 Bell in 1949 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1899-02-22)February 22, 1899 Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | June 30, 1983(1983-06-30) (aged 84) Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1916–1919 | Centre |
| Position | End |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1920–1921 | Haskell |
| 1922 | Carroll (WI) |
| 1923–1928 | TCU |
| 1929–1933 | Texas A&M |
| 1935–1941 | SMU |
| 1945–1949 | SMU |
| Basketball | |
| 1923–1929 | TCU |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1947–1964 | SMU |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 153–88–17 (football) 71–41 (basketball) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 1National (1935) 4SWC (1935, 1940, 1947–1948) | |
| College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1955 (profile) | |
William Madison "Matty"Bell (February 22, 1899 – June 30, 1983) was an Americanfootball player, coach of football andbasketball, and college athletics administrator. He played forCentre, captain of its 1918 team. He served as the head football coach at theHaskell Institute (1920–1921),Carroll College inWaukesha, Wisconsin (1922),[1]Texas Christian University (1923–1928),Texas A&M University (1929–1933), andSouthern Methodist University (1935–1941, 1945–1949), compiling a careercollege football record of 147–88–17. His1935 SMU Mustangs, which have been recognized as anational champion, went 12–0 in the regular season before losing toStanford in theRose Bowl. Bell was also the head basketball coach at Texas Christian for six seasons from 1923 to 1929, tallying a mark of 71–41. He was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1955. After retiring from coaching following the 1949 season, Bell served as theathletic director at Southern Methodist until 1964. He died in 1983 inDallas.
During World War II, Bell took a leave of absence from coaching to serve in the aviation branch of theUnited States Naval Reserve from 1942 to 1945.[2] On June 12, 1942, he was sworn in as alieutenant commander, and reported toAnnapolis.[3][4] Subsequently, he became the athletic director at the Navy Pre-Flight School on the campus of theUniversity of Georgia and rose to the rank ofcommander.[5] After the war, he returned to SMU as head coach.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | AP# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haskell Indians(Independent)(1920–1921) | |||||||||
| 1920 | Haskell | 7–2–1 | |||||||
| 1921 | Haskell | 5–4 | |||||||
| Haskell: | 14–6–1 | ||||||||
| Carroll Pioneers(Independent)(1922) | |||||||||
| 1922 | Carroll | 3–4 | |||||||
| Carroll: | 3–4 | ||||||||
| TCU Horned Frogs(Southwest Conference)(1923–1928) | |||||||||
| 1923 | TCU | 4–5 | 2–1 | 3rd | |||||
| 1924 | TCU | 4–5 | 1–5 | 8th | |||||
| 1925 | TCU | 7–1–1 | 2–0–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1926 | TCU | 6–1–2 | 1–1–2 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1927 | TCU | 4–3–2 | 1–2–2 | 5th | |||||
| 1928 | TCU | 8–2 | 3–2 | T–3rd | |||||
| TCU: | 33–17–5 | 10–11–5 | |||||||
| Texas A&M Aggies(Southwest Conference)(1929–1933) | |||||||||
| 1929 | Texas A&M | 5–4 | 2–3 | 5th | |||||
| 1930 | Texas A&M | 2–7 | 0–5 | 7th | |||||
| 1931 | Texas A&M | 7–3 | 3–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1932 | Texas A&M | 4–4–2 | 1–2–2 | 4th | |||||
| 1933 | Texas A&M | 6–3–1 | 2–2–1 | 4th | |||||
| Texas A&M: | 24–21–3 | 8–14–3 | |||||||
| SMU Mustangs(Southwest Conference)(1935–1941) | |||||||||
| 1935 | SMU | 12–1 | 6–0 | 1st | LRose | ||||
| 1936 | SMU | 5–4–1 | 2–3–1 | 5th | |||||
| 1937 | SMU | 5–6 | 2–4 | 6th | |||||
| 1938 | SMU | 6–4 | 4–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1939 | SMU | 6–3–1 | 4–2 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1940 | SMU | 8–1–1 | 5–1 | T–1st | 16 | ||||
| 1941 | SMU | 5–5 | 2–4 | 5th | |||||
| SMU Mustangs(Southwest Conference)(1945–1949) | |||||||||
| 1945 | SMU | 5–6 | 4–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1946 | SMU | 4–5–1 | 2–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 1947 | SMU | 9–0–2 | 5–0–1 | 1st | TCotton | 3 | |||
| 1948 | SMU | 9–1–1 | 5–0–1 | 1st | WCotton | 10 | |||
| 1949 | SMU | 5–4–1 | 2–3–1 | 5th | |||||
| SMU: | 79–40–8 | 43–25–4 | |||||||
| Total: | 153–88–17 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||