William M. Bell
William McNeil "Big Bill" Bell Sr. (June 10, 1909 – May 10, 1991) was an American football player and coach and college athletics administrator.[1] He served as the head football coach at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina from 1934 to 1935, Florida A&M University from 1936 to 1942, and North Carolina A&T State University from 1946 to 1956.[2][3] Bell was the first African-American football player in the history of the Ohio State Buckeyes football program.[4]
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 10, 1909 Polk County, Georgia |
| Died | June 10, 1991 (aged 82) Fayetteville, North Carolina |
| Playing career | |
| 1929–1931 | Ohio State |
| Position(s) | Tackle |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1932–1933 | Howard (assistant) |
| 1934–1935 | Claflin |
| 1936–1942 | Florida A&M |
| 1946–1956 | North Carolina A&T |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1934–1936 | Claflin |
| ?–c. 1968 | North Carolina A&T |
| 1969–1975 | Fayetteville State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 101–48–13 (excluding Claflin) |
| Bowls | 6–3–1 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2 black college national (1938, 1942) 3 SIAC (1937–1938, 1942) 1 CIAA (1950) | |
After graduating from Ohio State in 1932, Bell was an assistant coach at Howard University in Washington, D.C. for two years. In 1934, he was hired as athletic director and head football coach at Claflin.[5][6]
Bell married to the former Henrietta Louise Lee of Charleston, South Carolina.[7]
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claflin Panthers () (1934–1935) | |||||||||
| 1934 | Claflin | 5–4–1 | |||||||
| 1935 | Claflin | ||||||||
| Claflin: | |||||||||
| Florida A&M Rattlers (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1936–1942) | |||||||||
| 1936 | Florida A&M | 2–4–1 | L Orange Blossom Classic | ||||||
| 1937 | Florida A&M | 7–1–1 | 5–0–1 | 1st | W Orange Blossom Classic, L Prairie | ||||
| 1938 | Florida A&M | 8–0 | 6–0 | 1st | W Orange Blossom Classic | ||||
| 1939 | Florida A&M | 6–2–1 | W Orange Blossom Classic | ||||||
| 1940 | Florida A&M | 6–1–3 | T Orange Blossom Classic | ||||||
| 1941 | Florida A&M | 8–1 | 5–1 | W Orange Blossom Classic | |||||
| 1942 | Florida A&M | 9–0 | 7–0 | 1st | W Orange Blossom Classic | ||||
| Florida A&M: | 46–9–6 | ||||||||
| North Carolina A&T Aggies (Colored/Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1946–1956) | |||||||||
| 1946 | North Carolina A&T | 5–5 | 3–4 | ||||||
| 1947 | North Carolina A&T | 3–4–1 | 2–4–1 | ||||||
| 1948 | North Carolina A&T | 4–6–1 | 2–4 | L Vulcan | |||||
| 1949 | North Carolina A&T | 7–2 | 5–1 | W Orange Blossom Classic | |||||
| 1950 | North Carolina A&T | 6–2–1 | 5–0–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1951 | North Carolina A&T | 7–1–1 | 4–1–1 | ||||||
| 1952 | North Carolina A&T | 6–4 | 4–2 | ||||||
| 1953 | North Carolina A&T | 4–4 | 4–3 | ||||||
| 1954 | North Carolina A&T | 4–6 | 2–5 | ||||||
| 1955 | North Carolina A&T | 4–1–3 | 4–0–3 | ||||||
| 1956 | North Carolina A&T | 5–4 | 3–4 | ||||||
| North Carolina A&T: | 55–39–7 | 38–28–6 | |||||||
| Total: | |||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
Reference
- "William Big Bill Bell". afrigeneas.com. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
- "Football Media Guide" (pdf). famuathletics.com. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
- "Football Media Guide" (PDF). ncataggies.com. 2009. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
- "William Bell". osu.edu. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
- "Bill Bell Is Holding Grid Reigns At Claflin". Pittsburgh Courier. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. October 6, 1934. p. 15. Retrieved December 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com
- Schlemmer, James W. (March 26, 1936). "Easy Way Is Not Best; Big Bill Bell Becomes Athletic Chief At Florida State A. & M." Akron Beacon Journal. Akron, Ohio. p. 29. Retrieved December 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com
- "Henrietta Louise Lee". Ancestry.com. Retrieved March 12, 2019.