William Wallace Kollar (born November 27, 1952) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach and former player. Kollar played as a defensive tackle in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1974 to 1976, and the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

from 1977 to 1981. Kollar has 34 years of coaching experience, including the last 28 seasons coaching defensive linemen in the NFL. Before coming to Denver in 2015, he coached the defensive line for Houston (2009–2014), Buffalo (2006–2008), St. Louis (2001–2005) and Atlanta (1990–2000).

Early life

Kollar grew up in

Warren, Ohio Warren is a city in and the county seat of Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. Located in northeastern Ohio, Warren lies approximately northwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 39,201 at the 2020 census. The hi ...

and attended

Warren G. Harding High School Warren G. Harding High School is a public high school in Warren, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Warren City School District. Sports teams are called the Raiders, and they compete in the Ohio High School Athletic Associatio ...

, graduating in 1970. He then attended Montana State University, where he was a three-time First-team All-

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eig ...

selection and a two-time Little All-American. As a junior for the Bobcats, he was named the Big Sky Player of the Year. Kollar went on to earn Most Valuable Player honors at the 1974 Senior Bowl and was inducted into the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame in 2014. His jersey #77 has been retired by Montana State.

Coaching career

Early Years

He began coaching as a defensive assistant and special teams coach for the

under coach John McKay in 1984. He then spent three seasons at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

, first as a graduate assistant and then a defensive line/special teams coach, and two years at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

NFL

Kollar began his NFL coaching career as the defensive line coach for the Atlanta Falcons in 1990. He spent more than a decade (1990-2000) coaching the defensive line for the Falcons, highlighted by an NFC Championship in 1998 and an appearance in

Super Bowl XXXIII Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos (who were also defending their Super Bowl XXXII championship) and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Atlan ...

against Denver. Kollar then spent five seasons coaching the defensive line in St. Louis. Kollar’s defensive line was instrumental in the Rams’ 2001 Super Bowl run as the club ranked third in the NFL in rush defense (85.9 ypg) while tying for the seventh-most sacks (45) in the league. Kollar then spent three years coaching the defensive line in Buffalo (2006-08), where he coached future All-Pro defensive tackle Kyle Williams and two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Aaron Schobel.

Houston Texans

Kollar joined the Houston Texans in 2009 and spent six years there, including his first five years as assistant head coach/defensive line. During his tenure with the Texans, the team ranked eighth in the NFL in total defense (329 .4 ypg) and third in the league in opponent third-down percentage (35.9). Kollar’s unit adjusted to the defense’s transition to a 3-4 scheme in 2011 under Houston Defensive Coordinator

Wade Phillips Harold Wade Phillips (born June 21, 1947) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL. He has served as head coach of the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, and Dallas Cowboys. He has also ser ...

. The Texans went on to post the third-largest defensive turnaround (-91.2 ypg) in NFL history in 2011. Defensive ends

Mario Williams Mario Jerrel Williams (born January 31, 1985) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football for North Carolina State University, and was selected first overall by the Houston Texans in the 2006 NFL Draft. A four-time ...

, Antonio Smith and J. J. Watt combined for five Pro Bowls playing for Kollar in Houston.

Denver Broncos

After the 2014 season, Kollar left the Texans and became the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

defensive line coach, where he reunited with

Gary Kubiak Gary Wayne Kubiak (born August 15, 1961) is a former American football coach and quarterback. He served as head coach for the NFL's Houston Texans from 2006 to 2013 and the Denver Broncos from 2015 to 2016 before stepping down from the position ...

. On February 7, 2016, Kollar was part of the Broncos coaching staff that won

Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) cha ...

. In the game, the Broncos defeated the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

by a score of 24–10.

Personal life

Kollar and his wife, Jan, have two sons, Chad and Clint. In 1995, Kollar was inducted into his hometown Warren Sports Hall of Fame. On April 10, 2014, he was named to the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

Hall of Fame, commemorating the 40th anniversary of his being named MVP of the annual college all-star game.

References

External links

Houston Texans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kollar, Bill 1952 births Living people American football defensive tackles Atlanta Falcons coaches Buffalo Bills coaches Cincinnati Bengals players Denver Broncos coaches Houston Texans coaches Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches Montana State Bobcats football players Sportspeople from Warren, Ohio Purdue Boilermakers football coaches St. Louis Rams coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers players