Joe Neil James (April 12, 1934 – October 9, 2015) 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 ...

coach. He was the 11th head football coach at

Howard Payne University Howard Payne University is a private Baptist university in Brownwood, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Howard Payne College was founded by Reverend Noah T. Byers and Dr. John David Robnett in 1889. The institu ...

Brownwood, Texas Brownwood is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, Texas, United States. The population was 18,862 at th2020 census Brownwood is located in the Northern Texas Hill Country and is home to Howard Payne University that was founded in 1889. ...

, serving for four seasons, from 1964 to 1967, and compiling a record of 16–24–1. James came to Howard Payne from

La Vega High School La Vega High School is a public high school located in the city of Bellmead, Texas, United States and classified as a 4A school by the University Interscholastic League (UIL). It is a part of the La Vega Independent School District located in cent ...

Bellmead, Texas Bellmead is a city in McLennan County, Texas, United States. The population was 10,494 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Waco Metropolitan Statistical Area. The word Bellmead means "Beautiful Autumn Valley" and was the name given to the regio ...

, where was head football coach from 1960 to 1963. James played college football at Howard Payne and was selected in the 20th round of the

1955 NFL Draft The 1955 National Football League draft was held January 27–28, 1955 at the Warwick Hotel in New York City. This was the ninth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery. With the previous eight winners ineligib ...

by the Chicago Bears.

Head coaching record

College

References

1934 births 2015 deaths American football tackles Howard Payne Yellow Jackets football coaches Howard Payne Yellow Jackets football players High school football coaches in Texas People from Spur, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas Players of American football from Texas {{1960s-collegefootball-coach-stub