Joe Collier
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: | June 7, 1932 |
| Place of birth: | Rock Island, Illinois |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Rock Island (IL) |
| College: | Northwestern |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
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| Head coaching record | |
| Regular season: | 13–16–1 (.450) |
| Postseason: | 0–1 (.000) |
| Career: | 13–17–1 (.435) |
| Coaching stats at PFR | |
Joel D. Collier (born June 7, 1932) is an American former football coach who was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League (AFL) from 1966 through part of 1968, compiling a 13–16–1 record.
Collier attended Northwestern University, where he played on the Northwestern Wildcats football team. In 1952, his junior season, he broke Big Ten Conference records by catching seven touchdown passes and accumulating 650 receiving yards. He was named to the 1952 College Football All-America Team. Following the 1953 college football season, in which he captained the Wildcats, Collier was selected by the New York Giants in the 22nd round of the 1954 NFL Draft. However, Collier decided not to play professional football, instead becoming an assistant coach at Western Illinois University after a three-year stint in the U.S. Army. Collier spent three season as a Western Illinois assistant, from 1957 to 1959.
After spending two seasons as an assistant coach with the Boston Patriots of the brand new AFL, Collier joined the Buffalo Bills in 1962 as a defensive coach. The team won the 1965 AFL Championship Game over the San Diego Chargers with help from defensive alignments that Collier designed. One idea he came up with was similar to the modern zone blitz; Collier's defense featured defensive line players moving back to cover pass attempts. Collier was promoted to head coach in 1966, after previous coach Lou Saban resigned. The Bills' best season under Collier came in his first year, when they won the Eastern Division with a 9–4–1 record, eventually losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFL Championship Game. After coming within one game of an AFL championship, the team slumped to 4–10 in 1967. After a poor performance by the Bills in a 1968 pre-season game, Collier set up a scrimmage for his team. During the practice session, quarterback Jack Kemp broke his right leg, an injury that forced him to undergo season-ending surgery. The Bills fired Collier after a 48–6 loss to the Oakland Raiders in the second week of the regular season.Sports Illustrated opined that "Collier's fate undoubtedly was decided..." by Kemp's injury.
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