Willis Bates
Bates c. 1907 at Fairmount
Biographical details
Born(1880-01-26)January 26, 1880
Ohio, U.S.
DiedMay 13, 1939(1939-05-13) (aged 59)
Long Beach, California, U.S.
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1905–1908Fairmount
1909Oklahoma Christian
1914–1925Southwestern (KS)
Basketball
1905–1908Fairmount
1913–1914Fairmount
1914–1926Southwestern (KS)
Head coaching record
Overall81–49–12 (football)
179–79 (basketball)

Willis Sherman "Bill" Bates[1] (January 26, 1880 – May 13, 1939)[2] was an American football and basketball coach. He served as the head football coach at Fairmount College—now known as Wichita State University—from 1905 to 1908 and at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas from 1914 to 1925, compiling a career college football record of 81–49–12. He also coached basketball at Fairmount (1905–1908) and Southwestern (1914–1926), tallying a career college basketball mark of 179–79.

Coaching career

Fairmount

Bates was the sixth head football coach for Fairmount College, now Wichita State University, located in Wichita, Kansas and he held that position for four seasons, from 1905 until 1908. His overall coaching record at Fairmount was 28–8–3. This ranks him second at Fairmont/Wichita State in terms of total wins and third at Wichita State in terms of winning percentage.[3]

Night game

Bates was the head coach for the 1905 Cooper vs. Fairmount football game played on October 6, 1905 at Association Field in Wichita[4] The game was played at night under gas lamps as a demonstration by the Coleman Company and was the first night football game played west of the Mississippi River.[5] Fairmount won by a score of 24–0.[6][7]

Experimental game

Bates was the head coach for Fairmount in the 1905 Washburn vs. Fairmount football game that took place on December 25, 1905. The game was played against the Washburn Ichabods using a set of experimental rules and was officiated by then-Washburn head coach John H. Outland.[8] The experimental rule requiring a first down be achieved in three downs rather than four was regarded as a failure and a primary reason for the game to have ended in a scoreless tie; however the rule allowing the ball to be thrown forward under certain conditions was retained in the overall recodification and revision undertaken when the National Collegiate Athletic Association was formed early the next year.

Southwestern

Bates was the sixth head football coach at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, serving for 12 years, from 1914 to 1925, and compiling record of 52–36–9. He is the longest-tenured coach in Southwestern's football history having served as head coach for 102 games[9] and was mentor for future Southwestern coach Art Kahler.[10]

Bates also served as the head basketball coach at Southwestern for 12 seasons, from 1914 until 1926, where the Moundbuilders were considered one of the best basketball teams in the nation at the time.[11] His basketball teams amassed a record of 164–59 (.735).[12]

Head coaching record

Football

Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Fairmount Wheatshockers (Independent) (1905–1908)
1905 Fairmount 5–4–1
1906 Fairmount 7–1–2
1907 Fairmount 8–2
1908 Fairmount 8–1
Fairmount: 28–8–3
Southwestern Moundbuilders (Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference) (1914–1925)
1914 Southwestern 3–6
1915 Southwestern 5–4–13–3–1T–6th
1916 Southwestern 6–36–2T–3rd
1917 Southwestern 6–36–3T–4th
1918 Southwestern 3–0
1919 Southwestern 7–36–34th
1920 Southwestern 2–5–22–5–111th
1921 Southwestern 5–44–4T–8th
1922 Southwestern 5–3–25–2–2T–4th
1923 Southwestern 2–5–21–5–214th
1924 Southwestern 4–2–22–2–2T–7th
1925 Southwestern 5–34–37th
Southwestern: 53–41–9
Total:81–49–12

References

  1. ↑ "Bates, Bill Inducted 1961". Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on September 25, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Los Angeles School Journal". 1939.
  3. ↑ Wichita State football coaching records Archived September 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Fairmount College Football Game Played By Light of Coleman Lanterns, October 6, 1905". Wichita State University Libraries' Department of Special Collections. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
  5. ↑ "FIRST LIGHT (1900 – 1929)". Coleman Company. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Detailed History". Sterling College. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
  7. ↑ DeLassus, David. "Wichita State Yearly Results (1905)". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Ten Yard Rule a Failure" (PDF). New York Times. December 26, 1905.
  9. ↑ Southwestern College Head Football Coaching Records Archived May 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association football guide "The official rules book and record book of college football" (edited by Walter Camp) Can Sports Publishing Company, 1922
  11. ↑ The Kansas Collection, Some Notes on College Basketball in Kansas, Harold C. Evans
  12. ↑ Southwestern College Basketball Coaching Records
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