William Curtis Carr, III (born November 29, 1945) is an American retired

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 ...

player, coach, and athletics administrator. Carr was born in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...

, raised in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

, and attended 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 ...

, where he was an All-American center for 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 in the mid-1960s. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

for two years, and after an unsuccessful attempt to make a

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 ...

roster, Carr returned to UF as an assistant football coach. He soon moved into sports administration at the school, and in 1979, he became 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 at the age of 33, making him the youngest athletic director among major universities at the time. He later served as the athletic director at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

and has been involved in college sports consulting since the late 1990s.

Early life

Carr was born in

, the son of a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

.Jack Hairston,
Bill Carr A Gator, 'Born and Bred
'" ''Ocala Star Banner'', p. 6B (February 9, 1979). Retrieved February 9, 2010. He grew up in Vero Beach and

. Carr attended

Pensacola High School Pensacola High School is a secondary school located near downtown Pensacola, Florida, United States. The school celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2001 and graduated its 100th class of seniors in 2005; however, the school has not always been at ...

, and was a standout high school football player for the Pensacola Tigers. Following his senior season, he was recognized as a first-team all-state selection.

College years

Carr accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, where he was the center for coach

Ray Graves Samuel Ray Graves (December 31, 1918 – April 10, 2015) was an American college and professional American football, football player and college football coach. He was a native of Tennessee and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where ...

team from

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

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 ...

. Carr was the roommate of the Gators'

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 ...

-winning

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

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 ...

before Spurrier's marriage in September 1966, and was a team captain his senior year.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 87, 90, 96, 124, 174, 180 (2011). Retrieved August 27, 2011. He was named a first-team All-

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 ...

selection and a first-team All-American in 1966. Carr and the Gators concluded the 1966 season with a 27–12 victory over the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Rambl ...

in the 1967

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

. Carr graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in Spanish in 1968, and was later inducted into the

University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame includes over 300 former Florida Gators athletes who represented the University of Florida in one or more intercollegiate sports and were recognized as "Gator Greats" for their athletic excellence ...

as a "Gator Great."

Professional football and military service

The

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

selected Carr in the fourth round (106th pick overall) of the

1967 NFL Draft The 1967 National Football League draft was conducted March 14–15, 1967, at the Gotham Hotel in New York City. It was the first common draft with the AFL, part of the AFL–NFL merger agreement of June 1966. This draft was delayed as new gui ...

. Carr signed with the Saints in , but had to fulfill his military service obligation before he could play. When he returned to the Saints after two years in the U.S. Army, he did not make the final roster cut in the preseason.

Coach, athletic director and consultant

Carr retired as a player and returned to the University of Florida in 1970 to serve as a football graduate assistant under head coach

Doug Dickey Douglas Adair Dickey (born June 24, 1932) is an American former college football player and coach and college athletics administrator. Dickey is a South Dakota native who was raised in Florida and graduated from the University of Florida, where ...

while earning a master's degree in education. He then served as an assistant

junior varsity Junior varsity (often called "JV") players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as any football, basketball, or baseball game), usually at the high school level–– and formerly at the collegiate level� ...

coach and

academic advisor Academic advising is, according to the National Academic Advising Association, "a series of intentional interactions with a curriculum, a pedagogy, and a set of student learning outcomes. Academic advising synthesizes and contextualizes students' ...

while studying sports administration, and in 1974, he became an assistant to Florida

. Carr was promoted to the position of assistant athletic director in 1976, and when Graves retired in 1979, Carr was promoted to fill his position, making him the youngest Division I athletic director in the country at the time. While leading the University of Florida Athletic Association, Carr was credited with improving the athletic department's financial footing and sports facilities (including a major expansion of

Florida Field Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (in full Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium),O'Connell Center), setting the stage for future success and helping make possible the Gators' first conference football championship in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

. However, he also oversaw a scandal which saw that football championship vacated for recruiting and other NCAA violations under head coach

Charlie Pell Charles Byron Pell (February 17, 1941 – May 29, 2001) was an American college American football, football player and coach. Pell was an Alabama native and an alumnus of the University of Alabama, where he played college football. He is most ...

. Carr resigned in 1986 and was succeeded by Bill Arnsparger. After leaving Florida, Carr served as the executive director of a youth advocacy group and a vice-president at

Raycom Sports Raycom Sports is an American producer of sports television programs. It is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and owned and operated by Gray Television. It was founded in 1979 by husband and wife, Rick and Dee Ray. In the 1980s, Raycom ...

before returning to sports administration as the athletic director at the

from 1993 to 1997. After leaving Houston, Carr founded and led an intercollegiate athletics consulting group for several years before semi-retiring to serve as an executive coach in 2020.Carr Sports Associates, Associates
Bill Carr
. Retrieved February 9, 2010.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). . * McEwen, Tom, ''The Gators: A Story of Florida Football'', The Strode Publishers, Huntsville, Alabama (1974). . * Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Bill 1945 births Living people All-American college football players American football centers Florida Gators athletic directors Florida Gators football coaches Florida Gators football players Houston Cougars athletic directors Players of American football from Pensacola, Florida Sportspeople from Gainesville, Florida Sportspeople from Pensacola, Florida Players of American football from Gainesville, Florida