Billy Paul Bookout (June 1, 1932 – October 10, 2008 ) 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 Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. After a stellar

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

and college career, Bookout spent two seasons with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

before starting a coaching career at the high school level. Despite an outstanding career at Wichita Falls, Bookout did not drew the attention of college scouts. Blessed with uncommon competitiveness and determination, the Bookout hitchhiked to

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma C ...

, and tried to make the

Sooners Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands in what is now the state of Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889. The Unassigned Lands were a part of Indian Territory that, after a lobbying campaign, ...

team as a

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music * ''Walk On'', a 1994 album by Boston, and its title song Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album), 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album), 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album), 1992 *''Walk On'', a 2007 album by ...

. In the first practice, he hit All-American halfback

Billy Vessels Billy Dale Vessels (March 22, 1931 – November 17, 2001) was a gridiron football player. He played college football at the University of Oklahoma and won the Heisman Trophy in 1952. Vessels went on to play professional football with the Nati ...

in the sternum and caused him to fumble. Soon after, he was awarded a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

by Sooners coach

Bud Wilkinson Charles Burnham "Bud" Wilkinson (April 23, 1916 – February 9, 1994) was an American football player, coach, broadcaster, and politician. He served as the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1947 to 1963, compiling a record of ...

. After his sophomore season, Bookout transferred to

Austin College Austin College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Sherman, Texas.1955 NFL draft The 1955 NFL season, 1955 National Football League NFL draft, draft was held January 27–28, 1955 at the Warwick New York Hotel, Warwick Hotel in New York City. This was the ninth year that the List of first overall National Football League Dra ...

, Bookout made the roster of the

, beating out former All-Pro cornerback

Clarence Self Clarence Elbert Self was a professional American football defensive back and halfback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played six seasons for the Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as th ...

. During the

1955 NFL season The 1955 NFL season was the 36th regular season of the National Football League. NBC paid $100,000 to replace DuMont as the national television network for the NFL Championship Game. The season ended when the Cleveland Browns defeated the Los ...

, Bookout registered 2 interceptions and 3 caused fumbles. He left the NFL after the 1956 season. Pursuing a coaching career, Bookout got his first job as junior varsity coach at Austin High School of

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

. After the season, he was hired as head coach at newly founded El Paso Burges. At age 25, Bookout was at the time the youngest head coach in the state's highest classification. His lack of experience, however, caused the program to struggle. Bookout had to leave Burges two seasons later, and finally became an assistant coach at Bell HS in the Fort Worth suburb of Hurst. In 1968, he was again hired to initiate a football program at a newly founded high school, at

Euless Trinity Trinity High School (also known as Euless Trinity in sports) is a public high school in Euless, Texas. The school serves grade levels 10–12 and is a part of the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District. The school is named "Trinity" as ...

. Bookout served the school for eight years before retiring as head coach.

References

Further reading