Bob Zuppke was head football coach at the University of Illinois from 1912 to 1941, a period that saw two world wars, a major economic depression, and significant changes in higher education and the role of sports, as major intercollegiate competitions became primary public relations events for the most competitive universities. Often credited with several significant football innovations including the huddle, Zuppke won two national championships and won or tied for seven Big Ten conference titles. This biography of Zuppke is a study of his passion for football, his advocacy for its educational value and his ability to promote and market the game to the academic community and the general public. It places him in the context of multiple themes, including the development of interscholastic, intercollegiate and professional football; presidential support and public relations; sports psychology; stadium building and commercial sports; academic criticism; the fraternity system; boosters; and sports in a state-supported public university.

Maynard Brichford is university archivist emeritus at the University of Illinois in Urbana.

Maynard Brichford
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 224
Bibliographic Info: 13 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2009
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4301-7
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5394-8
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1

1. The “Sport” from Milwaukee      5

2. Coaching at Muskegon and Oak Park      10

3. Higher Education and Football in 1913      17

4. Zuppke Installs the System      24

5. The War Years      30

6. Presidential Support and Professionalism      37

7. Organizing and Staffing the Football Pogram      45

8. Zuppkeisms      53

9. The Coaching Profession      60

10. Building Memorial Stadium      67

11. Commercialism and Red Grange      77

12. Renewed Glory      85

13. Academic Criticism      93

14. Recruitment, Fraternities and Boosters      101

15. Riding the Crest to the Crash      108

16. Football Economics in the Depression      116

17. “Taking It” in Champaign      124

18. The Howling of the Wolves      133

19. Coaching in Limbo and Integration      143

20. The People’s University      153

21. Retirement, Coaching and Honors      161

22. The Dutch Master and His Avocations      171

23. Legacies      183

Chapter Notes      187

Bibliography      209

Index      213