Bill Millett

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Bill Millett

| image = Bill Millett.png

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1901|7|8}}

| birth_place = Whitman, Massachusetts, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1966|10|19|1901|7|8}}

| death_place = Waterville, Maine, U.S.

| alma_mater = Colby College (B.S.)
Columbia University (M.A.)

| playersport1 =

| player_years2 =

| player_team2 =

| coach_sport1 = Football

| coach_years2 = 1931–1941

| coach_team2 = Colby (freshmen)

| coach_years3 = 1942

| coach_team3 = Colby

| coach_years4 = 1945

| coach_team4 = Colby

| coach_years5 = 1946–1947

| coach_team5 = Colby (freshmen)

| coach_sport6 = Ice hockey

| coach_years7 = 1927–1929

| coach_team7 = Colby (assistant)

| coach_years8 = 1929–1942

| coach_team8 = Colby

| coach_years9 = 1946–1948

| coach_team9 = Colby

| coach_sport10 = Baseball

| coach_years11 = 1925–1927

| coach_team11 = Waterville HS (ME)

| coach_years12 = 1927–1930

| coach_team12 = Colby (assistant)

| coach_years13 = 1930–1942

| coach_team13 = Colby (freshmen)

| coach_years14 = 1933–1942

| coach_team14 = Colby (assistant)

| overall_record = 73–57–9 {college ice hockey)

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

Ellsworth Willis "Bill" Millett was an American baseball, football, and ice hockey player and coach and college professor. He was a fixture at Colby College, in Waterville, Maine, for 25 years, before his retirement in 1948.

Career

Millett began attending Colby College in the fall of 1921. He joined the baseball and football teams as a freshman, playing second base and fullback for the Mules.{{cite web |url=https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1093&context=oracle |title=Colby Oracle 1922 |work=Colby College |access-date=July 13, 2023}} The following year he also joined the ice hockey team as a defenseman and sometime winger. He helped the Mules win or tie the state championship in all three in 1923. Millett graduated in 1925 and returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach two years later. Millett was eventually promoted to being the head coach of the ice hockey team in 1929 and the freshman baseball team the following spring.{{cite web |url=https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1086&context=oracle |title=Colby Oracle 1930 |work=Colby College |access-date=July 13, 2023}} By the mid-30s he had taken over the freshman football squad and had also been hired on as an assistant professor by the school.{{cite web |url=https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/oracle/82/ |title=Colby Oracle 1935 |work=Colby College |access-date=July 13, 2023}} During this time Millett had enrolled at Columbia University and earned his Master's in 1939.{{cite web |url=https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/oracle/76/ |title=Colby Oracle 1941 |work=Colby College |access-date=July 13, 2023}}

Millett remained with the college during World War II and served as head coach of the football team for one season upon its return to play in 1945. He was back in his familiar position the following year and was such a welcome sight on campus that the class of '47 dedicated the school yearbook in his honor.{{cite web |url=https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/oracle/70/ |title=Colby Oracle 1947 |work=Colby College |access-date=July 13, 2023}} In 1948, Millett was appointed to a fundraising committee for the Mayflower Hill Campus. Due to the requirements for the new project he was forced to turn over coaching duties to others.

Millett remained in Waterville after his retirement and died in 1966. Colby honors his memory by conferring the Bill Millett Award to one male and one female student athlete who have contributed the most to Colby Athletics over their four years at the college.{{cite web |url=https://colbyathletics.com/news/2022/5/19/general-winners-announced-for-34th-senior-sports-awards |title=Winners Announced for 34th Senior Sports Awards |work=Colby Mules |date=May 19, 2022 |access-date=July 13, 2023}}

Personal

Millett married Mary Rollins in 1932 and they had two daughters; Mary, born in 1933 and Martha, born in 1937.{{cite web |url=https://novascotiaroots.ca/individual/55967 |title=MILLETT, Ellsworth Willis (55967) |work=Nova Scotia Roots |access-date=July 13, 2023}}