Billy Brewer
| Sport(s) | Football |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born | October 8, 1935 |
| Playing career | |
| 1957–1960 | Ole Miss |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1972–1973 | Southeastern Louisiana (assistant) |
| 1974–1979 | Southeastern Louisiana |
| 1980–1982 | Louisiana Tech |
| 1983–1993 | Ole Miss |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 125–94–6 |
Billy Brewer (born October 8, 1935) is a former head football coach for Southeastern Louisiana University, Louisiana Tech University and University of Mississippi. He is the current host of an Ole Miss Rebel football post-game call-in show.
A native of Columbus, Mississippi, Brewer first came to Ole Miss as a player for the legendary Rebel teams of Johnny Vaught. He played quarterback, defensive back, punted and held for placekickers from 1957 to 1960, and Ole Miss named him to its "Team of the Century" in 1993.
After a brief professional career, Brewer went into college coaching. He coached defensive backs the Southeastern Louisiana University Lions located in Hammond, Louisiana from 1972 to 1973. In 1974, Brewer was named the tenth head coach at SLU and he coached for six seasons, from 1974 to 1979. His coaching record at Southeastern Louisiana was 38 wins, 24 losses, and 2 ties. As of the conclusion of the 2007 season, this ranks him third at Southeastern Louisiana in total wins and third at Southeastern Louisiana in winning percentage (.609).
Brewer was head coach at Louisiana Tech from 1980 through 1982, posting a record of 19 wins, 15 losses and a tie. His last season at Tech (1982) saw his Bulldogs win the Southland Conference title with a 10-3 record. They lost to Delaware 17-0 in the first round of the Division I-AA (now Football Championship Subdivision) playoffs.
Brewer took over at Ole Miss in 1983, succeeding Steve Sloan, who was 20-34-1 in the previous five seasons. Brewer's previous affiliation with Ole Miss made him a favorite in some circles at Ole Miss. An "outsider" had served as head coach since the end of Vaught's second stint in the position in 1974. Others, however, thought that Brewer's ties to Vaught and Vaught's associates were the only reasons he was considered for the position.
With Ole Miss behind the rest of the Southeastern Conference in terms of talent, Brewer was never able to win a conference title Ole Miss. However, many of his teams were known for over-achieving, embodying the scrappy persona of their combative coach. On the flip side, some of his teams failed to live up to those expectations after being the subjects of considerable preseason hype.
In his first season, Brewer guided the Rebels to their first winning regular season since 1977 with a 7-4 mark (they were subsequently awarded a win over Tulane by forfeit a year later). The Rebels also received their first bowl game invitation since 1971 and met Air Force in the Independence Bowl played in Shreveport, Louisiana. Ole Miss dropped a 9-3 decision to the Falcons and finished with a 7-5 record.
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