Billie Matthews, 71; Football Coach for UCLA and NFL

Billie Matthews, a UCLA and NFL assistant football coach for 25 years, died Friday in Redwood City of Parkinson’s disease. He was 71.

Matthews spent most of his career coaching several of the finest running backs of a generation, including O.J. Simpson, Barry Sanders, Wendell Tyler, Freeman McNeil, Theotis Brown, James McAlister and Kermit Johnson.

After leaving UCLA, where he coached from 1971 to 1978, Matthews joined the San Francisco 49ers, coaching Simpson during the running back’s last year in the league.

Matthews won a Super Bowl ring with the 49ers before leaving the team after the 1982 season. He went on to coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions before retiring in 1995.

Matthews came to UCLA from Kansas in 1971 along with head Coach Pepper Rodgers and coached defensive backs for one season. He was responsible for running backs for the rest of his tenure under Dick Vermeil and Terry Donahue.

The Bruins played in three bowl games during Matthews’ time in Westwood, including a 23-10 victory over Ohio State in the 1976 Rose Bowl.

“He was more than pleased at what he accomplished,” said Matthews’ son, Kenneth Adams, a receiver at UC Berkeley in the early 1970s.

Matthews was born in 1930 in Houston and was an all-state quarterback at Phyllis Wheatley High School there. He led Southern University to an 11-0 record as a freshman quarterback in 1948 and to a 37-4 mark over four years.

His first coaching position came in 1959 at Cashmere High in Houston, where he started the football program and was head coach for 12 years.

In addition to his son Kenneth, Matthews is survived by his wife of 41 years, the former Gene Woods; three children, Jacquelyn McMillan, Kennette Hatcher and Karen Wilson; and six grandchildren.

Funeral services are scheduled for Tuesday at O’Connell’s Chapel in San Mateo.