Montana sports legend Bill Sprinkle passes away

Bill Sprinkle, a former standout athlete and longtime Montana sports advocate, passed away June 5 in Bismarck, N.D.

He was 80 years old.

Sprinkle was born in Seattle but spent his formative years in Great Falls. He graduated from then-Great Falls Central High School in 1964 after earning high school All-American honors in football, basketball and track and field. He helped the Mustangs win the Class A state football championship in 1962 and played in the 1964 Montana East-West Shrine Game.

After high school, Sprinkle played defensive back and returned punts at the University of Washington, earning varsity letters in 1967 and 1968.

Upon graduating from UW, Sprinkle returned to Montana, where he eventually got into coaching. He began his coaching career at Montana Tech and also had high school stops at Great Falls CMR, Billings Central and Helena High.

He was inducted into the Montana High School Association Athletes' Hall of Fame in 1996, received a National Football Foundation Chapter Leadership Award in 2007 and entered the Montana Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2025.

According to his obituary, he also held numerous leadership roles across Montana, including serving on the Board of Directors of the Montana Coaches Association, as President-Elect of the Montana Coaches Association, Commissioner of the Montana Officials Association, Vice Chair of the National Federation of State High School Associations Football Rules Committee, founder and President of the Montana Chapter of the National Football Foundation, President of the Helena Sports Hall of Fame, and as a Big Sky Conference football officials evaluator.

Sprinkle is survived by his wife of 52 years, Danette (Holland) Sprinkle, daughters Erin Sprinkle and Lacey Gallik, son Danny Sprinkle and many more family members. Danny Sprinkle is currently the head men's basketball coach at his father's alma mater.