Jim Wacker

Jim Wacker (April 28, 1937 - August 26, 2003) was an American football college head coach who was known for his enthusiasm and integrity. His career won-lost-tied record was 160-130-3.

Wacker was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan as the son of a Lutheran minister. He graduated from Valparaiso University in 1960 and went on to further studies at Wayne State University.

In the early phase of his career, he coached at Texas Lutheran University (1971-1975), North Dakota State University (1976-1978), and Southwest Texas State University (1979-1982). He won four national championships during this phase of his career, two at Southwest Texas and two at Texas Lutheran.

TCU years

Wacker became head football coach of Texas Christian University after the 1982 season. He had early success at TCU - his team was ranked as high as #12 (the Frogs' highest ranking since 1960), and was invited to the Bluebonnet Bowl after an 8-3 record during the 1984 regular season. The #12 Frogs lost a showdown with the tenth-ranked University of Texas Longhorns on November 10 for the Southwest Conference title, in what remains the best-attended game in the history of Amon G. Carter Stadium. After the season, Wacker was named as National Coach of the Year by ESPN, the UPI, and "The Sporting News". There was much hype surrounding the Frogs going into the 1985 season, and Wacker appeared on the cover of Dave Campbell's Texas Football alongside his All-America running back Kenneth Davis, a finalist for the Heisman Trophy in 1984 and a leading candidate for the award heading into 1985. After the first game of the season, Wacker discovered that several players, including Davis, had been benefiting from a payment plan in violation of NCAA rules. He dismissed the players from the team and voluntarily reported the infractions to the NCAA, which issued stiff recruiting penalties on his team. These actions led to Wacker's reputation as a man of integrity. Fans of TCU remain bitter that the penalty heaped on TCU for the violations were severe given that the violations were voluntarily reported. [cite web|url=http://www.coachwyatt.com/Aug03.html|title=Coach Wyatt Newsletter|accessdate=2007-04-08]

After several years of struggling due to the NCAA penalties, Wacker brought the team back to success in 1990, when the 5-1 Frogs returned to the Top 25 for the first time since 1984 before slumping after a season-ending injury to their starting quarterback, and again in 1991, when the Frogs finished 7-4 for their first winning record since 1984.

Minnesota

Wacker served as head coach of the University of Minnesota from 1992-1996. Although he had a disappointing won-lost record (16-39) at Minnesota, for three years his teams led the conference with academic all-conference honors.

Return to Texas

Wacker was an announcer on CBS Radio for a couple of years and then returned to Southwest Texas in 1998 to serve as athletic director.

He died after a long battle with cancer in San Marcos, Texas in 2003. Texas State University named its football stadium to "Jim Wacker Field" in his honor.

Head coaching records

Non Division I-A

CFB Yearly Record Start
type = coach
team =
conf = no
bowl = no
poll = no CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = North Dakota State
conf = no
startyear = 1976
endyear = 1978CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1976
name = North Dakota State
overall = 9-3
conference = no
ranking = no
ranking2 = no
bowloutcome = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1977
name = North Dakota State
overall = 9-2-1
conference = no
ranking = no
ranking2 = no
bowloutcome = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1978
name = North Dakota State
overall = 6-4
conference = no
ranking = no
ranking2 = no
bowloutcome = noCFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name = North Dakota State
overall = 24-9-1
confrecord = no
hiddencols = noCFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Southwest Texas State
conf = no
startyear = 1979
endyear = 1982CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1979
name = Southwest Texas State
overall = 7-4
conference = no
ranking = no
ranking2 = no
bowloutcome = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1980
name = Southwest Texas State
overall = 8-3
conference = no
ranking = no
ranking2 = no
bowloutcome = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1981
name = Southwest Texas State
overall = 13-1
conference = no
ranking = no
ranking2 = no
bowloutcome = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1982
name = Southwest Texas State
overall = 14-0
conference = no
ranking = no
ranking2 = no
bowloutcome = noCFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name = Southwest Texas State
overall = 42-8
confrecord = no
hiddencols = noCFB Yearly Record End
overall = 66-17-1
bcs = no
poll = no


hiddencols = no

Division I-A

CFB Yearly Record Start
type=coach
team=
conf=
bowl=
poll=bothCFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Texas Christian
conf = Southwest Conference
startyear = 1983
endyear = 1991CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1983
name = Texas Christian
overall = 1-8-2
conference = 1-6-1
confstanding = 8th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1984
name = Texas Christian
overall = 8-4
conference = 5-3
confstanding = 3rd (tie)
bowlname = Bluebonnet Bowl
bowloutcome = L 14-31
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1985
name = Texas Christian
overall = 3-8
conference = 0-8
confstanding = 9th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1986
name = Texas Christian
overall = 3-8
conference = 1-7
confstanding = 8th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1987
name = Texas Christian
overall = 5-6
conference = 3-4
confstanding = 5th (tie)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1988
name = Texas Christian
overall = 4-7
conference = 2-5
confstanding = 5th (tie)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1989
name = Texas Christian
overall = 4-7
conference = 2-6
confstanding = 7th (tie)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1990
name = Texas Christian
overall = 5-6
conference = 3-5
confstanding = 5th (tie)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1991
name = Texas Christian
overall = 7-4
conference = 4-4
confstanding = 5th (tie)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name = Texas Christian
overall = 40-58-2
confrecord = 21-48-1CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Minnesota
conf = Big Ten Conference
startyear = 1992
endyear = 1996CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1992
name = Minnesota
overall = 2-9
conference = 2-6
confstanding = 10th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1993
name = Minnesota
overall = 4-7
conference = 3-5
confstanding = 8th (tie)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1994
name = Minnesota
overall = 3-8
conference = 1-7
confstanding = 11th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1995
name = Minnesota
overall = 3-8
conference = 1-7
confstanding = 10th
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1996
name = Minnesota
overall = 4-7
conference = 1-7
confstanding = 9th (tie)
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name = Minnesota
overall = 16-39
confrecord = 8-32CFB Yearly Record End
overall = 59-97-2
bcs = no
poll=two
polltype=
polltype2=

References

http://www.ncaasports.com/football/mens/story/6913979

Notes