William E. Davis
| Sport(s) | Football |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born | February 15, 1929 |
| Playing career | |
| 1950 | Colorado |
| Position(s) | Halfback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1962 | Colorado (interim HC) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 2–8 |
William Eugene "Bud" Davis (born February 15, 1929) is a former university president, Democratic politician, and head football coach. He was an interim head football coach for the Colorado Buffaloes for the 1962 season. He was later the President of Idaho State University and University of New Mexico, and Chancellor of the Oregon University System and Louisiana State University. He is best known in Colorado for writing the book Glory Colorado! A history of the University of Colorado, 1858-1963, which was also his doctoral thesis and a nearly 800 page book. Davis ran for the United States Senate in Idaho in 1972.
After graduating from Loveland High School, Davis choose to attend the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU) to stay close to home and near his high school sweetheart, Pollyanne Peterson. He arrived in 1947 and declared he wanted "to be the world's greatest football coach" and chose a physical education major and English minor. He was a reserve football player on the varsity team. After graduating in 1951, he remained at the University as assistant to the dean of men. He resigned the position to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. The spring of his senior year he married Peterson.
In 1960, he completed his master's degree at the University of Northern Colorado in education administration and became CU's alumni director while working on his doctoral degree in education. After Sonny Grandelius left Colorado with NCAA sanctions, Davis was hired to be the football team's interim head coach on March 27, 1962. The team went 2–8 for the season and included an upset win over Air Force as the last game of the season. Colorado was a 21-point underdog in the game and won 34-10. The Bud Davis football era ended on January 3, 1963 when Eddie Crowder was hired to take the job permanently, though Davis had resigned the day of the Air Force game.
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