# Matty Bell

William Madison "Matty" Bell (February 22, 1899 – June 30, 1983) was an American football player, coach of football and basketball, and college athletics administrator. He played for Centre, captain of its 1918 team. He served as the head football coach at the Haskell Institute (1920–1921), Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin (1922), Texas Christian University (1923–1928), Texas A&M University (1929–1933), and Southern Methodist University (1935–1941, 1945–1949), compiling a career college football record of 147–88–17. His 1935 SMU Mustangs, which have been recognized as a national champion, went 12–0 in the regular season before losing to Stanford in the Rose 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 the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1955. After retiring from coaching following the 1949 season, Bell served as the athletic director at Southern Methodist until 1964. He died in 1983 in Dallas.

## Navy service

During World War II, Bell took a leave of absence from coaching to serve in the aviation branch of the United States Naval Reserve from 1942 to 1945. On June 12, 1942, he was sworn in as a lieutenant commander, and reported to Annapolis. Subsequently, he became the athletic director at the Navy Pre-Flight School on the campus of the University of Georgia and rose to the rank of commander. After the war, he returned to SMU as head coach.

## Head coaching record
### Football

| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | AP$^#$ |
| Haskell Indians (Independent) (1920–1921) |||||||
| 1920 | Haskell | 7–2–1 | | | | |
| 1921 | Haskell | 5–4 | | | | |
| Haskell: | Haskell: | 14–6–1 | | | | |
| Carroll Pioneers (Independent) (1922) |||||||
| 1922 | Carroll | 3–4 | | | | |
| Carroll: | 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: | 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: | Texas A&M: | 24–21–3 | 8–14–3 | | | |
| SMU Mustangs (Southwest Conference) (1935–1941) |||||||
| 1935 | SMU | 12–1 | 6–0 | 1st | L Rose | |
| 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 | T Cotton | 3 |
| 1948 | SMU | 9–1–1 | 5–0–1 | 1st | W Cotton | 10 |
| 1949 | SMU | 5–4–1 | 2–3–1 | 5th | | |
| SMU: | SMU: | 79–40–8 | 43–25–4 | | | |
| Total: | Total: | 153–88–17 | | | | |
| National championship  Conference title  Conference division title or championship game berth |||||||
| $^#$Rankings from final AP Poll. |||||||