High School Sports

High school football coaching legend Bill Freeman dies

Eagle staff
Bill Freeman, center, was named The Eagle’s Coach of the Year in 1987 after leading Lawrence to the Class 6A championship. He’s pictured with that season’s Top 11 team.
Bill Freeman, center, was named The Eagle’s Coach of the Year in 1987 after leading Lawrence to the Class 6A championship. He’s pictured with that season’s Top 11 team. Joel Sartore The Wichita Eagle

Kansas football coaching legend Bill Freeman died Friday. He was 84.

Freeman had Alzheimer’s disease and his health had deteriorated recently, daughter Jennifer Nauertc wrote on her Facebook page. He had been living in a care center in Burlington.

Freeman coached state football champions at three Kansas high schools. Before playoffs were introduced in 1969, Freeman’s teams won one mythical championship at LeRoy and two at Osawatomie.

He moved on to Lawrence, where the Lions won titles under Freeman in 1979, 1984, 1986, 1987 and 1989. He was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.

Nauertc said a funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Monday at First Christian Church in Leroy. Memorials have been established with the Southern Coffey County High School athletic department and the Alzheimer’s Association.

This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 1:06 PM with the headline "High school football coaching legend Bill Freeman dies."

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