Orris Kay Dalton (May 4, 1932 – August 22, 2022) was an American former

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at Western State College of Colorado—now known as

Western Colorado University Western Colorado University (Western) is a public university in Gunnison, Colorado. It enrolls approximately 2,600 undergraduate and 400 graduate students, with 25 percent coming from out of state. Western offers more than 100 undergraduate areas ...

—from 1961 to 1965 and

Northern Colorado University The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...

from 2000 to 2005, 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 ...

coaching record of 71–43. Dalton was also the head coach for the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) from 1967 to 1969, tallying a mark of 7–31–4.

Biography

Dalton began coaching in 1958 as

Trinidad State Junior College Trinidad State College is a public community college in Trinidad, Colorado. It was founded in 1925, making it the first community college in the state of Colorado. Trinidad State operates a satellite campus in the nearby city of Alamosa, Color ...

's head coach. In 1961, he became head coach of

Western State College Western Colorado University (Western) is a public university in Gunnison, Colorado. It enrolls approximately 2,600 undergraduate and 400 graduate students, with 25 percent coming from out of state. Western offers more than 100 undergraduate areas ...

. He had a 33–12 record at WSC, and in 1964 led the Mountaineers to the

Mineral Water Bowl The Mineral Water Bowl is an annual American NCAA Division II college football bowl game between teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and an at large opponent hosted in Excelsior Springs, Missouri at Tiger Stadium. History ...

. In his five seasons as coach, he led WSC to four

Rocky Mountain Conference The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...

championships. Dalton moved to the professional ranks in 1966 as the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

of the

. In 1967, he was promoted to head coach after

Darrell Mudra Darrell E. Mudra Sr. (January 4, 1929 – September 21, 2022), nicknamed "Dr. Victory", was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Adams State College (1959–1962), North Dakota State University (1963–1965), th ...

resigned to coach at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

. Dalton was fired after the 1969 season and was replaced by the team's former

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Sam Etcheverry Samuel "The Rifle" Etcheverry (May 20, 1930 – August 29, 2009) was a professional American football, American and Canadian football player and head coach. Etcheverry played the quarterback position, most famously with the Montreal Alouettes of ...

. He had a 7–31–4 record over three seasons. In 1970, he stayed in the CFL, becoming the

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

and wide receiver coach of the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

. In 1971, Dalton returned to college football as

quarterbacks coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

of the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffalo ...

. He coached the Buffaloes' quarterbacks for two seasons before being reassigned as a recruiting officer at Colorado. He returned to the pros in 1974 as the wide receivers coach for the

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 1977, he joined

Lou Saban Louis Henry Saban (October 13, 1921 – March 29, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He played for Indiana University in college and as a professional for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference between 1946 a ...

's coaching staff, serving as the receivers coach of 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. ...

. After not being retained by Chuck Knox, Dalton held the same position with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

under

Marv Levy Marvin Daniel Levy (; born August 3, 1925) is an American former football coach and executive who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for seventeen seasons. He spent most of his head coaching career with the Buffalo Bills, lea ...

, another former Alouettes coach. After Levy was fired, he moved to the

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 ...

coaching staff as

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

under

Ed Biles Edward G. Biles (October 18, 1931 – April 5, 2020) was an American football coach whose most prominent position was as head coach of the National Football League's Houston Oilers from 1981 to 1983. A native of Reading, Ohio, Biles was an outst ...

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 ...

, and

Hugh Campbell Hugh Campbell (born May 21, 1941) is a former American football and Canadian football player, coach, and executive. He served as a head coach in three different professional gridiron football leagues: the Canadian Football League (CFL), the Unit ...

. In 1985, he rejoined Buffalo Bills as quarterbacks coach before returning to the Broncos the following season as special offensive assistant coach. In 1987, he returned to his alma mater

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

as the team's offensive coordinator. In 1989, he became the offensive coordinator at the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...

, a position he would hold for 11 years before his promotion to head coach. The Bears won Division II national championships in 1996 and 1997. Quarterback Corte McGuffey won the

Harlon Hill Trophy The Harlon Hill Trophy is an award in American college football given to the individual selected as the most valuable player in NCAA Division II. The award is named for former University of North Alabama and National Football League player Harlo ...

as the NCAA Division II college football player of the year in 1999. In 2000, Dalton was promoted to head coach when Joe Glenn accepted the same position at the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

. He would guide the team through the early portion of the school's transition from Division II to Division I (I-AA in football). He was relieved of his duties December 2, 2005, by

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

Jay Hinrichs. Dalton had a 38–31 record in six seasons as the Bears' head coach.

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalton, Kay 1932 births 2022 deaths American football ends BC Lions coaches Buffalo Bills coaches Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Colorado State Rams football coaches Colorado State Rams football players Denver Broncos coaches Houston Oilers coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches Montreal Alouettes coaches Northern Colorado Bears football coaches Western Colorado Mountaineers football coaches Junior college football coaches in the United States People from Moab, Utah