Legendary Wishbone Creator Emory Bellard Passes Away
Feb 10, 2011 | Football
Feb. 10, 2011
Remembering Coach Bellard:
Feature from 2004 Aggie Sports Connection
1975 Classic vs. Texas
Bellard, 83 (date of birth: Dec. 27, 1927), had been battling ALS, which is commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. A Celebration of Life is set for Saturday, Feb. 19 in Georgetown with the exact time and location information still pending.
Former Texas A&M head coach R.C. Slocum, who was originally hired at A&M by Bellard in December, 1971, spent time with Bellard in the last week. Slocum related, "(Coach Bellard) told me, `I've led a great life. I got to do exactly what I wanted to do at some great institutions and with some great young men.'"
Slocum went on to call his hiring by Bellard a turning point in his young coaching career. "As a young football coach, you couldn't have a better mentor than Coach Bellard. He was an outstanding football coach, but more than that, he was a great human being. Being able to see how he handled people and situations was a great learning opportunity for me. He always thought and saw the best in people. He loved his players and his players loved playing for him."
A member of the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, Bellard was a highly successful Texas high school coach and collegiate head coach with stints at Ingleside High School, Breckenridge High School (state championships in 1958, 1959), San Angelo Central High School (state championship in 1966), Spring Westfield High School, Texas A&M and Mississippi State. He also served as an assistant coach at the University of Texas, and his development of the Wishbone helped the Longhorns to a pair of national championships.
"Coach Bellard's development of the Wishbone changed the face of football in Texas and across the country," Slocum said. "Very few people have had more impact on the game of football than Emory Bellard."
Bellard served as the Aggies' head football coach and athletic director from 1972-78. During his time in College Station, Bellard led the Aggies to a 48-27 record, a share of the 1975 Southwest Conference Championship, three bowl games and three top 15 national finishes. He was inducted in the Texas A&M Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
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