 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Warren Powers" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1941-02-19)February 19, 1941 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | November 2, 2021(2021-11-02) (aged 80) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1960–1962 | Nebraska |
| 1963–1968 | Oakland Raiders |
| Position(s) | Running back,defensive back |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1969–1976 | Nebraska (DB) |
| 1977 | Washington State |
| 1978–1984 | Missouri |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 53–37–3 (.586) |
| Bowls | 3–2 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award (1978) Big Eight Coach of the Year (1983) | |
Warren Anthony Powers (February 19, 1941 – November 2, 2021) was anAmerican football player and coach. He was the head coach atWashington State University in 1977, and theUniversity of Missouri from 1978 through 1984,[1] compiling an overallcollege football record of53–37–3 (.586).
He was an all-state high schoolquarterback at Bishop Lillis High School fromKansas City, Missouri, and playedcollege football atNebraska, earning three letters as a Husker. As a senior, he helped leadBob Devaney's first Nebraska team in1962.
Powers played professionally for six years in theAmerican Football League (AFL) with theOakland Raiders. As asafety, he started for the1967 AFL Champion Raiders and in the second AFL-NFL World Championship game, known now asSuper Bowl II.[2]
Following his playing career, Powers was an assistant coach under bothBob Devaney andTom Osborne at theUniversity of Nebraska from1969 through1976.
After leaving Nebraska, Powers became the head coach atWashington State. One year after he left Nebraska, Powers took his unranked Washington State Cougars into Lincoln and knocked off the fifteenth-rankedHuskers in the season opener atMemorial Stadium.[3][4]
The following year in 1978, Powers became the head coach atMissouri. With the Missouri Tigers, Powers again went to Lincoln with another unranked team and pulled off a victory over the second-rankedNebraska team. Following that game, it would be another25 years until 2003 when the Missouri Tigers would again defeat the Nebraska Cornhuskers. During his tenure at Missouri, Powers compiled a 46–33–3 (.579) record, including four straight bowl appearances from 1978 to 1981. His best seasons came in1980 and1981, where he posted consecutive8–4 records. In addition, his Tiger football teams went 3–2 inbowl games, defeatingLSU in the1978 Liberty Bowl,South Carolina in the1979 Hall of Fame Classic, andSouthern Miss in the1981 Tangerine Bowl. During Powers' tensure, Missouri also played in the1980 Liberty Bowl, losing toPurdue, and the1983 Holiday Bowl, losing to aBYU Cougars team led by quarterbackSteve Young.
On October 24, 1979, theNCAA's Committee on Infractions publicly reprimanded Missouri for a violation of NCAA Constitution related to a failure to exercise institutional control. The violation was in regard to the use of a fund established outside the university for the purpose of paying Powers for debt he assumed while negotiating to become Missouri's head coach. NCAA regulations require the university's involvement when its coach receives a cash supplement related to duties he is performing on the institution's behalf, and the NCAA found that Missouri had failed to do so.
After a disappointing 3–7–1 season in1984 that concluded with another loss torivalKansas, Powers was relieved of his duties.[3]
Powers died on November 2, 2021, inSt. Louis, after suffering from Alzheimer's disease.[5]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington State Cougars(Pacific-8 Conference)(1977) | |||||||||
| 1977 | Washington State | 6-5 | 3–4 | T–4th | |||||
| Washington State: | 6-5 | 3–4 | |||||||
| Missouri Tigers(Big Eight Conference)(1978–1984) | |||||||||
| 1978 | Missouri | 8–4 | 4–3 | T–3rd | WLiberty | 14 | 15 | ||
| 1979 | Missouri | 7–5 | 3–4 | 4th | WHall of Fame Classic | 20 | |||
| 1980 | Missouri | 8–4 | 5–2 | 3rd | LLiberty | ||||
| 1981 | Missouri | 8–4 | 3–4 | 5th | WTangerine | 20 | 19 | ||
| 1982 | Missouri | 5–4–2 | 2–3–2 | 5th | |||||
| 1983 | Missouri | 7–5 | 5–2 | T–2nd | LHoliday | ||||
| 1984 | Missouri | 3–7–1 | 2–4–1 | T–5th | |||||
| Missouri: | 46–33–3 | 24–22–3 | |||||||
| Total: | 52–38–3 | ||||||||
| |||||||||