Robert Zuppke Papers, 1900-13, 1921-22, 1926-57 | University of Illinois Archives

Description: Papers of Robert Carl Zuppke (1879-1957), football coach (1913-41), including correspondence concerning football coaches, players and games; coaching conditions and the Athletic Board's attempt to oust Zuppke in 1938; reminiscences and stories; books, magazine articles and newspaper clippings; personal visits and trips; speaking engagements; football awards and honors; football plays and scouting reports; evaluations of football players for college and professional teams; recommendations for coaching positions; paintings, art exhibits and gifts; health; financial matters and family. The papers contain manuscripts of talks, interviews and articles by Zuppke; diagrams of famous plays like the "flying trapeze" and the "flea flicker;" pencil and crayon sketches; examples of Zuppke's "Ned Brant" comic strip and newspaper clippings (1926-57). Zuppke graduated from the University of Wisconsin (1905); coached football at Muskegon, Michigan (1906-10), Oak Park, Illinois (1910-13) and the University of Illinois (1913-41). His teams won or tied for seven conference championships. He wrote three books on coaching football (1922-30). After retirement, he coached the college all-stars (1942) and served as advisory coach with the Universities of Havana and Auburn (1945) and the Chicago Bears. Zuppke corresponded with former players George Clark, Harold Grange, George Halas, Ernest Lovejoy, Albert Nowack, Milton Olander, Harold Pogue, and Jack Wilson; coaches Carl Voyles and Glenn Warner; President Arthur Willard; alumni Charles Moynihan, James Peterson and Merritt Schoenfeld; sports writers Grantland Rice, Christy Walsh and Arch Ward; George Ade and Paul Slater. NOTE: Three oversize boxes containing paintings by Zuppke are located on the top shelf of range 9-1, above the remainder of the series.