William Patrick McPeak (July 24, 1926 – May 7, 1991) was 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 with ...

player and coach 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). He was drafted by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

in the 16th round of the 1948 NFL Draft, playing nine seasons for them. He also was the head coach of 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 ...

and offensive coordinator of the

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 ...

Playing career

Born in

New Castle, Pennsylvania New Castle is a city in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is northwest of Pittsburgh, and near the Pennsylvania–Ohio border, just southeast of Youngstown, Ohio. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, ...

, McPeak was a star

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

. He was drafted by the

where he played from 1949 to 1957. During the final two years of his playing career he also became an assistant coach for the team.

Head coaching career

In 1959, McPeak joined the

as an assistant under head coach

Mike Nixon Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

. After Nixon's dismissal following the

1960 NFL season The 1960 NFL season was the 41st regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, 33-year-old Pete Rozelle, the general manager of the Los Angeles Rams, was elected NFL commissioner as a compromise choice on the twenty-third ...

, McPeak was promoted to head coach and

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

, and remained in that position until 1965. Although the Redskins did not have a winning season under McPeak with an overall 21-46-3 record, the team acquired players, many of whom would become future Hall of Famers, that would eventually play a part in their later winning years. They include

Sonny Jurgensen Christian Adolph "Sonny" Jurgensen III (born August 23, 1934) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins. He was inducted int ...

Bobby Mitchell Robert Cornelius Mitchell (June 6, 1935 – April 5, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a halfback and flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Redskins. Mitchell becam ...

Charley Taylor Charles Robert Taylor (September 28, 1941 – February 19, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for 13 seasons with the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college foo ...

, Jerry Smith,

Len Hauss Leonard Moore Hauss (July 11, 1942 – December 15, 2021) was an American professional American football, football player who was a Center (gridiron football), center in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins from 1964 Wa ...

, and

Chris Hanburger Christian G. Hanburger, Jr. (born August 13, 1941) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire 14-year career with the Washington Redskins, from 1965 through 1978, and was elected to t ...

Later coaching and scouting

After spending the 1966 season as a

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

for

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

games on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

, McPeak joined 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 ...

as an

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

in 1967, a position he held until 1972 when he moved on to the

to replace

Howard Schnellenberger Howard Leslie Schnellenberger (March 16, 1934 – March 27, 2021) was an American football coach with long service at both the professional and college levels. He held head coaching positions with the National Football League's Baltimore Colts a ...

who became head coach of 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 ...

. His tenure in Miami would last for only two seasons due to complications suffered after a stroke, which he spent several years recovering from. He would later join 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 ...

after returning to health, where he became director of scouting for twelve years. McPeak died of a heart attack on May 7, 1991 at the age of 64 at his home in

Foxboro, Massachusetts Foxborough is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, about southwest of Boston, northeast of Providence, Rhode Island and about northwest of Cape Cod. Foxborough is part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 18,618 at ...

References

External links

Bill McPeak, Football Scout, 64
{{DEFAULTSORT:McPeak, Bill 1926 births 1991 deaths Detroit Lions coaches Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players Miami Dolphins coaches National Football League announcers National Football League general managers New England Patriots executives New England Patriots scouts Pittsburgh Panthers football players Pittsburgh Steelers coaches Pittsburgh Steelers players People from New Castle, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania St. Louis Cardinals (football) announcers Washington Redskins coaches Washington Redskins executives Washington Redskins head coaches