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Willie Zapalac

American football coach (1920–2010)

Summary

American football coach (1920–2010)

Field	Value
name	Willie Zapalac
image	Williezapalac.jpg
birth_date
birth_place	Sealy, Texas, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Austin, Texas, U.S.
player_sport1	Football
player_years2	1941–1942
player_team2	Texas A&M
player_years3	1946
player_team3	Texas A&M
player_positions	Fullback
coach_sport1	Football
coach_years2	1947
coach_team2	McAllen HS (TX) (assistant)
coach_years3	1948
coach_team3	John Tarleton (assistant)
coach_years4	1949–1950
coach_team4	Tarleton State
coach_years5	1951
coach_team5	Hillsboro HS (TX)
coach_years6	1952
coach_team6	Arlington State
coach_years7	1953–1960
coach_team7	Texas A&M (assistant)
coach_years8	1961–1962
coach_team8	Texas Tech (OL)
coach_years9	1963
coach_team9	Oklahoma State (OL)
coach_years10	1964–1975
coach_team10	Texas (OL)
coach_years11	1976–1977
coach_team11	St. Louis Cardinals (DL)
coach_years12	1978–1980
coach_team12	Buffalo Bills (DL)
coach_years13	1981–1985
coach_team13	New Orleans Saints (DL)
coach_sport14	Basketball
coach_years15	1950–1951
coach_team15	Tarleton State
overall_record	19–10–1 (junior college football)
championships	Football
1 Pioneer Conference (1952)
awards	Second-team All-SWC (1946)

1 Pioneer Conference (1952) Willie Frank Zapalac (December 11, 1920 – May 18, 2010) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football Tarleton State College—now known as Tarleton State University—from 1949 to 1950 and Arlington State College—now known as the University of Texas at Arlington—in 1952, when both schools were junior colleges. Zapalac played college football as a Fullback at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas—now known as Texas A&M University. He was an assistant coach at Texas A&M from 1953 to 1960, Texas Technological College—now known as Texas Tech University— from 1961 to 1962, Oklahoma State University–Stillwater in 1963, and University of Texas at Austin from 1964 to 1975. He then coached in the National Football League (NFL) with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1976 to 1977, the Buffalo Bills from 1978 to 1980, and the New Orleans Saints from 1981 to 1985.

While at the University of Texas, Zapalac coached under Darrell Royal for 12 seasons. During that time, the Texas Longhorns won seven Southwest Conference (SWC) championships and two national championships. Zapalac was known for producing many offensive lines for Texas's wishbone offense. For a period of five years, at least one offensive lineman was named to All-American teams and two of those five have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Early life and playing career

Zapalac was born on December 11, 1920, in Sealy, Texas, to V. R. Zapalac and Mary Louise Sodolak. He starred in football at Bellville High School in Bellville, Texas. Zapalac lettered in football Texas A&M in 1941 and 1942 before joining the United States Army Air Forces as a bombardier during World War II. He served in the Philippines and Japan, reaching the rank of first lieutenant. Zapalac returned to Texas A&M, letter again in 1946 when he was named to the All-Southwest Conference second team by the United Press (UP). After graduating from Texas A&M in 1947, Zapalac was signed to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL, but a recurrent knee injury ended his playing career.

Coaching career

Zapalac began his coaching career in 1947, when he was hired as an assistant football coach at McAllen High School, in McAllen, Texas, under head coach Chuck Moser.

Family

Zapalac had two sons, Bill and Jeff, who played football at the University of Texas. Bill played professionally three seasons in the NFL for the New York Jets.

Head coaching record

Junior college football

References

(May 20, 2010). "Willie Zapalac Obituary". [[Austin American-Statesman]].
. (August 24, 1947). ["Naming of Willie Zapalac Completes Staff of Bulldogs"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-monitor/149063552/). *[[The Monitor (Texas)*.
Claude Ramsey. (December 5, 1946). "Layne, Harris Make UP's All-Conference". Austin American-Statesman.
[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/Z/ZapaWi20.htm Pro Football Reference] Willie Zapalac

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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