William Pritchard

William England "Bill" Pritchard was a star athlete, coach, and long time educator in the Buffalo (New York) Public Schools.

Bill Pritchard, a native of Frostburg, Md., graduated from South Park High School in Buffalo, New York in 1923 where he earned 13 letters at South Park in football, baseball, track, basketball and swimming.

He earned his undergraduate degree at Penn State, where he played football and lacrosse. He played in the East West football game in 1927.

After graduating from Penn State in the spring of 1927, Pritchard played in the National Football League with the Providence Steam Roller in 1927 and the New York Yankees in 1928.

He returned to Buffalo after his NFL playing days were over and continued to play football for several clubs in the semi-pro Western New York football league.

In 1929, Pritchard was an assistant coach for the University of Buffalo college football program while he worked towards his master's degree in history. In 1931, he agreed to become the head coach of the University of Buffalo football program after Jay "Biffy" Lee unexpectedly resigned as the head coach due to business duties.

After retiring from coaching, he was a teacher and principal in the Buffalo Public Schools system for 35 years. Pritchard taught in the school system from 1932 to 1950 before going into administrative work. He was principal of the Fosdick-Masten Vocational High School from 1956 to 1962 and Seneca Vocational High School from 1962 until his retirement in 1967.

Pritchard also officiated at football games for high school, colleges and the old All-America Football Conference during its 4-year existence.

Pritchard died April 10, 1978 at the age of 76.