William Ellis Atkins (November 19, 1934 – November 5, 1991)[2] was an American professional football safety and punter who played for the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League (NFL), and in the American Football League (AFL) for the Buffalo Bills, the New York Titans / Jets, and the Denver Broncos. He was an AFL All-Star in 1961. He played college football at Auburn.
 Atkins in 1963 | |||||||||||||||||
| No. 29, 20, 2, 28 | |||||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Punter Safety | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Born: | November 19, 1934 Millport, Alabama, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Died: | November 5, 1991 (aged 56) El Paso, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 196 lb (89 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school: | Millport | ||||||||||||||||
| College: | Auburn | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1958 / round: 5 / pick: 59 | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
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| As a coach: | |||||||||||||||||
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| As an administrator: | |||||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||
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| Career AFL/NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||
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| Head coaching record | |||||||||||||||||
| Career: | 44–16–2 (.726) | ||||||||||||||||
Head coaching career
editOn January 8, 1966, Atkins was named the head coach of the Troy State Trojans football team. In 1968, he coached Troy State to an NAIA National Championship and was named the NAIA Coach of the Year. Atkins finished at Troy State with a 44–16–2 record before leaving in 1971. He is the second-most winningest coach in Troy history, only behind Larry Blakeney.
Personal life
editAtkins' son, author William Ellis "Ace" Atkins Jr., also played football at Auburn and was member of the 1993 undefeated team.[3][4]
Head coaching record
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troy State Trojans (Alabama Collegiate Conference) (1966–1969) | |||||||||
| 1966 | Troy State | 5–5 | 1–2 | ||||||
| 1967 | Troy State | 8–2 | 3–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1968 | Troy State | 11–1 | 3–0 | 1st | W NAIA Championship | ||||
| 1969 | Troy State | 8–1–1 | 3–0 | 1st | |||||
| Troy State Trojans (Mid-South Athletic Conference / Gulf South Conference) (1970–1971) | |||||||||
| 1970 | Troy State | 6–4–1 | 3–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1971 | Troy State | 6–3 | 5–1 | T–1st | |||||
| Troy State: | 44–16–2 | 18–5 | |||||||
| Total: | 44–16–2 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Billy Atkins, Paige Atkins". Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
- ^ "Billy Atkins". The Pro Football Archives. Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
- ^ Shearer, Jeff (September 20, 2020). "On the cover: From sacks to books, Auburn's Ace Atkins stands tall". Auburn Tigers. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
- ^ Edgemon, Erin (January 13, 2019). "Alabama native, bestselling author Ace Atkins to be honored". AL.com. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
External links
edit- Career statistics and player information from NFL.com · Pro Football Reference
- Billy Atkins at Find a Grave
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