He was a family man.
His personal family. His University of Alabama family. His Auburn University family. His University of Chattanooga family. A brother in each family.
Long-time football coach Bill ‘Brother’ Oliver died on April 14 at age 85. Members of all of his families are grieving and remembering him.
Oliver had a long history in football. He had perhaps two peaks, one as a player and one as an assistant coach.
His peak as a player was when he played an integral role on Coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant’s first National Championship team at Alabama in 1961. Oliver was a defensive back.
His peak as a coach was again at Alabama when he was the defensive genius who put together the plan that unexpectedly won the National Championship under Coach Gene Stallings in 1993, defeating favored Miami.
The native of Epes in western Alabama did not have to travel far from his high school team to his college team. And, no matter where he roamed, home kept calling him back.
Oliver’s first coaching stint was as defensive backs coach at Auburn in 1966-70 under legendary Coach Ralph ‘Shug’ Jordan. Then, Alabama called, and he served as defensive backs coach at Alabama under Bryant from 1971 to 1979. Too many SEC championships and National championships to keep up with.
Next, he landed his only permanent head coaching job at Chattanooga from 1980 to 1983.
Then he worked a stint in pro football as defensive coordinator of the Memphis Showboats, 1984 to 85.
Next, it was off to Clemson as defensive backs coach and then defensive coordinator from 1986 to 1989.
Bama called home again. He coached defensive backs in Tuscaloosa in 1990-92. That boosted him to Bama’s Defensive Coordinator from 1993 to 1995.
At this point, Oliver and the Alabama program hit a bump in the road. The NCAA imposed sanctions on Alabama. Athletic Director Hootie Ingram and Oliver both left. Oliver became defensive coordinator at Auburn from 1996 to 1998.
When Auburn head coach Terry Bowden unexpectedly resigned with five games remaining in the 1998 season, Oliver was quickly named interim head coach. They ended the partial season by losing to Alabama 31 to 17 in the Iron Bowl. Oliver was considered for permanent head coach, but Auburn instead hired former Ole Miss Coach Tommy Tuberville.
Oliver then retired from coaching. His head coaching record was 31-17-1. Afterward, he worked intermittently as a defensive consultant, including at Jacksonville State University with coach Jack Crowe, a long-time friend.
He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.
“I give all the credit for everything I did to Brother Oliver. He had a tremendous offensive mind, which was one reason our secondary was so good. He taught us to think like a quarterback and to anticipate. He is truly a defensive coach with an offensive mind.
“We began to realize we could cover 35 to 40 yards while the ball was in the air. We thought we could intercept every pass that was thrown. He taught us that if the ball was in the air, it was our football." — Buddy McClinton, Auburn Defensive Safety
Jim' Zig' Zeigler writes about Alabama's people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
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