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HomeNewsAPSU Hall of Fame coach Bill Dupes dies at 81

APSU Hall of Fame coach Bill Dupes dies at 81

Austin Peay State University GovernorsSweetwater, TN – Former Austin Peay State University football coach William D. “Bill” Dupes, age 81, of Sweetwater, Tennessee, passed away, Saturday, January 8th, 2010, at Parkwest Medical Center in Knoxville.

Vistation will begin at noon, Wednesday, at Sweetwater’s First United Methodist Church, with a service beginning at 2:00pm.

In lieu of flowers, the Dupes family ask that donations be made to the Bill Dupes Scholarship, which was established in 1990, by contacting the APSU Advancement office at 931-221-7128.

Dupes, who still owns the longest coaching tenure in APSU football, was a 1998 inductee into the Austin Peay Athletics Hall of Fame. He also belongs to the Tennessee Tech Athletics and Tennessee Sports Halls of Fame.

Despite taking over an Austin Peay program that had gone more than a decade without a winning season, Dupes led the Govs to an 8-1-1 record in his second season and was a unanimous OVC Coach of the Year selection. In going 40-58-2 at Austin Peay from 1963-72, Dupes had 23 players earn first-team honors and four Governors named first-team Little All-Americans. Ten of his former players are member of the APSU Athletics Hall of Fame.

Dupes enjoyed a prolific football career as a player at Tennessee Tech where he was an All-OVC selection and honorable mention Little All-American as a senior. He also served as an assistant coach for the Golden Eagles, being part of a Tangerine Bowl victory and two OVC Championships.

His return to the high school coaching arena came in 1976, first at the Tennessee Military Institute before returning to Sweetwater, his high school alma mater. He retired from coaching in 1998, five years after leading Sweetwater to a state title.

Dupes is survived by his wife Peggy, and children Mark, Billy, David and Donna.

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