Billy Gene Michael (February 28, 1935 – March 4, 2016) 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. He served as the head football coach at 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 ...

(UTEP) from 1977 to 1981. He compiled a 5–43 (.104) record, which eventually led to his firing in 1981. He lost 10 consecutive games twice, in periods from 1977 to 1978 and 1979 to 1980.

Coaching career

Michael's coaching career began at his alma mater, Arkansas, in 1959 when he coached the freshmen team. In 1960 and 1961 he worked as an assistant football coach at Thomas Jefferson High School, in

Port Arthur, Texas Port Arthur is a city in Jefferson County within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Texas. A small, uninhabited portion extends into Orange County; it is east of Houston. The largest oil refinery in the United Sta ...

, under head coach Clarence Underwood. In 1962 Michael moved to Sherman High School to serve as an assistant to Dave Smith. The following year, he joined the staff at the newly-formed

Caprock High School Caprock High School is located in Amarillo, Texas in Potter, County, which is part of the Texas Panhandle. Caprock is one of four high schools in the Amarillo Independent School District and classified as a 5A school by the UIL. Caprock was bui ...

, in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

, as line coach. Michael coached at

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. He served as a defensive coach at the University of South Carolina starting in 1982.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

1935 births 2016 deaths Arkansas Razorbacks football players North Texas Mean Green football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football coaches Oklahoma State Cowboys football coaches South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches Southern Miss Golden Eagles football coaches Texas Longhorns football coaches UTEP Miners football coaches High school football coaches in Texas People from Alcorn County, Mississippi People from Blytheville, Arkansas Players of American football from Arkansas {{OKState-stub