William C. Heiss - Misplaced Pages

American football player and coach (1923–2020)

William C. Heiss
Biographical details
Born	(1923-04-25)April 25, 1923 Springfield, Illinois, U.S.
Died	May 27, 2020(2020-05-27) (aged 97)
Playing career
Football
1944–1946	Illinois

Position(s)	End, fullback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1947	Detroit (ends/freshmen)
1948–1949	Adams State
1950	St. Cloud State
1951–1953	Colorado College
1954	Iowa State (backfield)
1955–1958	Denver (ends)
1963–1965	Colorado State–Greeley
Basketball
1947–1948	Detroit (freshmen)
1951–1952	Colorado College
Baseball
1955–1959	Denver
Tennis
1965–1981	Colorado State–Greeley / Northern Colorado

Head coaching record
Overall	40–34–5 (football) 2–14 (basketball) 70–61–1 (baseball)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Baseball 1 Skyline (1957)

William Conrad Heiss Jr. (April 25, 1923 – May 27, 2020) was an American football player and coach of multiple sports. He served as the head football coach at Adams State College (1948–1949), St. Cloud State University (1950), Colorado College (1951–1953), and the University of Northern Colorado (1963–1965), compiling a career college football record of 40–34–5. Heiss was also the head basketball coach at Colorado College for one season in 1951–52, tallying a mark of 2–14, and the head baseball coach at the University of Denver from 1955 to 1959, amassing a record of 70–61–1. His 1957 baseball team won the Skyline Conference championship. Heiss played college football at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the mid-1940s.

Early life and playing career

Heiss attended West Aurora High School in Aurora, Illinois. He then played football at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, primarily as an end, from 1944 to 1946. The 1946 Illinois team won the Big Ten Conference championship, with Heiss leading the team in pass receptions on offense and interceptions on defense. On October 26 of that season, Illinois visited Michigan in Ann Arbor for a game that ultimately decided the conference title. With the Illini trailing 7–0 in the first half, Heiss caught a 30-yard pass from Perry Moss, advancing to the Michigan 16-yard line and setting up a touchdown by Paul Patterson that tied the score going into halftime. Illinois won the game, 13–9. The Illini finished the season at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 1947, beating UCLA, 45–14.

Coaching career

University of Detroit

Heiss was an assistant football coach and freshman basketball coach at the University of Detroit in 1947–48.

Adams State

Heiss was the fifth head football coach at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado and he held that position for two seasons, from 1948 until 1949, winning the New Mexico conference in 1949. His coaching record at Adams State was 11–5–1.

St. Cloud State

During 1950–51, Heiss was the head football, wrestling, and tennis coach at St. Cloud State Teachers College. He won conference and AAU championships in wrestling.

Colorado College

From 1951 to 1953, Heiss was the head football coach at Colorado College.

Iowa State

Heiss was an assistant football coach at Iowa State University in 1954.

Denver

From 1955 to 1959, Heiss was an assistant football coach and head baseball coach at the University of Denver. In March 1958, he interviewed for the head football coaching position at Montana State University.

Northern Colorado

Heiss coached at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado for three seasons, from 1963 to 1965, compiling a record of 12–14–2. A rarity occurred in the 1964 season when the opposing team, Northern Arizona, forfeited the game on December 10, 1964. From 1965 to 1981, Heiss was the head tennis coach at Northern Colorado. He twice won the school's Coach of the Year award.

Death

Heiss died on May 27, 2020.

Head coaching record

Football


Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing
Adams State Indians (New Mexico Conference) (1948–1949)
1948	Adams State	6–2	3–1	2nd
1949	Adams State	5–3–1	3–1–1	2nd
Adams State:		11–5–1	6–2–1
St. Cloud State Huskies (Minnesota State College Conference) (1950)
1950	St. Cloud State	4–4	2–2	3rd
St. Cloud State:		4–4	2–2
Colorado College Tigers (Rocky Mountain Conference) (1951–1953)
1951	Colorado College	4–5	3–2	T–2nd
1952	Colorado College	7–2	4–1	2nd
1953	Colorado College	2–4–2	1–2–2	4th
Colorado College:		13–11–2	8–5–2
Colorado State–Greeley Bears (Rocky Mountain Conference) (1963–1965)
1963	Colorado State–Greeley	4–5	2–2	3rd
1964	Colorado State–Greeley	4–5	1–2	3rd
1965	Colorado State–Greeley	4–4–2	2–1	2nd
Colorado State–Greeley:		12–14–2	5–5
Total:		40–34–5

References

"Illinois Tops Michigan, 13 to 9; Long Dashes Do the Trick for Winners". The Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. October 26, 1946. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
"Bruins Bow, 45-14, To Big Nine Team; Young Paces Brilliant Attack of Illinois as U. C. L. A. Is Overcome at Pasadena" (PDF). The New York Times. United Press. January 2, 1947. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
College Football Data Warehouse Archived 2009-01-07 at the Wayback Machine Adams State Grizzlies all-time coaching records
"Interviews Start for Job at MSU". The Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. March 8, 1958. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
College Football Data Warehouse Archived 2010-02-13 at the Wayback Machine William C "Bill" Heiss Records by Year
College Football Data Warehouse Archived 2011-05-25 at the Wayback Machine William C. "Bill" Heiss 1964 Season Results
"Bill Heiss". Greeley Tribune. Greeley, Colorado. May 31, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020 – via Legacy.com.

External links

Media related to William C. Heiss at Wikimedia Commons

Links to related articles

Adams State Grizzlies head football coaches

Clifton White (1930–1937)
Henry Canine (1938)
Vernon Hopper (1939–1942)
No team (1943–1945)
Neal Mehring (1946–1947)
William C. Heiss (1948–1949)
Orval Steffen (1950–1951)
Michael Stimack (1952–1956)
Ernie Smith (1957–1958)
Darrell Mudra (1959–1962)
Donald McKillip (1963–1967)
Gene Carpenter # (1968)
Donald McKillip (1969)
Ron Harms (1970–1973)
Bill Schade (1974–1976)
Jim Paronto (1977–1980)
Richard Ulrich (1981)
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Jeff Geiser (1984–1996)
David Elsenrath (1997–1999)
Wayne McGinn (2000–2007)
Marty Heaton (2008–2014)
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Jarrell Harrison (2021–2024)
Levi Gallas (2025– )

# denotes interim head coach

v t e St. Cloud State Huskies head football coaches
George Lynch (1920–1928) John Weisman (1929–1932) George Lynch (1933–1934) Warren Kasch (1935–1942) No team (1943–1945) Ed Colletti (1946–1949) William C. Heiss (1950) Les Luymes (1951–1955) Jack Wink (1956–1964) Rod Anfenson (1965–1971) Mike Simpson (1972–1982) Noel Martin (1983–1998) Randy Hedberg (1999–2007) Scott Underwood (2008–2019)

Colorado College Tigers head football coaches

E. B. Curtis (1883–1884)
R. D. McLeod (1885)
No team (1886–1890)
George K. Olmstead (1891–1893)
Harvey Noble (1894)
R. D. McLeod (1895)
Pope Lamson (1896)
Browning Smith (1897)
Charles Wilson (1898)
John Clark (1899)
J. C. Ewing (1900–1901)
Fred Caldwell (1902)
Edward S. Merrill (1903)
William Juneau (1904)
John R. Richards (1905–1909)
Claude Rothgeb (1910–1918)
Charles "Poss" Parsons (1919–1921)
Telfer L. Mead (1922–1925)
William T. Van de Graaff (1926–1939)
Clark DeGroot (1940)
Juan Reid (1941)
Harold A. White (1942–1946)
Ben Douglas (1947)
Allison Binns (1948–1950)
William C. Heiss (1951–1953)
Roy B. Robertson (1954–1956)
Jerry Carle (1957–1989)
Craig Rundle (1990–1996)
Greg Polnasek (1997–2002)
Bob Bodor (2003–2008)

Colorado College Tigers men's basketball head coaches

Edward J. Hickox (1914–1915)
Claude Rothgeb (1915–1919)
Charles "Poss" Parsons (1919–1922)
Telfer L. Mead (1922–1926)
Alvin Twitchell (1926–1930)
Dutch Clark (1930–1933)
Juan Reid (1933–1942)
Allison Binns (1942–1945)
Juan Reid (1945–1948)
Jerry Carle (1948–1951)
William C. Heiss (1951–1952)
Leon Eastlack (1952–1978)
Jerry Carle (1978–1980)
Mike Williams (1980–1983)
Jim S. Cross (1983–1988)
Al Walker (1988–1993)
Steve Proefrock (1993–1994)
Brett Zuver (1994–1998)
Mike McCubbin (1998–2006)
Andy Partee (2006–2020)
Jeff Conarroe (2020– )

Northern Colorado Bears head football coaches

John Lister (1893)
No team (1894)
John Lister (1895–1896)
No team (1897–1898)
Arthur Kendel (1899–1900)
No team (1901–1904)
Samuel E. Abbott (1905)
No team (1906–1916)
Ralph Glaze (1917–1918)
William E. Search (1919–1921)
George E. Cooper (1922–1927)
Bill Saunders (1928–1931)
John W. Hancock (1932–1942)
No team (1943–1944)
John W. Hancock (1946–1953)
Joe Lindahl (1954–1962)
William C. Heiss (1963–1965)
Bob Blasi (1966–1984)
Ron Simonson (1985–1988)
Joe Glenn (1989–1999)
Kay Dalton (2000–2005)
Scott Downing (2006–2010)
Earnest Collins Jr. (2011–2019)
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Ed McCaffrey (2021–2022)
Ed Lamb (2023– )

v t e Denver Pioneers head baseball coaches
Unknown (1880–1910) Thomas A. Barry (1911) Unknown (1912–1939) Tim Moynihan (1940) Unknown (1941–1946) Dan Stavely (1947) Cac Hubbard (1948) Unknown (1949) Paul McClung (1950) Hoyt Brawner (1951–1953) Tom Murphy (1954) William C. Heiss (1955–1959) Rusty Fairly (1960–1961) Jack Rose (1962–1997)

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