Billy Russell Kinard (December 16, 1933 – June 30, 2018) 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 wi ...

player and coach. He played professionally as a defensive back for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

and Green Bay Packers of 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) and the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League (AFL). Kinard played college football at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

(Ole Miss) before being drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the second round of the 1956 NFL Draft. He played professionally for four seasons and retired in 1960. Kinard later served as the head football coach at Ole Miss from 1971 to 1973 and at

Gardner–Webb University Gardner–Webb University (Gardner–Webb, GWU, or GW) is a private Baptist university in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina ( Southern Baptist Convention). It was founded as Boi ...

in 1978, compiling a career coaching record of 20–14–1.

Coaching career

In 1970, Kinard's older brother, a former Ole Miss and NFL star, Frank "Bruiser" Kinard, became the athletic director at Ole Miss. He hired the younger Kinard to be the new

Ole Miss Rebels football The Ole Miss Rebels football program represents the University of Mississippi, also known as "Ole Miss". The Rebels compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division of ...

coach. Billy Kinard was the head coach when Ole Miss football became integrated. It was said that Johnny Vaught had swore to never integrate the football team. So, Billy was brought in to specifically do this. After the third contest of the 1973 season,

Johnny Vaught John Howard Vaught (May 6, 1909 – February 3, 2006) was an American college football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) from 1947 to 1970 and aga ...

replaced Kinard, returning for his second stint as Ole Miss' athletic director and head football coach.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

* * 1933 births 2018 deaths American football defensive backs American football halfbacks Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches American Football League players Auburn Tigers football coaches Buffalo Bills players Cleveland Browns coaches Cleveland Browns players Florida Gators football coaches Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs football coaches Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Green Bay Packers coaches Green Bay Packers players New England Patriots coaches Ole Miss Rebels football coaches Ole Miss Rebels football players High school football coaches in Florida Coaches of American football from Mississippi Players of American football from Jackson, Mississippi {{defensiveback-1930s-stub

Coaching career

Head coaching record

See also

Notes

References

External links