Jim Wacker

Background

The son of a Lutheran minister, Wacker was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan.

Education

He graduated from Valparaiso University in 1960 and went on to further studies at Wayne State University.

Career

He served as the head football coach at Texas Lutheran University (1971–1975), North Dakota State University (1976–1978), Southwest Texas State University—now Texas State University–San Marcos (1979–1982), Texas Christian University (1983–1991), and the University of Minnesota (1992–1996), compiling a career college football record of 159–131–3. In the early phase of his coaching career, Wacker coached at Texas Lutheran University (1971–1975), North Dakota State University (1976–1978), and Southwest Texas State University (1979–1982). Texas Christian University Wacker became head football coach of Texas Christian University after the 1982 season.

He had early success at Texas Christian University. In 1984, his team was ranked as high as #12, the Texas Christian University Frogs" highest ranking since 1960, and was invited to the Bluebonnet Bowl after an 8–3 record in the regular season.

The #12-ranked Frogs lost a showdown for the Southwest Conference title with the #10-ranked Texas Longhorns on November 10 in what remains the third best-attended game in the history of Amon G. Carter Stadium. He was awarded the 1984 Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award.

After the first game of the season, Wacker discovered that several players, including Davis, had been benefiting from a payment plan in violation of National Collegiate Athletic Association rules. He dismissed the players from the team and voluntarily reported the infractions to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which issued stiff recruiting penalties on his team

These actions led to Wacker"s reputation as a man of integrity.

Fans of Texas Christian University remain bitter that the penalty heaped on Texas Christian University for the violations were severe given that the violations were voluntarily reported. After several years of struggling due to the National Collegiate Athletic Association 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. In 1991, Texas Christian University finished 7–4 for their first winning season since 1984.

Minnesota Wacker served as head coach at the University of Minnesota from 1992 to 1996.

Achievements

• Wacker was an announcer on Columbia Broadcasting System Radio for two years and then returned to Southwest Texas State University in 1998 to serve as athletic director until 2001. He died after a long battle with cancer in San Marcos, Texas on August 26, 2003. In November 2003, Southwest Texas State named its football field at Bobcat Stadium "Jim Wacker Field" in his honor.