Evening star., 1957-12-23
WIN, LOSE OR
DRAW BY FRANCIS s7Ans
This Was Bob Zuppke


zuppke The man who died yesterday at 70 great
football coach and during his many years Illinois,
until he retired at 62 his lllini teams Big Ten
championships.
He pretty good painter, too Critics who should
know say he was more gifted with the brush than
United States President and renowned exPrime Minister
In both helds-coachng and painting-he showed
zuppke admrer said "a craggy violent quality founded
on solidity and virile purposefulness."
Kind Of dryly witty gent, too This may have moss
It. but happens to be true During the Red Grange
At Illinois in 1s2s25 debunker remarked "An Grange
can do is run"
on defense and also could pass bit But zuppke conceded
this advantage Of his own and replied:
And all Galli-Curci can do is singl"
LITTLE GUY-he played scrub football at Wisconsin
and of record for time spent the uni
versity nfrmary with nurieszuppke belonged to the
Mccarthy Huggns McKechnie school In that he far
better as teacher than he ever was participant
Bob Zuppke. who born in Germany,
associated with any special football system Knute
Rockne was with the Notre Dame box Pop Warner Wth
the single and double wing and Clark shauehnessy Ralph
Jones Don Faurot Jim Tatum and Bud wilkinson with the
and spIit-T.
He was learned in all the various formations but
zuppke felt that he would do better by not sticking
any particular II always tried TO t the formation tc
The material had at the time" he used to say.
Back in 1927 his heaviest backheld regular Fritz
Humbert l66-pounder II really prefer big men, zup
used to say but when you get good little he is
almost to be star because he must have spirit that
never surrenders."
ZUPPKE WAS A GOOD friend Of Rockne's. They were
two Of the atme greatest in football and chded each
other all the time There the oft-repeated story Of
time when zuppke dropped by Rocknes home in South
Bend.
At his knock on the door manservant was told
I'm Zuppke and want to see Rock"
"Soupy? Zoopy?"
Look I want to see Rockne I'm a coach"
"No said the manservant Mister Rocknes the coach"
mo- yourself" zuppke exclaimed. "Rocknes the
genius-Im the coach"l
In the 1929 Rose Bowl game the California center
Roy Riegels, the wrong way with loose ball and
helped Georgia Tech to 81 victory. Zuppke TO
the defense Of the befuddled Reges
mo wonder centers run the wrong way" he said
They spend all their time looking at the world backward
and upside down."
He could be caustic. Once at Illinois there was a
back who careless with his tacklng In practice
however, the player made what he considered partcu
larly hard tackle and sought his coachs approval
"See that one Zup?" he asked.
don't look for tackles son." zuppke replied II lister
Tor them"
ZUPPKE WAS DEFENDER Of the unsung It would
appear because he dsked to his players ovepubczed
Once he was quoted:
"often an Al-American is made by long rum a weak
Defense and poet in the press box"
The two favorite zuppke stories here deal with the
"feud" between zup and Rockne. Once at a banquet
Rockne said, in explaining Nore Danes success MY
assistants do the coaching. All do is blow up the
footballs"
zuppke who followed Rockne, started OF: Il do not
have that much wind"
The other story pertains to visit by Zuppke to South
Bend when the Rockne shift was the rage Being a
dinner story exaggeration is TO be expected. "When
got on the campus zup related "three freshmen
out Of building yelling one etwo-three, shift
two priests emerged lifted their cassocks and shouted
One-two-three hikel'
Finally got to the presidents Office" Zuppke said,
"and he gave that onetwo three shift act But he
was pretty old and feeble and couldn't very fast
I'm fact he was the only on the Notre Dame
campus whose shift was legal"