| Robert Zuppke | |
| Birth Date: | 2 July 1879 |
| Birth Place: | Berlin, Germany |
| Death Place: | Champaign, Illinois, U.S. |
| Player Sport1: | Football |
| Player Years2: | c. 1900 |
| Player Team2: | Milwaukee Normal |
| Player Sport3: | Basketball |
| Player Years4: | 1903–1905 |
| Player Team4: | Wisconsin |
| Coach Sport1: | Football |
| Coach Years2: | 1906–1909 |
| Coach Team2: | Hackley Manual Training (MI) |
| Coach Years3: | 1910–1912 |
| Coach Team3: | Oak Park and River Forest HS (IL) |
| Coach Years4: | 1913–1941 |
| Coach Team4: | Illinois |
| Overall Record: | 131–81–12 (college) |
| Championships: | 4 national (1914, 1919, 1923, 1927) 7 Western / Big Ten (1914–1915, 1918–1919, 1923, 1927–1928) |
| Awards: | Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (1948) |
| Cfbhof Year: | 1951 |
| Cfbhof Id: | 1412 |
Robert Carl Zuppke (July 2, 1879 – December 22, 1957) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign from 1913 until 1941, compiling a career college football record of 131–81–12. Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951, Zuppke coached his teams to national titles in 1914, 1919, 1923, and 1927. Zuppke's teams also won seven Big Ten Conference championships. While at the University of Illinois, Zuppke was a member of the Alpha-Gamma chapter of Kappa Sigma. Among the players Zuppke coached at Illinois was Red Grange, the era's most celebrated college football player. The field at the University of Illinois's Memorial Stadium is named Zuppke Field in his honor. Zuppke is credited for many football inventions and traditions, including the huddle and the flea flicker. In 1914, he reintroduced the I formation.[1]
Prior to coaching at the University of Illinois, Zuppke coached at Muskegon High School in Muskegon, Michigan, and Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, Illinois, where he tutored future Pro Football Hall of Famer George Trafton and Olympic decathlete Harry Goelitz. Zuppke led the team to state championships in 1911 and 1912. He had several coaching influences. He used some plays developed by Pop Warner.
Zuppke also was a writer and a fine art painter. From 1930 to 1948, Zuppke wrote the syndicated newspaper strip Ned Brant, drawn by Walt Depew.[2] During the 1930s, Zuppke also wrote syndicated sports-related columns. As a painter, Zuppke was known for his rugged Western landscapes.
Zuppke was given to philosophical remarks, known as "Zuppkeisms." The seven best-known are as follows:
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".[4] 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 alongside some of his paintings can be found in the University of Illinois Archives.[5]