William Edward O'Brien (March 11, 1923 – December 1, 2000) 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 and official. He was the seventh head football coach at the

Southern Illinois University Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU or SIUC) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Founded in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university enrolls students from all 50 s ...

, serving for three seasons, from 1952 to 1954, and compiling a record of 6–20. O'Brien was an official in 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) for 18 seasons, from 1967 through 1983, officiating in

Super Bowl X Super Bowl X was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for t ...

in 1976. He wore number 83 for the major part of his NFL career. He was also a professor at

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

. O'Brien was born on March 11, 1923, in

Schulter, Oklahoma Schulter is a town in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 509 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 15.2 percent from the figure of 600 recorded in 2000. History Located approximately eight miles south of Okmulgee and six mi ...

. He graduated in 1941 from Zeigler High School in

Zeigler, Illinois Zeigler is a city in Franklin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,801 at the 2010 census. The current mayor is Dennis Mitchell. History Zeigler incorporated in 1914 and was named for Levi Zeigler Leiter, the father of Joseph Le ...

. O'Brien served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, retiring as a colonel in 1983. He died on December 1, 2000, at Cardinal Health Care in

Energy, Illinois Energy is a village in Williamson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 974 at the 2020 census. The community was named for local "Energy" brand coal. History What is now Energy was originally known as "Fordville," which was est ...

, after battling

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

for 13 years.

Head coaching record

References

1923 births 2000 deaths Southern Illinois Salukis baseball coaches Southern Illinois Salukis baseball players Southern Illinois Salukis football coaches Southern Illinois Salukis football players National Football League officials Indiana University Bloomington alumni United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War United States Marine Corps officers People from Okmulgee County, Oklahoma People from Zeigler, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Baseball players from Illinois Neurological disease deaths in Illinois Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Military personnel from Illinois {{1950s-collegefootball-coach-stub