Corky Nelson (February 25, 1939 – November 17, 2014) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and coach. He is known for his coaching stint at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

, but was more successful on the high school level. Nelson was an all-conference

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

Texas State University–San Marcos Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

, where he was captain of the 1963 team that went undefeated. He began coaching at the high school level soon after his graduation, first at

Alamo Heights High School Alamo Heights High School is a public high school located in the city of Alamo Heights, Texas and is the only high school in the Alamo Heights Independent School District. Athletics The Alamo Heights Mules compete in the following sports: Cheerl ...

as an assistant, then at

Harlandale High School Harlandale High School is a public high school located in the city of San Antonio, Texas ( USA) and classified as a 5A school by the UIL. This school is the flagship school for the Harlandale Independent School District located in south centra ...

as head coach. He briefly got into the collegiate ranks as defensive line and linebacker coach at the University of North Texas, but left after one season. In 1971, Nelson became head coach at

John Tyler High School Tyler High School, formerly known as John Tyler High School, is a public, co-educational secondary school in Tyler, Texas. It is part of the Tyler Independent School District and serves 9th through 12th grade. In 2020, the Tyler I. S. D. school ...

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

. In 1973, he guided a Lions team that featured

Earl Campbell Earl Christian Campbell (born March 29, 1955), nicknamed "the Tyler Rose", is an American former professional football player who played as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints. Kn ...

to a perfect 15–0 season as well as the state championship in the largest classification. Nelson then became

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

under coach

Grant Teaff Grant Garland Teaff (; born November 12, 1933) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at McMurry University (1960–1965), Angelo State University (1969–1971), and Baylor University (1972–1992), compiling ...

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

. In 1982, he was named head coach at North Texas, succeeding

Bob Tyler Bob Tyler (born July 4, 1932) is a former American football coach. He coached in the high school and collegiate ranks. A native of Water Valley, Mississippi, Tyler was a star athlete at Water Valley High School before entering military service. ...

. He was also named the school's athletic director in 1989. Following the 1990 season, his contract was not renewed. Nelson died on November 17, 2014.

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Corky 1939 births 2014 deaths American football centers American football linebackers Baylor Bears football coaches Mary Hardin–Baylor Crusaders football coaches North Texas Mean Green athletic directors North Texas Mean Green football coaches Texas State Bobcats football players High school football coaches in Texas Jefferson High School (San Antonio, Texas) alumni Sportspeople from San Antonio Players of American football from San Antonio