The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Bill Meek

Followed Mike Giddings. Bill Meek held Utah at National Program II for 6 seasons.

The ascent
78–88
1951–1973 · 4 stints
Kansas StateHoustonSMUUtah
← all coaches

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerKANSAS STATEHOUSTONSMUUTAHPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelKansas State, 1951: 1-7, Regional Program VI1951Kansas State, 1952: 1-9, Regional Program VIKansas State, 1953: 6-3, Regional Program VKansas State, 1954: 7-3, Regional Program IV1954+9.3Houston, 1955: 6-4, National Program II1955Houston, 1956: 7-2, National Program II1956+0.5SMU, 1957: 4-5, National Program I1957SMU, 1958: 6-4, National Program ISMU, 1959: 5-4, National Program ISMU, 1960: 0-9, National Program IISMU, 1961: 2-7, National Program II1961-7.0Utah, 1968: 3-7, National Program II1968Utah, 1969: 8-2, National Program IIUtah, 1970: 6-4, National Program IIUtah, 1971: 3-8, National Program IIUtah, 1972: 6-5, National Program IIUtah, 1973: 7-5, National Program III1973-2.0One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached National Program in his 5th career season — faster than 14% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #547 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Kansas State, 4 seasons
+9.3
Regional Program VI → Regional Program IV.
Houston, 2 seasons
+0.5
National Program II → National Program II.
SMU, 5 seasons
−7.0
National Program I → National Program II.
Utah, 6 seasons
−2.0
National Program II → National Program III.

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

7–11 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Frank Broyles.

Rivalry record
7–11–2
35.0% · 4 rivals
One-score games
30–21–7
51.7% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–8
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
BYU4–267%
Rice0–4–10%
TCU1–3–120%
Kansas2–250%
The toughest matchupNemesis
vs. Frank Broyles0–5
5 meetings, 1957–1961
’57 L’58 L’59 L’60 L’61 L
Performance by opponent class
Blue Blood
0–8 0.0%
Power Program
13–29 31.0%
National Program
26–29 47.3%
Regional Program
28–18 60.9%

Coaching career

1968–1973
Utahcaretaker
National Program II → National Program II
Bill Meek held Utah at National Program II for 6 seasons.

8th-best Utah tenure of 13 by the numbers.

Followed Mike Giddings (1966–1967) · succeeded by Tom Lovat (1974–1976).

6 NFL Draft picks: Charles Smith (1968), Louis Thomas (1969), Norman McBride (1969), Norm Thompson (1971), Marv Bateman (1972), Steve Odom (1974)

33–31
1957–1961
SMUcaretaker
Power Program III → National Program I
Bill Meek slid SMU from Power Program III to National Program I in 5 seasons.

7th-best SMU tenure of 18 by the numbers.

Followed Chalmer Woodward (1953–1956) · succeeded by Hayden Fry (1962–1972).

17–29
1955–1956
Houstoncaretaker
National Program II → National Program II
Bill Meek held Houston at National Program II for 2 seasons.

11th-best Houston tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Followed Clyde Lee (1949–1954) · succeeded by Hal Lahar (1957–1961).

13–6
1951–1954
Kansas Statecaretaker
Regional Program VI → Regional Program IV
Bill Meek moved Kansas State from Regional Program VI to Regional Program IV in 4 seasons.

12th-best Kansas State tenure of 18 by the numbers.

Followed Ralph Graham (1948–1950) · succeeded by Bernard Mertes (1955–1959).

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