William Joe (born October 14, 1940) 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.

Playing career

Joe was the American Football League Rookie of the Year in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

with the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

. In 1965, he was traded to 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. ...

for their legendary fullback, Cookie Gilchrist, and made the AFL All-Star Team, starting for the Bills in their

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

AFL Championship victory over the

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 ...

Coaching career

Before becoming a head coach, his tenure as an assistant coach included a year at Maryland in 1971, making him the first African-American coach in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

. Joe later was a successful college

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

for 33 seasons. He coached at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania from 1972 to 1978,

Central State University Central State University (CSU) is a public, historically black land-grant university in Wilberforce, Ohio. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Established by the state legislature in 1887 as a two-year program for te ...

from 1981 to 1993, Florida A&M University from 1994 to 2004, and Miles College from 2008 to 2010. Joe achieved his greatest success at Central State, where his teams won two NAIA National Football Championships, in 1990 and 1992, and made many appearances in the NAIA football playoffs during the 1980s and 1990s. He teams at Florida A&M have made various appearances in the Division I-AA (now FCS) playoffs during the 1990s and early 2000s. In addition, Joe has won five straight black college football national championships with Central State University (1986–1990) and one with Florida A&M (1998). In 2007, he was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

as a coach. Players coached by Joe who went on to the NFL/CFL/Arena League are: *Central State University: Vince Buck, Vince Heflin, Erik Williams and Hugh Douglas *Florida A&M: Jamie Brown, Jamie Nails,

Terry Mickens Terry KaJuan Mickens (born February 21, 1971) is a former American football player, who was a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers and the Oakland Raiders from 1994 to 1999. He played college football at Florida A&M University. College care ...

Dexter Nottage Dexter Alexander Nottage (born November 14, 1970) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and the Kansas City Chiefs. He played college football at Florida A&M University and ...

, Wally Williams,

Earl Holmes Earl L. Holmes (born April 28, 1973) is a former American football linebacker and former head coach at Florida A&M University. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 4th round of the 1996 NFL Draft 126th overall out of Florida A&M Uni ...

, Robert Wilson, Tony Bland, and

Quinn Gray Quinn Fordham Gray Sr. (born May 21, 1979) is a former American football quarterback who played for four seasons in the National Football League and one season each in the United Football League and NFL Europe. He played college football at Flor ...

After a two-season absence as a coach, Joe was named head football coach at Miles College, an

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

school in

Fairfield, Alabama Fairfield is a city in western Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Birmingham metropolitan area and is located southeast of Pleasant Grove. The population was 11,117 at the 2010 census. History This city was founded i ...

on December 12, 2007. He resigned in October 2010, citing poor health. Assistant coach Patrick Peasant took over the team on an interim basis.Miles coach Billy Joe resigns, cites health
(October 5, 2010) ''Sports Illustrated'' He finished his college coaching career with a record of 245–157–4. His number of victories are second only to Eddie Robinson among coaches at

historically black colleges and universities Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Joe, Billy 1940 births Living people American football running backs American Football League players Buffalo Bills players Central State Marauders football coaches Cheyney Wolves football coaches Denver Broncos (AFL) players Florida A&M Rattlers football coaches Miami Dolphins players Maryland Terrapins football coaches Miles Golden Bears football coaches New York Jets players Philadelphia Eagles coaches Villanova Wildcats football players Villanova Wildcats men's track and field athletes American Football League All-Star players American Football League Rookies of the Year College Football Hall of Fame inductees Athletes (track and field) at the 1963 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games People from Aynor, South Carolina People from Coatesville, Pennsylvania Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Track and field athletes from Pennsylvania African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football African-American male track and field athletes 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople

Playing career

Coaching career

Head coaching record

See also

References

External links