Bill Weeks

Bill Weeks didn’t plan to make a career of coaching, but thank goodness for the UNM Lobos he did.

An outstanding athlete in football, basketball and track at Iowa State, Weeks was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles and saw this as a way to pay for law school in the off-season. But the Korean War interfered and Weeks served two years in the Marines. When he returned he was injured in a car accident that would end his chances of playing professional football.

Weeks returned to ISU in 1953 and worked as a graduate assistant in coaching while completing his master’s in psychology. He was then offered a job coaching high school football and thought he would do that for a few years before again heading off to law school. Two years into that job, Weeks was lured to UNM by friend and head football coach Dick Clausen. Weeks served as end coach and chief scout until Marv Levy took over in 1958 when he became the backfield coach.

Two years later in 1960, Weeks took over the head spot when Levy accepted the head coaching position at California. Weeks was 30 years old and the youngest head coach in UNM’s history.

After a 5-5 season in 1960, the Lobos went 7-4 in 1961 that included a victory over Western Michigan in the Aviation Bowl. The Western Athletic Conference started in 1962 and the Lobos flourished, winning league titles in 1962 and ’63, and tying for the crown in 1964.

In 1965, two-platoon football was introduced, meaning the same players would not play both offense and defense. However, without a budget increase for the program, UNM could not keep up. The Lobos ended the season at 3-7. Weeks resigned as head football coach after the 1967 season, compiling a school-record 40 wins, a mark that stood for nearly 40 years.

Weeks held several positions in the UNM administration, including administrative assistant for the regional Medical Program, director of development and liaison to the Board of Educational Finance and executive assistant to President William “Bud” Davis.