Bill Yeoman Bill Yeoman ( born December 26 , 1927 ) is a former American football player and coach . Starting in 1962 , he was the University of Houston ' s head coach , holding the position through 1986 . In his tenure , he became the winningest coach in school history , with an overall record of 160 – 108 – 8 . Yeoman revolutionized offensive football in 1964 by developing the Veer option offense . Yeoman also played a prominent role in the racial integration of collegiate athletics in the South by being the first coach at a predominantly white school in the State of Texas to sign a black player . Yeoman ' s Cougars finished the season ranked in the AP Top 10 four times and finished 11 times in the AP or UPI Top 20 . Playing career . Yeoman played center for Army from 1946 to 1948 under legendary head coach Earl Blaik . The 1946 team was 9 – 0 – 1 with a backfield of two Heisman Trophy winners : Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard . Yeoman was a team captain in 1948 and chosen as a second team All - American . The Army football teams in which he played compiled a combined 22 – 2 – 4 record . Bill Yeoman is still the only underclassman to ever captain an Army team . Coaching career . From 1950 to 1953 , Yeoman served in the United States Army . After his return from the Army , he became an assistant coach under Duffy Daugherty at Michigan State from 1954 to 1961 . Houston . After serving as an assistant coach for eight seasons at Michigan State , Yeoman was hired to become the head coach of the University of Houston Cougars in 1962 . The Cougars had only begun playing football in 1946 and had enjoyed little success or prominence in the program ’ s short history . Yeoman established a winning tradition in his very first year at Houston , guiding the team to a 7 – 4 record and a victory in the Tangerine Bowl . After a losing season in 1963 , Yeoman began experimenting with a new offense named the Veer , which used a split - back alignment . The Veer option offense would revolutionize college football and help the Cougars to become a perennial power . Yeoman became the first head college football coach of a major program in the state of Texas to give a scholarship to an African American player . Warren McVea , from San Antonio , signed with UH on July 11 , 1964 . The recruitment of McVea was part of an overall move by the University of Houston athletic department in 1964 to integrate their athletic programs . The other prominent black athletes signed by UH that year were basketball players Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney . Running the Veer offense , Houston led the nation in total offense for three consecutive years in the late 1960s , with averages of more than 400 yards per game each year . The 1968 offensive total was the highest in the country ( 42 . 5 points per game ) , and set an NCAA record . This average was aided in part by the Cougars ' 100 – 6 victory over Tulsa that marked the last time that a team scored 100 points in a top - division college football game . Houston joined the Southwest Conference in 1976 , and the Cougars posted a 10 – 2 record that included a 30 – 0 win at rival Texas and a victory over Maryland in the Cotton Bowl Classic . Yeoman finished as the runner - up for the AFCA Coach of the Year award and won Coach of the Year in the state of Texas . During Yeoman ' s career , the Cougars won four Southwest Conference Championships ( 1976 , 1978 , 1979 , 1984 ) , and he earned a 6 – 4 – 1 record in bowl games including a Cotton Bowl Classic win over Nebraska in 1980 . Yeoman ' s tenure at UH was not without controversy . In 1986 , allegations surfaced that illegal recruiting inducements and extra benefits had been tendered to UH football players . Yeoman was alleged to have handed out cash to players . Due in part to the investigation , Houston forced Yeoman to retire at the end of the season after a 1 - 10 campaign . Yeoman coached 46 All - Americans , and 69 players who later competed in the NFL , during his career . Current Baylor head coach Art Briles also played for Yeoman at UH . In his 25 years as the headman at UH he had taken the program from obscure upstart to regional power . In the process , his offensive innovations had helped to revolutionize college football . When Yeoman arrived at UH , he inherited a little - known independent program that had been to only one bowl game . He left it as a member and four - time champion of a major athletic conference . In 1988 , the NCAA slapped Houston with three years ' probation for over 250 major violations in the latter part of Yeoman ' s tenure . The Cougars were banned from bowl games in 1989 and 1990 and kicked off live television in 1989 . They were also limited to 15 scholarships for the 1989 season . As draconian as these sanctions were , the NCAA said that the penalties would have been even harsher ( including being limited to 20 scholarships for 1990 and 50 paid recruiting visits for 1989 ) had Yeoman still been coach . As it turned out , the penalties that were imposed were harsh enough that the Cougars would need almost the entire decade of the 1990s to recover ; they would only have two winning seasons from 1991 to 2004 . Later life and honors . Yeoman was inducted into the University of Houston Hall of Honor in 1998 . The College Football Hall of Fame inducted Yeoman in 2001 , and two years later the Texas Sports Hall of Fame named him as an inductee . Also in 2002 , Yeoman received the Paul " Bear " Bryant Award Lifetime Achievement Award . The University of Houston named the Yeoman Field House , where Houston track and field compete , after him . Yeoman currently works as a fundraiser and Development Officer in the athletic department of the University of Houston . Yeoman ' s name was mentioned in the movie " We are Marshall " as a leader of the veer offense when the Marshall coaching staff was considering switching to the veer offense .