Robert Carl Zuppke was an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 coach. He served the head coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...

 from 1913 until 1941, compiling a career college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 record of 131–81–12. Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame

College Football Hall of Fame

The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...

 in 1951, Zuppke coached his teams to national titles

NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship

A college football national championship in the highest level of collegiate play in the United States, currently the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , is a designation awarded annually by various third-party organizations to their selection of the best...

 in 1914, 1919, 1923, and 1927. Zuppke's teams also won seven Big Ten Conference

Big Ten Conference

The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

 championships. While at the University of Illinois, Zuppke was a member of the Alpha-Gamma Chapter of Kappa Sigma

Kappa Sigma

Kappa Sigma , commonly nicknamed Kappa Sig, is an international fraternity with currently 282 active chapters and colonies in North America. Kappa Sigma has initiated more than 240,000 men on college campuses throughout the United States and Canada. Today, the Fraternity has over 175,000 living...

. Among the players that Zuppke coached at Illinois, was Red Grange

Red Grange

Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...

, the most celebrated college football player of the era. The field at the University of Illinois's Memorial Stadium

Memorial Stadium (Champaign)

thumb|right|300px|Original plan for Memorial Stadium circa 1921. Caption from [[Popular Mechanics]] Magazine, 1921Memorial Stadium is a football stadium located in Champaign, Illinois, in the United States, on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The stadium is dedicated as...

 is named Zuppke Field in his honor. Zuppke is credited for many football inventions and traditions, including the huddle

Huddle

In sport, a huddle is when a team gathers together, usually in a tight circle, to strategise, motivate or celebrate. It is a popular strategy for keeping opponents insulated from sensitive information, and acts as a form of insulation when the level of noise in the venue is such that normal...

 and the flea flicker

Flea flicker (American football)

A flea flicker is an unorthodox play in American football designed to fool the defensive team into thinking that a play is a run instead of a pass...

.

Prior to coaching at the University of Illinois, Zuppke coached at Muskegon High School

Muskegon High School

Muskegon High School is a public high school located in Muskegon, Michigan, and was the first high school in Muskegon County, Michigan.-History:...

 in Muskegon, Michigan

Muskegon, Michigan

Muskegon is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 38,401. The city is the county seat of Muskegon County...

 and Oak Park and River Forest High School

Oak Park and River Forest High School

Oak Park and River Forest High School, or OPRF, is a public four-year high school located in Oak Park, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is the only school of Oak Park and River Forest District 200....

 in Oak Park, Illinois

Oak Park, Illinois

Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...

, where he tutored future Pro Football Hall of Fame

Pro Football Hall of Fame

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...

r George Trafton

George Trafton

George Edward Trafton , was an American football player. He played as a center for the Decatur Staleys of the National Football League from 1920 to 1921 and 1923–1932. He is credited as being the first center to snap the ball with one hand...

. Zuppke led the team to state championships in 1911 and 1912.

Zuppke also was a painter, particularly of rugged Western landscapes.

Zuppkeisms

Zuppke had philosophical remarks known as "Zuppkeisms." The seven best known are as follows:

1. Never let hope elude you; that is life's biggest failure
2. The greatest athlete is one who can carry a nimble brain to the place of action
3. Moral courage is the result of respect from fellow men
4. A good back should keep his feet at all times and never lose his head
5. Men do their best if they know they are being observed
6. Alumni are loyal if a coach wins all his games
7. Advice to freshmen: don't drink the liniment

College

Artist

Zuppke was also a painter who worked mainly on creating evocative, naturalistic landscapes depicting the American Southwest. Zuppke saw no conflict between his interest in painting and football strategy as he believed, "Art and football are very much alike". His work was displayed in several shows, including a one man show at the Palmer House in Chicago in 1937. Zuppke was a member of the No-Jury Society of Artists in Chicago and an acquaintance of Ernest Hemingway. Images of Zuppke along side some of his paintings can be found in the University of Illinois Archives.

External links

• Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame bio