William J. Lewis (born August 5, 1941) is a former

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 with ...

player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

(1977–1979),

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

(1989–1991), and the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

(1992–1994), compiling a career

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 ...

record of 45–52–2. Lewis was a defensive assistant at many schools and most notably served as an assistant to Vince Dooley at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, helping win a National Championship in 1980.

Coaching career

Wyoming

Lewis was named the

's 22nd head football coach in December 1976 following the hiring of

Fred Akers Fred Akers (March 17, 1938 – December 7, 2020) was an American college football player and coach. He served as head football coach at the University of Wyoming (1975–1976), the University of Texas at Austin (1977–1986), and Purdue Universit ...

by the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

to be the Longhorn's head coach. Lewis compiled a 13–21–1 (.386) win–loss record as Wyoming's coach through the 1977 to 1979 seasons. He was fired at the conclusion of the '79 season and replaced by Pat Dye. His largest margin of victory was 51–21 over the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

during the 1978 season. His worst loss as the Cowboy's head coach came against

LSU 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 near ...

the year before, 1977. The LSU Tigers pounced on Wyoming, 66–7, in Baton Rouge. He produced two noted

NFL 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 major ...

prospects,

Ken Fantetti Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in t ...

, a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who went on to play for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

for seven years (1979–1985) and

Guy Frazier Guy Shelton Frazier (born July 20, 1959) is a former American football linebacker who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) played for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1981 to 1984 and the Buffalo Bills from 1985 to 1986. He play ...

another

who played six years in the

for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

(1981–1984) and the

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

(1985–1986).

East Carolina

In his most successful head coaching position, Lewis lead the

East Carolina Pirates The East Carolina Pirates are the athletic teams that represent East Carolina University (ECU), located in Greenville, North Carolina. All varsity-level sports teams participate at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division ...

to an 11–1 record and an amazing come from behind

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...

victory over North Carolina State in 1991. The program had not had a winning season since 1983 before Lewis came there. Lewis served as head coach at East Carolina for three seasons (1989–1991) before departing for Georgia Tech. The 1991 Pirates finished the season with their highest national ranking, #9 in both the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides 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 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

and the

Coaches' Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

, and Lewis received 1991 National Coach-of-the-Year honors from the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

, and

Scripps-Howard The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...

Georgia Tech

Bill Lewis assumed the head coaching position at Georgia Tech in 1991 following Bobby Ross's departure to coach the NFL's

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 ...

. Lewis held the position from 1992 until midway through the 1994 season; he resigned (though some reports say he was effectively fired) after a 1–7 start and was replaced by defensive coordinator

George O'Leary George Joseph O'Leary (born August 17, 1946) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets from 1994 to 2001 and the UCF Knights from 2004 to 2015 ...

, who coached the final three games of the season, all losses.

Notre Dame

From 2005 to 2007, Lewis served as the assistant head coach and defensive backs coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish under Charlie Weis.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Notre Dame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Bill 1941 births Living people American football quarterbacks Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches East Carolina Pirates football coaches East Stroudsburg Warriors baseball players East Stroudsburg Warriors football coaches East Stroudsburg Warriors football players Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football coaches Miami Dolphins coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Wake Forest Demon Deacons football coaches Wyoming Cowboys football coaches Sportspeople from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Philadelphia Players of American football from Philadelphia