Emory Bellard
Biographical details | |
---|---|
Born | Luling, Texas, U.S. | December 17, 1927
Died | February 10, 2011 Georgetown, Texas, U.S. | (aged 83)
Playing career | |
1946–1947 | Texas |
1948–1949 | Southwest Texas State |
Coaching career ( Ingleside (TX) HS | |
1955–1959 | Breckenridge (TX) HS |
1960–1966 | San Angelo (TX) Central HS |
1967–1971 | Texas (OC) |
1972–1978 | Texas A&M |
1979–1985 | Mississippi State |
1988–1993 | Spring Westfield (TX) HS |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 85–69 (college) 177–59–9 (high school) |
Bowls | 2–3 |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
1 SWC (1975) 6 Texas state championships (1951, 1952, 1954, 1958, 1959, 1966) | |
Awards | |
Sporting News College Football COY (1975) | |
Emory Dilworth Bellard (December 17, 1927 – February 10, 2011)
Bellard is a member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. He was considered to have had one of the most innovative offensive minds in football and is credited for inventing the wishbone formation.
Early life
A native of
Coaching career
High school
Bellard was a high school head coach for 21 seasons, where he achieved a record of 177–59–9 and won three state titles. During his time as a high school coach, he explored the idea of running an offense out of a three-back formation.
Bellard began coaching at
In 1960, Bellard was selected over
In 1988, Bellard returned to the high school level, coaching
College
Texas
In 1967, Bellard was hired as the linebackers coach at the University of Texas at Austin and was moved to offensive coordinator in 1968. At this time, he developed and implemented the wishbone formation, a system inspired by the variations of the veer developed by Homer Rice and run by Bill Yeoman at the University of Houston.[5]
Texas A&M
Bellard became head coach at Texas A&M in 1972, taking over head-coaching duties from Gene Stallings. In his seven years at Texas A&M, he finished with a record of 48–27 and three top-15 finishes.
Acting as his own offensive coordinator, Bellard hired former high school football coaches to assist him as backfield coaches, including Gil Bartosh (1973) and Chuck Moser (1974–1978). Both Bartosh and Moser had won Texas state championships. In 1975, however, Bellard hired Tom Wilson away from Jim Carlen's Texas Tech coaching staff to serve as the Aggies' offensive coordinator. For the defensive department, Bellard hired Melvin Robertson, one of the top defensive coaches, away from Bill Yeoman's coaching staff at the University of Houston. Robertson became defensive coordinator, and among his assistants were R. C. Slocum and Dan LaGrasta.
Bellard's first two seasons at Texas A&M were difficult, as his Aggies finished 3–8 and 5–6, respectively. In 1974, with a pair of his own recruiting classes suited to run the wishbone formation, the Aggies went 8–3, then followed it up with two 10–2 seasons, including a pair of wins over Royal and the Longhorns and three consecutive bowl games. After starting the 1978 season 4–0, Bellard resigned mid-season after two consecutive losses: 33–0 to Houston and 24–6 to Baylor.
Mississippi State
After A&M, Bellard spent seven seasons as head coach at Mississippi State University. His best years as the Bulldogs head coach were in 1980 and 1981, when his team finished 9–3 and 8–4, respectively. Also, Bellard was the coach when Mississippi State defeated number 1, undefeated Alabama 6-3 in Jackson, Mississippi in 1980.
However, the Bulldogs significantly regressed after 1981. In the next four seasons, he only won a total of four games in SEC play. Before the 1985 season, Bellard boldly predicted that the Bulldogs would rebound and win their first SEC title since 1941. They not only failed to do so, but went winless in SEC play. Bellard was fired after the season.[6]
Head coaching record
College
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Texas A&M Aggies (Southwest Conference) (1972–1978) | |||||||||
1972 | Texas A&M | 3–8 | 2–5 | T–7th | |||||
1973 | Texas A&M | 5–6 | 3–4 | 6th | |||||
1974 | Texas A&M | 8–3 | 5–2 | T–2nd | 15 | 16 | |||
1975 | Texas A&M | 10–2 | 6–1 | T–1st | L Liberty | 12 | 11 | ||
1976 | Texas A&M | 10–2 | 6–2 | 3rd | W Sun | 8 | 7 | ||
1977 | Texas A&M | 8–4 | 4–4 | 5th | L Astro-Bluebonnet | ||||
1978 | Texas A&M | 4–2* | 1–2* | ||||||
Texas A&M: | 48–27 | 27–20 | *Bellard resigned after 6 games | ||||||
Mississippi State Bulldogs (Southeastern Conference) (1979–1985) | |||||||||
1979 | Mississippi State | 3–8 | 2–4 | 8th | |||||
1980 | Mississippi State | 9–3 | 5–1 | 3rd | L Sun | 19 | |||
1981 | Mississippi State | 8–4 | 4–2 | 3rd | W Hall of Fame | 17 | |||
1982 | Mississippi State | 5–6 | 2–4 | 8th | |||||
1983 | Mississippi State | 3–8 | 1–5 | 8th | |||||
1984 | Mississippi State | 4–7 | 1–5 | T–9th | |||||
1985 | Mississippi State | 5–6 | 0–6 | 10th | |||||
Mississippi State: | 37–42 | 15–27 | |||||||
Total: | 85–69 | ||||||||
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
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References
- ^ Weber, Bruce (February 10, 2011). "Emory Bellard, Creator of Wishbone Offense, Dies at 83". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 23, 2011.
- ^ "Emory Bellard dies; credited with developing wishbone offense". ESPN. February 10, 2011.
- ISBN 0-87611-168-1.
- ^ "Coach Emory Ballard, Ingleside Texas 78362".
- ^ "ESPN.com 'No Place Else But Texas'".
- ^ Times Wire Services (November 11, 1985). "Mississippi State's Bellard Fired as Coach, Forecaster". Los Angeles Times.