| Bill Peterson |
Full Name: William E. Peterson
Born: May 15, 1920, Toronto, Ohio
Died: August 5, 1993, Tallahassee, Fla.
Legacy Bricks: Legacy Walk Map Link
1979 Coach HOF - Loc 28
|
| Click On Photo To Enlarge |
|
| COACH BILL PETERSON and Steve Tensi |
| FSU Career |
| Coaches & Administrators | |
C
|
 |
| Member of the FSU Hall of Fame |
| Elected into the FSU Hall of Fame in 1979 |
|
For 10 seasons, from 1960-1969, Bill Peterson served as the head football coach at Florida State. "Coach Pete" brought wide-open offensive action in developing some of the decade's greatest teams and
individual players. His teams compiled a record of 62-42-11 and made four bowl appearances. In 1964, FSU defeated Oklahoma 36-19 in the Gator Bowl. Two years later, FSU lost to Wyoming in the Sun
Bowl, and in the 1967 Gator Bowl FSU tied Penn State 17-17 with a great second-half rally. The final Peterson-FSU bowl appearance came in 1968 when the Seminoles lost a narrow 31-27 decision to LSU in
the inaugural Peach Bowl. The rise of FSU football to national prominence is due in large part to the Peterson Era. Bill Peterson Obituary From the Tallahassee Democrat, August 6, 1993, page 45, by Steve Ellis, Democrat Staff Writer. He revolutionized football in the South. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Bill Peterson will be remembered for elevating Florida State football and helping a generation of college and NFL coaches. He died Thursday morning in Tallahassee at age 73 after a long fight with cancer. The FSU head coach from 1960-70, Peterson helped introduce the passing game to college football, launched the career of some now famous coaches, including Bobby Bowden, and became famous himself for his malapropos. "I have no idea what my place in FSU history is," he said a week before his 73rd birthday on May 14. "I guess I think FSU football would not be as far along as it is without Bill Peterson." Under Peterson, FSU entered big-time college football. He took a program just 14 years old, a former women's college school the University of Florida would not play, and made it winners against some of college football's best. "To me, Bill Peterson helped make this job what it is today," said Bowden, who replaced Peterson as FSU's winningest coach. "Bill made the climb into the big time (for FSU)." When the FSU program took a brief slide following the Peterson Era, Bowden used some of the same philosophies of Peterson, including a wide-open offense and big-time schedule, to revive the program. Peterson posted a 62-42-11 record, defeating arch-rival Florida in 1964 for the first time. That team was Peterson's best, finishing 9-1-1 and winning the Gator Bowl 36-19 over Oklahoma. The team's 11th-place finish in the Associated Press poll was also tops for a Peterson-coached team. His teams also defeated Georgia four consecutive times, and made it to a bowl on four occasions as well. FSU also stunned the nation by tying national powerhouse and No. 1 ranked Alabama 37-37 at Tuscaloosa in 1967. Peterson also coached two first-team All-American wide receivers in Fred Biletnikoff (1964) and Ron Sellers (1967, 68). He put more than 10 players into the NFL. Described as a tireless worker by his players and assistant coaches, Peterson made his dream for FSU come true. "Notre Dame and all the other great ones had to start somewhere, just like Florida State," Peterson said in April, 1963. "If we develop pride, and decide we want to be big-leaguers, we can do it." FSU did it, and many credited Peterson. "Pete took FSU from invisibility to visibility," said James Jones, FSU history professor and sports author. "Under Pete, people here, and people across the country, came to expect a program that won regularly, and played an exciting style of football." Then FSU athletic director Vaughn Mancha hired Peterson on Dec. 7, 1959, to a four-year deal that paid an annual salary of $14,000. Mancha had an inkling of what to expect from the former Louisiana State assistant coach, who helped the Tigers win the national title in 1958. "We are confident he will give us the progressive football program we visualize at Florida State University," Mancha said upon hiring Peterson. Peterson, who took over FSU at age 39, had his own way of describing his style: "We're going to throw the football, come high or hell water. We're not gonna be any three-clouds-and-a-yard-of-dust kind of team." His '68 team still ranks second in FSU history in most yards a game for a season with 284.4 yards. Three of his teams rank among FSU's top 10 for most pass attempts in a season. He earned praise from the most unlikely sources, including his rival, Florida coach Ray Graves. "He revolutionized football in the South," Graves once said. "He influenced us all with the pro-type passing game." "No doubt about it," Bowden said. "He was one of the innovators of bringing the passing game to college football. He started using a pro passing attack when everybody said it wouldn't go. "Everybody you see now with two wideouts, and the quarterback dropping straight back and throwing - nearly all can go back to the early '60s and Bill Peterson. So he's really a pioneer in the passing game." Bowden also credited Peterson for planting the seed of running trick plays, which later became Bowden's trademark. Peterson's most effective trick was beating teams that were billed as being better. "We had a university that wanted to go big time, so we decided to and took our chances with big-time competition," Mancha said. "We played everybody, and although Pete was always giving me a hard time for overscheduling, he went along with it. We beat a lot of good teams, and it moved us forward into the really big time. "I always admired him because he had a great philosophy about winning. He had a charismatic personality about him, and the coaches loved him. And he could pick good people." Twelve assistants at FSU became head coaches. They include Bowden, Bill Parcells (New England Patriots, New York Giants), Joe Gibbs (Washington Redskins), Don Henning (Atlanta/San Diego), Don James (University of Washington), Joe Avezzano (Oregon State), John Coata (Wisconsin) and Vince Gibson (Kansas State, Louisville). Two others are current Redskin assistants coaches - Don Breaux and Parry Peccatiello. Additionally, two of Peterson's players at FSU became head coaches - Joe Avezzano (Oregon State) and Gene McDowell (Central Florida). Peterson, who coached high-school football in Ohio for 10 years after graduating from Ohio Northern University in 1946, also hired future Ohio State coach Earl Bruce. He later returned to his native Ohio to recruit quarterback Steve Tensi for FSU. "I've never seen a guy who could pick out coaches like he did," Bowden said. "He had an uncanny knack for that. He brought those people in when they were nobodies. "He was a heckuva man. He worked his assistants hard, and it paid off. I have to thank Bill Peterson for giving me the first opportunity in major-college football (in 1963)," After 11 seasons at FSU, Peterson accepted the same position and that of athletic director at Rice in 1971. After one year, he became the head coach of the Houston Oilers, but was fired five games into the '73 season. "If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have left FSU," Peterson would say later. He returned to FSU after a three-year stint as the athletic director of Central Florida in the early '80s. Peterson then worked as a fund-raiser for FSU Foundation and then later the Stavros Foundation from 1986 until his death. Peterson had a cancerous prostate removed two years ago, but in February the cancer reappeared in his bones. "Family was the most important thing in his life," said Marjorie. "On Monday he started to get worse, and the boys were able to come. He was able to talk to all the boys before he died." Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Trinity United Methodist Church. The burial will be at Roselawn Cemetery. Before his death, Peterson requested that all of his former players and coaches be named honorary pallbearers.
|
| FSU Statistics |