of Florida locat ...

, Arnsparger's successor as athletic director, credited him with "helping to right the ship during a very difficult time at the University of Florida."

Return to the NFL

On January 13, 1992, Arnsparger resigned to become the defensive coordinator of the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

. During his three seasons with the Chargers, the team's defense showed marked improvement, culminating with a berth in

Super Bowl XXIX Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion San Diego Chargers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

. Just days after the team's Super Bowl appearance, Arnsparger announced his retirement, citing the

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

surgery he had undergone the year before.

Later life and death

Arnsparger retired in 1995 and split time between homes in Kentucky and Alabama. Soon after, his son David became the football coach at West Limestone High School in northern Alabama, and the elder Arnsparger often visited practices as a volunteer assistant coach. After several years of deteriorating health, Arnsparger died on July 17, 2015, at his home in

Athens, Alabama Athens is a city in and the county seat of Limestone County, in the U.S. state of Alabama; it is included in the Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville, AL Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 21,897. Histo ...

, at the age of 88. He was survived by his wife, his son David, his daughter Mary Susan, and his grandchildren Stephen, Christian, Sarah, Elisabeth, and Callie. He is buried at Paris Cemetery, at

Head coaching record

NFL

College

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnsparger, Bill 1926 births 2015 deaths Baltimore Colts coaches Florida Gators athletic directors Kentucky Wildcats football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches Miami Dolphins coaches Miami RedHawks football coaches National Football League defensive coordinators Miami RedHawks football players New York Giants head coaches San Diego Chargers coaches Tulane Green Wave football coaches United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II United States Marines People from Paris, Kentucky Coaches of American football from Kentucky Players of American football from Kentucky