GUNNISON, Colo. - Western mourns the loss of Mountaineer football coaching legend Bill Noxon. Bill passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 24 in Grand Junction, Colorado after fighting health issues for the past few months.
 
Noxon led the Mountaineer football team to eight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championships, including seven straight, during his time as the Western head coach from 1971-84. He led the team to a pair of NAIA national semifinal appearances and another quarterfinal appearance from 1977-79 and finished with a career record of 87-44-2.

"Bill was a great coach and gave me a great opportunity to become his defensive coordinator in 1974," former Western Head Coach Duke Iverson said. "I'm deeply indebted to Bill and grateful I was also able to call him a friend."
 
Noxon was an inaugural inductee to the Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and is also a member of the Fort Lewis College Hall of Fame, the RMAC Hall of Fame and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. Noxon's 1976 and 1978 teams were also inducted into the Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame within the last five years.
 
"Bill was one of the most successful Western and high school coaches in Colorado," Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame Coach Duane Vandenbusche said. "He had a brilliant offensive mind, but most importantly he was a real gentlemen and a great person."

A native Coloradan, Noxon played football, basketball and baseball at Denver North High School. He attended Fort Lewis Junior College at Durango on an athletic scholarship in 1948 and 1949, lettering two years in football and basketball, and one year in baseball. In football, he played both offense and defense in the backfield and led the team in scoring both years. Transferring to Colorado A & M College in Fort Collins (now Colorado State University), Noxon played football for the "Rams" and earned two varsity letters.
 
After graduating from A&M, Noxon took the head football coaching job at Fruita Monument High School. During his 15 seasons at Fruita and four seasons at Grand Junction High School, Noxon's football teams compiled a 133-54-4 overall ledger. For the two high schools combined, his teams won 11 conference titles, captured one State Championship and were runners-up in the State Finals five times.
 
He became one of only a handful of high school coaches in Colorado to achieve more than 100 victories. With the performances of his high school and college football teams combined, Noxon's 220-98-6 overall record is one of the most impressive career marks in the state of Colorado. He also was head baseball coach for 12 years of his Fruita tenure, and three of his teams there earned second-place honors in the State Playoffs.
 
Noxon's outstanding prep coaching career earned him the 1966 Colorado Scholastic Coach of the Year Award; an honor bestowed upon him by coaches throughout Colorado. He also was named Coach of the Year by the Rocky Mountain News, Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, and Southwestern League. He received NAIA District VII Coach of the Year recognition for his achievements at Western in 1977, 1978 and 1979, and the American Football Coaches Association named him Kodak College Coach of the Year in 1978.

"Success like (Bill's) will most likely never be matched," Iverson remarked.
 
Bill is survived by his loving wife Carolyn ("CoCo") and children Linda Goolsby and Bill Jr.

Bill's funeral will take place on March 1 at 2 p.m. at Callahan Edfast Mortuary in Grand Junction, Colorado. The family asks that any donations in Bill's name to to HopeWest Hospice (HopeWestCO.org).