Former Southeastern Louisiana University Head Football Coach Billy Brewer celebrates his 80th Birthday Oct. 8, 2014 - His former SLU players wish HB
28 videos • 1,453 views • by slufb Former Southeastern Louisiana University head football coach Billy Brewer (1974-1979) celebrates his 80th birthday on October 8, 2014. Several of his former SLU players and coaches wishing him Happy Birthday. October 8, 2014 Coach Billy Brewer (born October 8, 1934 in Columbus, MS) was the former head football coach for Southeastern Louisiana University (1974-1979), Louisiana Tech University (1980-1982) and University of Mississippi (1983-1993). He celebrates his 80the birthday today. 10/6/2014 A native of Columbus, Mississippi, Billy first came to Ole Miss as a player for the legendary Rebel teams of Johnny Vaught. He played quarterback, defensive back, punted and held for placekickers from 1957 to 1960, and Ole Miss named him to its "Team of the Century" in 1993. After a brief professional career with the Washington Redskins, Billy went into college coaching. He coached defensive backs the Southeastern Louisiana University Lions located in Hammond, Louisiana from 1972 to 1973. In 1974, Brewer was named the tenth head coach at SLU and he coached for six seasons, from 1974 to 1979. His coaching record at Southeastern Louisiana was 38 wins, 24 losses, and 2 ties. Billy was head coach at Louisiana Tech from 1980 through 1982, posting a record of 19 wins, 15 losses and a tie. His last season at Tech (1982) saw his Bulldogs win the Southland Conference title with a 10-3 record. They lost to Delaware 17-0 in the first round of the Division I-AA (now Football Championship Subdivision) playoffs. Billy took over at Ole Miss in 1983. In his first season, Billy guided the Rebels to their first winning regular season since 1977 with a 7-4 mark. The Rebels also received their first bowl game invitation since 1971 and met Air Force in the Independence Bowl played in Shreveport, Louisiana. During his 10-year tenure, Billy led the Rebels to six winning seasons and five bowls, including Ole Miss' 1991 New Year's Day Gator Bowl appearance. The Jan. 1 bowl game was the program's first since 1969. He was named SEC Coach of the Year in 1986 (8-3-1 record), which saw the Rebels return to the national rankings for the first time in over a decade and just miss out on an SEC championship due to a 22-10 loss to the University of Tennessee the second to last game of the season. Coach Brewer still lives in Oxford and was inducted to the Ole Miss M-Club Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.