Former Ole Miss head coach Billy Kinard passed away Saturday, the program has confirmed. He was 84.
Kinard died at his home in Fort Payne, Ala., after battling an extended illness.
Kinard was a two-way star for the Rebels under College Football Hall of Fame coach Johnny Vaught in the 1950’s, helping the Rebels win SEC titles in 1954-55 as a halfback and defensive back. The 1954 Rebels went undefeated in SEC play, falling only to Arkansas (a Southwest Conference member at the time) and to Navy in the Sugar Bowl--securing the program’s first-ever No. 1 AP poll ranking and ending the year at No. 6, the program’s highest such finish at the time. The ’55 Rebels went 10-1, beating TCU in the Cotton Bowl and ending the year at No. 7 in the polls.
Kinard was a second-round pick of the Cleveland Browns and went into coaching after his 4-year professional career in the NFL and AFL wrapped up. He worked as an assistant across the SEC, then was chosen by Ole Miss AD Frank Kinard, Billy’s brother and a Pro and College Football Hall of Fame tackle, to succeed Vaught as the Rebels’ head coach upon Vaught’s retirement in 1970. Kinard led the Rebels to a 10-2 record and a No. 15 AP ranking in 1971 before falling off to 5-5 in 1972 and an early dismissal after a 1-2 start to the ’73 season. Vaught came out of retirement to replace both Kinard brothers as AD and head coach.
Kinard worked as an NFL defensive backs coach after his Ole Miss ouster, but returned to the college game in a one-season stint as Gardner-Webb’s head coach in 1978. He coached his final two seasons as the New England Patriots’ defensive backs coach in 1979-80.
In addition to his football exploits, Kinard was also an All-SEC baseball player for an Ole Miss team that reached the College World Series in 1956.