Bill Arnsparger obit

Former Miami Dolphins defensive icon Bill Arnsparger dies at 88

 

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Bill Arnsparger designed the first four Dolphins Super Bowl defenses — the No-Name Defense of the three 1970s Super teams and The Killer Bs that carried the 1982 Dolphins into the Super Bowl. Of the first eight Super Bowls, five had defenses with Arnsparger’s fingerprints. The only assistant coach in the Dolphins Honor Roll and former University of Florida athletic director died Friday at 88 at his home in Athens, Alabama. The Dolphins franchise called him “a seminal figure in Dolphins history” in a statement. Over 14 seasons, Arnsparger did two turns with the Dolphins as what today would be called “defensive coordinator.”

He was born and raised in Paris, Kentucky, served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, and graduated from Miami University (Ohio) in 1950. Immediately upon graduation, Arnsparger was hired as an assistant coach with the Miami football program, beginning a long career in the profession.

Arnsparger is best known for two stints as the defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). The Dolphins won consecutive Super Bowls (1972 and 1973) during his first tenure and reached another Super Bowl in 1982 during his second, all under head coach Don Shula. Arnsparger's defenses were an important part of the Dolphins' success, and they earned nicknames in different decades – the "No-Name-Defense" in the 1970s and the "Killer B's" in the 1980s.

Arnsparger served as a defensive assistant for several college football teams before moving to the NFL, and his first job in the league was as an assistant with the Baltimore Colts, also under Shula. Between his two stints with the Dolphins, Arnsparger served as the head coach of the New York Giants in the mid-1970s, and after his second stint in Miami, he served as the head coach of the Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers in the mid-1980s. He left LSU to accept the position of athletic director at the University of Florida, a post he held from 1986 until 1992, when he returned to the professional coaching ranks as the defensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers. He retired after helping lead the Chargers to their first Super Bowl berth in 1994.

Arnsparger was born in Paris, Kentucky, in 1926. He attended Paris High School, where he was an all-state football player under the school's longtime football and basketball coach, Blanton Collier. The relationship would have a major impact on his future career.

After serving in the United States Marines during World War II, Arnsparger attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he played for the Miami football team under coach Woody Hayes and was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity (Alpha Chapter). He graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in 1950.

After graduating, Arnsparger remained at Miami to begin his coaching career as an assistant under Hayes for the 1950 season. Miami went 9-1 and were Mid-American Conference champions.

In 1954, Arnsparger re-connected with his high school coach Blanton Collier, who had been hired as head football coach at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. Arnsparger was hired as defensive line coach at Kentucky and remained there for the eight years until Collier was fired on January 2, 1962. During the 1959 season, Kentucky hired a new secondary coach who had served at the University of Virginia the previous year. That coach was Don Shula, with the two coaches forging a strong bond that would tie them for much of the next quarter century.

Tulane

Arnsparger moved on to an assistant position with Tulane University in New Orleans, in 1962. After two years, he resigned the post on March 6, 1964, to become the defensive line coach for the Baltimore Colts under Shula.

In 1964, Arnsparger became the defensive line coach for the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League (NFL). That season, the Colts reached the NFL Championship Game and remained one of the strongest teams of the 1960s, competing in Super Bowl III on January 12, 1969.

When Shula left to become head coach with the Miami Dolphins after the end of the 1969 NFL season, he brought along Arnsparger, who was promoted to defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He added the title of assistant head coach in 1973. In just two seasons, the formerly moribund team had reached the Super Bowl, with Arnsparger fashioning what became known as the "No-Name Defense." World championships in each of the next two seasons, including an undefeated season during 1972, made Arnsparger a prime candidate for a head coaching position.

Just two days after his dismissal from the Giants, Arnsparger was rehired by Shula and was restored to his previous position as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. In the team's first game under his leadership, the Dolphins won a 10–3 defensive battle with the New England Patriots, who had averaged thirty points per game entering the contest.

Miami finished the 1976 NFL season with a 6–8 mark, then narrowly missed a playoff berth the following season. During the next two seasons, the Dolphins reached the postseason, but dropped their first playoff game. During the strike-shortened 1982 NFL season, Miami reached Super Bowl XVII, but dropped a 27–17 decision to the Washington Redskins. Arnsparger again had created an elite defensive unit, known as the Killer B's (so named because of the number of surnames beginning with "B" on the Dolphins defense).

On December 2, 1983, Arnsparger was introduced as the head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), though he stayed on as the Dolphins' defensive coordinator until the end of the NFL season. As the Tigers' head coach, Arnsparger led LSU to two Sugar Bowl berths in three seasons, in 1984 and 1986, both times against Nebraska. In 1984, LSU finished second behind Florida, nosing out Auburn by a single game. However, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) presidents voted to bar Florida from postseason play due to NCAA rules violations and awarded the conference's automatic berth in the Sugar Bowl to LSU instead. His 1986 LSU squad won the school's first outright SEC title since 1970 and what would be the Tigers' last in the pre-championship game era, though the season was marred somewhat by an upset home loss to Miami University, his alma mater.

By 1985, Arnsparger was growing frustrated with various scandals in the LSU athletic department, particularly involving basketball coach Dale Brown. After Sports Illustrated ran a cover story about the university's issues, Arnsparger met privately with athletic director Bob Brodhead to complain that the negative coverage was harming football recruiting and to threaten to leave the school if something wasn't done. Shortly after the final regular season game in 1986, Arnsparger announced he was resigning to become the athletic director at Florida.

Coaching career (HC unless noted)

1950     Miami (OH) (DL)

1951–1953         Ohio State (DL)

1954–1961         Kentucky (DL)

1962–1963         Tulane (DL)

1964–1969         Baltimore Colts (DL)

1970–1972         Miami Dolphins (DC/LB)

1973     Miami Dolphins (AHC/DC)

1974–1976         New York Giants

1976–1983         Miami Dolphins (AHC/DC)

1984–1986         LSU

1992–1994         San Diego Chargers (DC)

Administrative career (AD unless noted)

1986–1992         Florida

Head coaching record

Overall 7–28 (NFL)

26–8–2 (college)