Francis William Doolittle (August 10, 1923 – April 10, 2014) was an American football player and coach. Doolittle attended high school in Mansfield, Ohio, where he was selected as an all-state quarterback in his senior year. He enrolled at Ohio State University in 1941. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1943, served 53 months in the military and earned a Bronze Star for his service in the Pacific Theater before returning to Ohio State. He played college football as quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team in 1946 and 1947.
 Doolittle from The 1968 Brown and Gold | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 10, 1923 Mansfield, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | April 10, 2014 (aged 90) Grand Blanc, Michigan, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1946–1947 | Ohio State |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1948 | Grandview HS (OH) |
| 1949–1950 | Brown (backfield) |
| 1951 | Lincoln HS (OH) (assistant) |
| 1952–1953 | Owosso HS (MI) |
| 1954–1959 | Flint Central HS (MI) |
| 1960–1961 | Mansfield HS (OH) |
| 1962–1963 | Army (backfield) |
| 1964–1974 | Western Michigan |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 58–49–2 (college) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 MAC (1966) | |
| Awards | |
| MAC Coach of the Year (1966) | |
He began his coaching career in 1948 at Grandview High School in Columbus, Ohio. From 1949 to 1950, he was the backfield coach at Brown University, where he was Joe Paterno's position coach. He was an assistant football coach at Lincoln High School in Canton, Ohio, in 1951 and head coach at Owosso High School in Owosso, Michigan, in 1952–53, where his record was 6–12.[1]
He later coached at Flint Central High School from 1954 to 1959, compiling a record of 37–14–3 at the school and leading his team to the Class A state championship in 1958.[2] He returned to his alma mater, Mansfield High School, as the head football coach in 1960 and 1961, where his teams went 12–6–2.
In January 1962, he was hired as the offensive backfield coach for the Army football team by high school teammate Paul Dietzel.[3]
After two years as the backfield coach for Army, he was hired as the head football coach at Western Michigan University in January 1964.[4][5] After leading the team to a Mid-American Conference championship in 1966, he was named the conference's coach of the year.[6] He spent 11 years as the head coach at Western Michigan from 1964 to 1974, compiling a record of 58–49–2 as a head coach.[7] Doolittle resigned as the head coach at Western Michigan in November 1974.[8]
In 1975 Doolittle became the director of Western's Gary Athletic Fund. In 1988, Doolittle received the Man of the Year Award from Western Michigan's Alumni "W" Club.[9] He was inducted into WMU's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996. He died at the age of 90 on April 10, 2014.[10]
Head coaching record
editCollege
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Michigan Broncos (Mid-American Conference) (1964–1974) | |||||||||
| 1964 | Western Michigan | 3–6 | 2–4 | 5th | |||||
| 1965 | Western Michigan | 6–2–1 | 3–2–1 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1966 | Western Michigan | 7–3 | 5–1 | T–1st | |||||
| 1967 | Western Michigan | 5–4 | 4–2 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1968 | Western Michigan | 3–6 | 2–4 | 5th | |||||
| 1969 | Western Michigan | 4–6 | 2–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 1970 | Western Michigan | 7–3 | 2–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1971 | Western Michigan | 7–3 | 2–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1972 | Western Michigan | 7–3–1 | 2–2–1 | 3rd | |||||
| 1973 | Western Michigan | 6–5 | 1–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 1974 | Western Michigan | 3–8 | 0–5 | 6th | |||||
| Western Michigan: | 58–49–2 | 25–34–2 | |||||||
| Total: | 58–49–2 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Ex-Ohio State Athlete Is New OHS Football Coach". The Owosso Argus-Press. July 31, 1952.
- ^ "Doolittle Dinner Tonight". The Owosso Argus-Press. April 1, 1964.
- ^ "High School Coach Gets Army Backfield Post". The New York Times. January 1962.
- ^ "Doolittle Named Coach". The Hartford Courant. January 22, 1964. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012.
- ^ "Western Michigan Signs Grid Coach". The Milwaukee Sentinel. January 21, 1964.
- ^ "Doolittle Acclaimed as Coach". The New York Times. November 27, 1966.
- ^ "William Doolittle Records by Year". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
- ^ "Bill Doolittle resigns at W. Michigan". Chicago Tribune. November 19, 1974. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012.
- ^ "Western To Honor Doolittle". The Argus-Press. February 8, 1988.
- ^ "WMU Hall of Famer Bill Doolittle Passes Away". Western Michigan University. April 11, 2014. Archived from the original on September 27, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2014.