Willis Sherman "Bill" Bates (January 26, 1880 – May 13, 1939) 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 ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at Fairmount College—now known as

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

—from 1905 to 1908 and at Southwestern College in

Winfield, Kansas Winfield is a city and county seat of Cowley County, Kansas, United States. It is situated along the Walnut River in South Central Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 11,777. It is home to Southwestern College. Hi ...

from 1914 to 1925, compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

record of 81–49–12. He also coached basketball at Fairmount (1905–1908) and Southwestern (1914–1926), tallying a career

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

mark of 179–79.

Coaching career

Fairmount

Bates was the sixth head football coach for Fairmount College, now

, located in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

and he held that position for four seasons, from 1905 until 1908. His overall coaching record at Fairmount was 28–8–3. This ranks him second at Fairmont/Wichita State in terms of total wins and third at Wichita State in terms of winning percentage.

Night game

Bates was the head coach for the

1905 Cooper vs. Fairmount football game The 1905 Cooper vs. Fairmount football game was a college football game between (now Sterling College) and (now Wichita State University) played on October 6, 1905, at Association Field in Wichita The game was played at night under gas lamps as ...

played on October 6, 1905 at Association Field in Wichita The game was played at night under

gas lamps Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly ...

as a demonstration by the

Coleman Company The Coleman Company, Inc. is an American brand of outdoor recreation products, especially camping gear, now owned by Newell Brands. The company's new headquarters are in Chicago, and it has facilities in Wichita, Kansas, and in Texas. There are ...

and was the first night football game played west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. Fairmount won by a score of 24–0.

Experimental game

Bates was the head coach for Fairmount in the

1905 Washburn vs. Fairmount football game The 1905 Washburn vs. Fairmount football game was a college football game between Fairmount College (now called Wichita State University) and the Washburn Ichabods played on December 25, 1905, in Wichita, Kansas. It marked the first experiment wi ...

that took place on December 25, 1905. The game was played against the

Washburn Washburn (alternatively Wasseburne, Wasseborne, Wasshebourne, Wassheborne, Washbourne, Washburne, Washborne, Washborn, Wasborn, Washbon) is a toponymic surname, probably of Old English origin, with likely Anglo-Norman and Norman-French influen ...

Ichabods using a set of experimental rules and was officiated by then-Washburn head coach

John H. Outland John Henry Outland (March 17, 1871 – March 24, 1947) was an American football player and coach. He played football at Penn College in Oskaloosa, Iowa, the University of Kansas, and the University of Pennsylvania. He was twice named an All-Ame ...

. The experimental rule requiring a first down be achieved in three downs rather than four was regarded as a failure and a primary reason for the game to have ended in a scoreless tie; however the rule allowing the ball to be thrown forward under certain conditions was retained in the overall recodification and revision undertaken when the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

was formed early the next year.

Southwestern

Bates was the sixth head football coach at Southwestern College in

, serving for 12 years, from 1914 to 1925, and compiling record of 52–36–9. He is the longest-tenured coach in Southwestern's football history having served as head coach for 102 games and was mentor for future Southwestern coach

Art Kahler Arthur Daniel Kahler Sr. (December 27, 1897 – April 23, 1982) was an American college football and basketball player and coach. He was listed in "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" as only person to coach at two different major colleges at the same t ...

. Bates also served as the head basketball coach at Southwestern for 12 seasons, from 1914 until 1926, where the Moundbuilders were considered one of the best basketball teams in the nation at the time. His basketball teams amassed a record of 164–59 (.735).Southwestern College Basketball Coaching Records
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Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Willis S. 1880 births 1939 deaths Southwestern Moundbuilders football coaches Southwestern Moundbuilders men's basketball coaches Wichita State Shockers baseball coaches Wichita State Shockers football coaches Wichita State Shockers men's basketball coaches