Edward G. Biles (October 18, 1931 – April 5, 2020) 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 ...
coach whose most prominent position was as head coach of the National Football League's
Houston Oilers
The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...
from 1981 to 1983.
A native of
Reading, Ohio
Reading (pronounced ) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 10,385 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is an inner suburb of Cincinnati and is included as part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area.
G ...
, Biles was an outstanding high school athlete, earning 12 letters and helping the 1946
Reading High School team capture the state baseball championship. He then attended
Miami University
Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...
and was on the school's football team until suffering a career-ending injury. In his remaining time as an undergraduate, Biles served as an assistant with the squad, then officially began his coaching tenure at the high school level.
High school coaching
In 1953, he served as an assistant coach at
Woodward High School in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, while also finishing work on his master's degree. The next year, he was elevated to head coach at the school, before accepting the position of freshman football coach at Cincinnati's
Xavier University
Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 studen ...
. Biles would remain in that position for the next six years, with a record of 20–4 until he was promoted to head coach of the varsity on November 24, 1961, following the departure of
Edward Doherty.
Coaching career
After two seasons in which he compiled an 11–8–1 record, Biles was offered a defensive assistant's role with the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
under head coach
Ara Parseghian
Ara Raoul Parseghian (; hy, Արա Ռաուլ Պարսեղյան; May 21, 1923 – August 2, 2017) was an American football player and coach who guided the University of Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He is noted for bri ...
, who had been at the helm during Biles career at Miami. However, Biles turned the offer down on January 4, 1964, citing his desire to remain as a head coach. He remained at the school for another five seasons, having his best success with the 1965 unit that finished 8–2, and compiled an overall record of 39–28–3.
On January 27, 1969, Biles resigned his position at Xavier to become an assistant coach with the NFL's
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
. Working for two seasons under head coach
Tom Fears
Thomas Jesse Fears (December 3, 1922 – January 4, 2000) was a Mexican-American professional football player who was a split end for the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League (NFL), playing nine seasons from 1948 to 1956. He was lat ...
, Biles lost his job soon after Fears was dismissed in November 1970, but found work as a scout for the
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
the following year.
After one season in that capacity, Biles was selected as the Jets' defensive backs coach on June 24, 1972. He spent the next two seasons under the leadership of head coach
Weeb Ewbank
Wilbur Charles "Weeb" Ewbank (May 6, 1907 – November 17, 1998) was an American professional football coach. He led the Baltimore Colts to consecutive NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 and the New York Jets to victory in Super Bowl III in Janu ...
, but when he retired following the
1973 NFL season
The 1973 NFL season was the 54th regular season of the National Football League. The season was highlighted by O. J. Simpson becoming the first player to rush for 2,000 yards in one season.
The season ended with Super Bowl VIII when the Mi ...
, Biles again lost his job.
Houston Oilers
With his Miami University pedigree, he was able to obtain a coaching position in 1974 with the Oilers under former Miami coach
Sid Gillman
Sidney Gillman (October 26, 1911 – January 3, 2003) was an American football player, coach and executive. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or w ...
. When Gillman retired at the end of that season, he promoted
Bum Phillips
Oail Andrew "Bum" Phillips Jr. (September 29, 1923 – October 18, 2013) was an American football coach at the high school, college and professional levels. He served as head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers fro ...
to head coach, with Biles becoming the team's defensive coordinator. Over the next six seasons, the team showed constant improvement, reaching the
AFC Championship game
The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...
in both 1978 and 1979.
Head coach
In 1980, the Houston Oilers reached the playoffs, but three days after an embarrassing loss to the Oakland Raiders in the 1980 AFC wild card game, Phillips was fired by Oilers owner
Bud Adams
Kenneth Stanley "Bud" Adams, Jr. (January 3, 1923 – October 21, 2013) was an American businessman who was the founder and owner of the Tennessee Titans, a National Football League franchise. A member of the Cherokee Nation who originally made ...
. On January 2, 1981, Biles was tabbed as the team's head coach.
Biles inherited an aging football team and was unable to maintain the winning ways, falling to 7–9 in
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
before dropping to 1–8 in the strike-shortened
1982 NFL season
The 1982 NFL season was the 63rd regular season of the National Football League. A 57-day-long players' strike reduced the 1982 season from a 16-game schedule per team to an abbreviated nine game schedule. Because of the shortened season, th ...
. When the team lost its first six games the next year, a string that extended a losing streak to 13 games, Biles resigned on October 10, 1983, and was replaced by defensive coordinator
Chuck Studley
Charles B. Studley (born January 17, 1929) is a former American football coach. He served as head coach at University of Cincinnati from 1961 to 1966 and interim head coach of the Houston Oilers in 1983. Studley finished with a 2–8 record in h ...
. Biles' frustration was evident at his final press conference when he said, "I've been a punching bag. I've been in the eye of the hurricane for two and a half years, the center of all controversies. I've felt like I've had enough."
Head coaching record
Later career
Biles never returned to the NFL, but remained in touch with the sport by serving as a color commentator for the Houston Gamblers of the USFL 1984-1985, Texas high school football 6A Playoffs and NCAA college football games in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. He was also inducted into both the
Hamilton County (Ohio) and Xavier University Halls of Fame and Reading High School.
In 2005, he was hired as head coach of the
Cincinnati Marshalls of the
National Indoor Football League
The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, A ...
, but resigned on May 31 when additional duties were given due to the team's shaky financial condition.
In late 2006, Biles was hired as an assistant to the head coach of the
Texas Copperheads
The Texas Copperheads were a professional arena football that played in AF2, the minor league for the Arena Football League. The team was founded in 2006 as member of the National Indoor Football League (NIFL). They played their home games at t ...
of the
af2
The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...
, the minor league system of the
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
.
Death
Biles died on April 5, 2020 in Houston, Texas after suffering from leukemia. He was 88 years old.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biles, Ed
1931 births
2020 deaths
Houston Oilers coaches
Houston Oilers head coaches
Miami RedHawks football players
New Orleans Saints coaches
New York Jets coaches
Xavier Musketeers football coaches
National Football League offensive coordinators
United States Football League announcers
College football announcers
High school football announcers in the United States
High school football coaches in Ohio
People from Reading, Ohio
Players of American football from Ohio
Deaths from leukemia
Deaths from cancer in Texas