Editor’s Note: Jack Becker is the editor of Caprock Chronicles and is a Librarian Emeritus from Texas Tech University. He can be reached at jack.becker@ttu.edu. Today’s article about former Lubbock High football coach Weldon Bailey Chapman is by Lubbock Christian University Professor Sam Ayers.
The 1939 Armistice Day (Veteran’s Day) Classic was played in Lubbock.
This contest ended with a 19-0 Westerner victory over Plainview. Following the last play of the game, Coach Chapman took his last breath.
Weldon Bailey Chapman was born March 26, 1902, in Nevada, Texas. His parents were Robert and Lyde Jean Chapman, and he had six siblings.
Weldon’s father served as the superintendent of Nevada High School. Following the death of his father from a heart
attack in 1914, Weldon and his siblings moved into the Odd Fellows Home (orphanage) in Corsicana. He graduated in 1918 and attended Austin College in Sherman.
While at Austin College, Weldon was active on the debate team and tennis club and served as the newspaper sports editor and yearbook assistant business manager.
Weldon was captain of the JV football and JV baseball teams and business manager for the varsity football team.
Upon graduating from Austin College in 1922, Weldon Chapman accepted a position as a math teacher and head football coach at Cisco High School.
His teams posted winning seasons from the start. He introduced the team mascot “Loboes,” (remains misspelled) and led his teams to win the district championships in 1924 and 1925. He remained the head coach until 1930, compiling a record of 82-14-6.
Coach Chapman unexpectedly resigned, and representatives from many communities contacted him. Chapman chose to lead the Lubbock High School Westerners in 1931.
Chapman immediately connected with his students and the Westerner football team. The Westerners captured the district and bi-district championships before facing defeat to Abilene.
Coach Chapman did not raise his voice, use foul language, smoke, or drink alcohol; but he suffered from a recurring throat ailment.
Still, he made his expectations known to his players in practice and in games with his players having to lean in and listen more intently.
In 1938, the Westerners started the season with 4-1. They then won the next five district games against Borger, Plainview, Lamesa, Pampa, and Amarillo, winning the district championship.
The Westerners beat Vernon in Bi-District, Breckenridge in the state quarterfinals, and the Fort Worth Mighty Midget Masons of Masonic Home in the state semifinals.
At the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, the Westerners faced Corpus Christi in the state championship game on Dec. 26, but the Buccaneers overpowered the Westerners 6-20.
Coach Chapman proclaimed that the 1939 Lubbock team would return to state. Unfortunately, the 1939 Westerners started the season 1-3-1. Chapman’s recuring throat ailment resulted in him being confined to a bed at West Texas Hospital. Assistant Coach Goober Keyes, stepped in as the interim head coach. Chapman listened to the next three games on the radio from his hospital bed.
The Westerners defeated Pampa and Borger. The Armistice Day (Veteran’s Day) Classic was played on the Texas Tech football field, and the contest ended with a Westerner victory over Plainview. Following the last play of the game, Coach Chapman took his last breath.
At the age of 37, Coach Weldon Bailey Chapman died of bronchial pneumonia, complicated by a serious throat ailment (probably throat cancer).
After the victory, the Westerner football players arrived at Sanders Funeral home to pay respect to their coach, and the funeral service was held at First Methodist Church. Afterwards, his body was transported to Cisco, with burial in Oakwood Cemetery located near the Cisco football field where his Loboes played.
The Lubbock boys dedicated the remainder of the season to Coach Chapman. They defeated Hobbs and Amarillo, securing the district championship.
The next two play-off games were held on the Texas Tech field, where the Westerners upset Electra in bi-district and Sweetwater in the state quarterfinals. The Westerners were referred to as the “Cinderella boys.” In the state semifinal game, Lubbock defeated Dallas Woodrow Wilson.
On Dec. 30, the Westerners returned to the Cotton Bowl to face Waco for the 1939 state championship. The Waco squad outweighed the westerners an average of 14 pounds per player. The Lubbock boys were not intimidated and won the game 20-14, securing their first state championship.
Coach Chapman’s coaching record was 148-38-11.
The 1940 Lubbock High School senior class erected a brass sculpture of their football coach in the main hallway of the school. The Lubbock High School football field was named Chapman Field in his honor. In 1961, he was inducted into the Texas High School Coaches Hall of Honor.
Coach Chapman was inducted into the Lubbock ISD Athletic Hall of Honor in 2021. Weldon Bailey Chapman was not a wealthy man by economic standards.
He and his wife Minnie had no children. Yet, Coach Chapman was beloved by his friends, colleagues, and students in Cisco and Lubbock. He touched their lives as he taught them in the classroom and coached them on the field. Coach Chapman left a memorable legacy.
Sam Ayers serves as the Best-Buchanan-Wynn Endowed Chair in the Lubbock Christian University Wynn College of Education. He is a former Lubbock ISD teacher and administrator.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Caprock Chronicles remembers Lubbock coaching legend Weldon Bailey Chapman
