Bill Quinter was an American and Canadian football player, coach, and executive who served as Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Early life
Quinter was born on September 2, 1939, in Takoma Park, Maryland.[1][2] A tight end and linebacker, he played high school football in Wheaton, Maryland, and college football for the Indiana Hoosiers.[3][4] He signed with the Washington Redskins in 1962, but was cut after the preseason. He then signed with the Ottawa Rough Riders, where he spent four seasons as a defensive lineman.[3] In 1967 he signed with the Dallas Cowboys, but was cut before the season began.[5] He spent some time that season on the Atlanta Falcons taxi squad.[6]
Coaching
Quinter began his coaching career in 1968 as the offensive line coach at Indiana State.[7] In 1969, he joined Pittsburgh as freshman football coach.[8] In 1971 he was moved to receivers coach.[6] In 1973 he became an assistant with the Toronto Argonauts.[9] In 1976 he was a defensive assistant for the Calgary Stampeders.[10] In 1977 he joined the BC Lions as defensive line coach.[3]
Football executive
After the 1982 season, Lions head coach Vic Rapp was fired and Quinter was reassigned to the front office as director of player development. He helped recruit Kevin Konar, Rick Klassen, Nick Hebeler, and John Pankratz to the team and was involved in the creation of the CFL's scouting combine and yearly player development camp for Canadian college players.[4]
On December 5, 1984, he was named general manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.[11] During his tenure with Saskatchewan, the team had an 11-22-2 record and did not make the playoffs. He and head coach Jack Gotta were fired on December 8, 1986, even though they each had a year remaining on their contracts. According to team president Tom Shepherd, their dismissals were necessary to end internal feuding between the two.[12] During his time in Saskatchewan, Quinter signed a number of players who would help the team win the 1989 Grey Cup, including Bobby Jurasin, Gary Lewis, Dave Albright, Tim McCray, Ken Moore, and Harry Skipper.[13]
In 1987, Quinter joined the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as director of player personnel.[4] He was with the Bombers when they won the 76th Grey Cup. In 1990 he returned to the BC Lions as director of player personnel.[14] The Lions won the 1994 Grey Cup, however Quinter was fired the following May due to conflict with general manager Eric Tillman.[15] He joined the Seattle Seahawks as a scout in 1996 and was promoted to director of pro scouting in 1998.[16] He was fired in May 1999.[17] From 2000 to 2008, Quinter was a pro scout with the New Orleans Saints.[18][13]
Quinter died on April 12, 2014, at his home in West Kelowna.[13]
References
- ^ "Bombers help hazing". The Leader Post. September 2, 2004.
- ^ "Ex-CFL veteran Quinter dies". The Vancouver Sun. April 14, 2014.
- ^ a b c McIntyre, Iain (September 29, 1990). "Baseball was the first love of Lions' personnel director". The Vancouver Sun.
- ^ a b c "Quinter joins Blue Bombers". The Ottawa Citizen. December 9, 1986.
- ^ "Transactions". The Abilene Reporter News. September 6, 1967.
- ^ a b "Pitt Personnel Data 1972".
- ^ "Quinter, Bosson Join Sycamores". The Terre Haute Tribune. March 23, 1968.
- ^ "Pittsburgh Names Freshman Coach". The Boston Globe. February 15, 1969.
- ^ Patton, Paul (August 20, 1985). "Where are they now? - John Rauch". The Globe and Mail.
- ^ Short, Bill (September 7, 1976). "Scripts different, but results are the same". The Brandon Sun.
- ^ "Quinter chosen to run Roughies". The Globe and Mail. December 6, 1984.
- ^ "Roughies sack Quinter, Gotta, tab Baker GM". The Gazette. December 9, 1986.
- ^ a b c "Quinter joins Blue Bomber Former Riders general manager Bill Quinter dead at 74". The Leader Post. April 14, 2014.
- ^ Spencer, Kent (September 18, 1990). "Quinter to eye-up talent for B.C. Lions". The Province.
- ^ Kingston, Gary (May 16, 1995). "Team not big enough for Eric and Bill - Quinter gone". The Vancouver Sun.
- ^ "Transactions". The Hartford Courant. May 17, 1998.
- ^ Williamson, Bill (May 12, 1999). "Mike Holmgren to hire away another Green Bay employee". The Post-Crescent.
- ^ "Activity". The Globe and Mail. February 2, 2000.