Jim Wacker Jim Wacker ( April 28 , 1937 – August 26 , 2003 ) was an American football coach and college athletics administrator . 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 . Wacker won two NAIA Division II National Championships with Texas Lutheran in 1974 and 1975 , and two NCAA Division II National Championships with Southwest Texas State in 1981 and 1982 . Early life and education . The son of a Lutheran minister , Wacker was born and raised in Detroit , Michigan . He graduated from Valparaiso University in 1960 and went on to further studies at Wayne State University . Coaching career . 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 ) . He won four national championships , two at Texas Lutheran and two at Southwest Texas State . TCU . Wacker became head football coach of Texas Christian University after the 1982 season . He had early success at TCU . In 1984 , his team was ranked as high as # 12 , the TCU 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 . After the season , Wacker was named as National Coach of the Year by ESPN , the UPI , and " The Sporting News " . He was awarded the 1984 Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award . There was much hype surrounding the Frogs going into the 1985 season , and Wacker appeared on the cover of " Dave Campbell ' s Texas Football " alongside his All - American running back , Kenneth Davis , a finalist for the Heisman Trophy in 1984 and a leading candidate for the award in 1985 . After the first game of the season , Wacker discovered that several players , including Davis , had been benefiting from a payment plan in violation of NCAA rules . He dismissed the players from the team and voluntarily reported the infractions to the NCAA , which issued stiff recruiting penalties on his team . These actions led to Wacker ' s reputation as a man of integrity . Fans of TCU remain bitter that the penalty heaped on TCU for the violations were severe given that the violations were voluntarily reported . After several years of struggling due to the NCAA 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 , TCU 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 . Although he had a disappointing won - lost record ( 16 – 39 ) at Minnesota , for three years his teams led the conference with academic all - conference honors . Later life , death , and honors . Wacker was an announcer on CBS 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 .