Emory Bellard Emory Dilworth Bellard ( December 17 , 1927 – February 10 , 2011 ) was a college football coach . He was head coach at Texas A & M University from 1972 to 1978 and at Mississippi State University from 1979 until 1985 . Bellard died on February 10 , 2011 after battling Lou Gehrig ' s disease ( ALS ) since the fall of 2010 . 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 Luling , Texas , Bellard was one of twelve children . His father was a geologist and driller who arrived in Central Texas in the late 1920s to take part in the emerging oil boom . Bellard graduated from Aransas Pass High School and went on to attend the University of Texas at Austin , where he played his freshman year under coach Dana X . Bible . Bellard broke his leg during his sophomore season and later transferred to Southwest Texas State ( now Texas State University – San Marcos ) . 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 Ingleside High School , a Class B school in Ingleside , Texas . He guided the school to two consecutive regional wins ( as far as Class B football went ) in 1953 and 1954 . Recently a street near Ingleside High School was named after him . He was then hired to succeed Joe Kerbel at Breckenridge High School , then a state powerhouse in the second highest UIL classification . Under coach Kerbel and his predecessor Cooper Robbins Breckenridge won three 3A state championships in 1951 , 1952 and 1954 . Bellard continued that winning tradition with state titles in 1958 and 1959 . In 1960 , Bellard was selected over Gordon Wood to replace Bob Harrell as head coach at Central High School in San Angelo , Texas . San Angelo Central was playing in the highly competitive District 2 - 4A , nicknamed the " Little Southwest Conference " , against perennial state champions like Abilene and Odessa Permian . Bellard amassed a 59 – 19 – 2 record at San Angelo Central , winning a 4A state championship in 1966 . He then left the high school ranks for the University of Texas at Austin . In 1988 , Bellard returned to the high school level , coaching Spring Westfield High School near Houston , Texas to a 41 – 22 – 5 record over six seasons . 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 . It was at this time that he developed and implemented the wishbone formation , a system that was inspired by the variations of the Veer developed by Homer Rice and run by Bill Yeoman at the University of Houston . 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 a couple of 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 a couple of 10 – 2 seasons , including a pair of wins over Royal and the Longhorns and three consecutive bowl game s . After starting 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 .