Villanova Univeristy Athletics

The only athlete in Villanova history to be inducted to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame in two sports, Billy Joe was a standout on the gridiron and in track & field during his collegiate career. He was a powerful fullback on the football team and an All-American in the shot put for the Wildcats before going on to a successful professional football career and a long collegiate coaching career. Joe was a member of the varsity football team from 1960-62 and graduated from Villanova in 1963. He was inducted to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1983.
 
One of the signature moments of Joe’s career came in 1961 when he helped the Wildcats defeated Wichita State, 17-9, in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. Joe scored the game’s first points on a 19-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and set the tone for Villanova’s first bowl game victory in 13 years. He was the MVP of the Sun Bowl and averaged 4.6 yards per carry during the 1961 season.
 
Joe played both fullback and linebacker for the Wildcats and was known as much for his strong blocking skills as for his great running speed. He rushed for 587 career yards on 142 carries, including equal totals of 267 rushing yards in both 1961 and 1962. He had two career receptions for 28 yards and a touchdown in addition to recording four interceptions on defense which he returned for a total of 60 yards. During the 1961 season Joe finished second on the team in scoring to fellow future Hall of Famer Larry Glueck; he totaled 38 points on the year with six touchdowns and one two-point conversion.
 
Villanova made a second straight bowl game appearance in 1962 and finished the year 7-3 under Hall of Fame head coach Alex Bell. The team was selected to play close to home in the Liberty Bowl in Philadelphia and fell 6-0 to a heavily-favored Oregon State squad which was led by that year’s Heisman Trophy winner Terry Baker. Joe led the Wildcats with 66 rushing yards on 14 carries in the bowl game, which was his final college football game. He helped Villanova post a record of 15-5 over his final two varsity seasons, nearly as many wins as the team had tallied in the five seasons prior to 1961.
 
Joe’s jersey number – 35 – was retired on the Wall of Fame in Villanova Stadium in 1997.
 
More than 60 years after he graduated Joe remained the Wildcats record holder in the shot put with a mark of 18.45 meters which he set at the IC4A Championship outdoors his senior year. The meet took place at Villanova Stadium. Joe also holds the Villanova indoor record in the shot put of 17.82 meters set on March 2, 1962 at that year’s indoor IC4A meet.
 
During his career Joe accounted for each of the seven furthest throws in school history in the shot put. He came in third at the outdoor NCAA Championships in 1962 to earn All-America honors and was a two-time IC4A champion during a period when IC4A competition rivaled the prestige of the NCAA meets (there was no indoor NCAA Championships until 1965).
 
Following his graduation from Villanova, Joe was selected in the ninth round of the NFL Draft in 1963 by Washington and in the 11^th round of that year’s AFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He played seven seasons professionally and was selected to the 1965 Pro Bowl as a member of the Buffalo Bills when he had 648 total yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns (four rushing, two receiving).
 
That season (1965) Joe was traded from the Broncos to the Bills for legendary fullback Cookie Gilchrist and was an AFL All-Star. He started for the Bills in their AFL Championship victory over the San Diego Chargers. Joe’s career totals in 78 games played and 45 starts added up to 2,010 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns along with 77 receptions for 589 yards and four scores. He played for the Broncos (1963-64), Bills (1965), Miami Dolphis (1966) and New York Jets (1967-69). Joe was a Super Bowl champion with the Jets in his final professional season in 1969.
 
Joe’s coaching career began in 1970 as an assistant coach at Cheyney, where he would later be head coach for seven seasons. He was an assistant coach at 1971 and became the first African-American coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Joe returned to Cheyney as the head coach for the 1972-78 seasons and won 31 games in those years. His final Cheyney team in 1978 went 6-3 and finished second in the Eastern division of the Penn State Athletic Conference.
 
After serving as the Philadelphia Eagles running backs coach from 1979-80, Joe returned to the collegiate ranks for 13 seasons at Central State in Wilberforce, Ohio. He guided the Marauders to two NAIA national championships during his tenure, winning national titles in 1990 (10-1) and 1992 (12-1).
 
Central State was a Division II independent in Joe’s first six seasons as head coach and he led the squad to the playoffs in four straight seasons from 1983-86, with the 1983 squad (12-1) reaching the national championship game and his 1986 team (10-1-1) making it to the semifinal round. The Marauders reclassified to NAIA beginning in 1987 and made playoff appearances in each of Joe’s final years as head coach, including three straight appearances in the national championship game from 1990-92 and three other semifinal appearances. Joe was 120-30-4 (.782) in his 13 years coaching at Central State.
 
The next stop in Joe’s coaching career was at Florida A&M where he compiled an 86-46 mark and a record of 56-17 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) over 11 seasons from 1994-2004. The Rattlers played in the Heritage Bowl in 1995 and qualified for the NCAA I-AA playoffs each of the next six seasons, making it to the quarterfinal round in 1998 and the semifinals in 1999.
 
Joe’s final collegiate coaching position was as head coach at Division II Miles in Fairfield, Ala where he coached from 2008 to 2010. His overall collegiate head coaching record is 245-157-4 and he retired with the second-most career victories among coaches at historically black colleges and universities. Joe coached more than a dozen players at Central State and Florida A&M who went on to play professionally in the NFL, CFL or Arena League.