1. William E Peterson was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator.
18 Facts About Bill Peterson
1. 2.
Bill Peterson's career included head coaching stops at Florida State University, Rice University and with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League.
3.
Bill Peterson is known as the "Coach of Coaches", having tutored such coaches as Joe Gibbs, Bill Parcells, Bobby Bowden, Don James, Dan Henning, Ken Meyer and many others.
4.
When his father died at the age of twelve, Bill Peterson thought his dream of coaching had died as well.
5.
Bill Peterson recounted those feelings in his book, Building from the Start:.
6.
Bill Peterson persevered and ultimately earned a degree from Ohio Northern University in 1946.
7.
Bill Peterson coached the Seminoles to their first win ever at Florida Field.
8.
Under Bill Peterson, Fred Biletnikoff would become the Seminoles first All-American.
9.
Bill Peterson's wide-open passing offense was the antithesis of what most southern teams did, and his forward-thinking schemes were frequently copied by NFL coaches.
10.
Bill Peterson can be credited with putting Florida State on the national map.
11.
Bill Peterson recruited from the talent-rich areas of Pennsylvania and Ohio as Florida, unlike today, had a smaller population and a limited high school talent base.
12.
Bill Peterson later augmented this with one of the first truly innovative passing offenses that brought visiting coaches from every corner of the country.
13.
Bill Peterson came up with the concept of the "hot receiver", never before seen, to counter blitzes, and FSU became known as an Independent primed to upset any team at any time.
14.
Bill Peterson served as head football coach and athletic director at Rice University during the 1971 season.
15.
In 1972, Bill Peterson joined a select group who have been head coaches in high school, at the major college level and in the National Football League.
16.
Bill Peterson coached the Houston Oilers for the entire 1972 season and for five games in the 1973 season.
17.
Bill Peterson is a member of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame, the Florida State University Sports Hall of Fame, the Ohio Northern Athletic Hall of Fame, the Gator Bowl Hall of Fame, the Mansfield, Ohio City Schools Hall of Fame and the Toronto, Ohio High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
18.
Each of the following worked for Bill Peterson, many getting their first coaching jobs as a member of his staff.