Ollie Keller
Ollie Keller (born March 8, 1929) is a former American football player and coach. Keller was an avid sportsman and after three years of playing on service teams while in the Air Force, he had a distinguished football career as a member of General R.R. Neyland’s National Championship Team of 1950-51 at the University of Tennessee. He also enjoyed a notable career in football and basketball during 1952-53 at then Memphis State University. His sports career earned him an induction into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, Memphis State University Hall of Fame and into the initial class of the Blount County Sports Hall of Fame. Keller was a celebrated high school teacher, administrator, coach and athletic director and enjoyed a distinguished collegiate coaching career at Memphis State University, Northeast Louisiana University, Iowa State University, and Colorado State University. Keller served as principal of the Fairview Middle School and as assistant principal of Brentwood High. He served during the Gov. Lamar Alexander administration as Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and during the Gov. Don Sundquist administration as Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Environment and Conservation.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 8, 1929 Blount County, Tennessee[1] |
| Died | April 21, 2019 |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1950-1951 | University of Tennessee |
| 1952–1953 | Memphis State |
| Basketball | |
| 1951–1953 | Memphis State |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1954 | Hall HS (TN) |
| 1955–1956 | Maryville HS (TN) |
| 1957–1967 | Memphis Catholic HS (TN) |
| 1968 | Iowa State (assistant) |
| 1970–1971 | Memphis State (assistant) |
| 1972–1975 | Northeast Louisiana |
| 1976 | Colorado State (OC) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 14–24–3 (college) |
Coaching career
Keller began his coaching career at Halls High School followed by two years at his high school alma mater, Maryville High School. He spent the next ten years coaching at Memphis Catholic High School (1957–1967), which was a perennial football powerhouse. Keller move to the college level in 1968 as an assistant at Iowa State University under Johnny Majors followed by returning to Memphis State as an assistant in 1970. He served as the head football coach at Northeast Louisiana University—now known as University of Louisiana at Monroe—in Monroe, Louisiana for four seasons, from 1972 until 1975, compiling record of 14–24–3.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast Louisiana Indians (NCAA College Division independent) (1972) | |||||||||
| 1972 | Northeast Louisiana | 3–7 | |||||||
| Northeast Louisiana Indians (NCAA Division II independent) (1973–1974) | |||||||||
| 1973 | Northeast Louisiana | 3–5–2 | |||||||
| 1974 | Northeast Louisiana | 4–6 | |||||||
| Northeast Louisiana Indians (NCAA Division I independent) (1975) | |||||||||
| 1975 | Northeast Louisiana | 4–6–1 | |||||||
| Northeast Louisiana: | 14–24–3 | ||||||||
| Total: | 14–24–3 | ||||||||