George Waverly Vest Sr. (December 17, 1907 – November 15, 1997) 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 ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at Southwest Texas State Teachers College—now known as

Texas State University 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 ...

–from 1946 to 1950, compiling a record of 30–17–3. Vest was also the head basketball coach at Southwest Texas State from 1939 to 1942, tallying a mark of 36–29. Vest was born on December 17, 1907, in

Martindale, Texas Martindale is a city in Caldwell County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Austin metropolitan area. The population was 1,253 at the 2020 census. The city hosts an egg hunt each Easter. Every Fourth of July, the town holds an Independ ...

. He attended Southwest Texas State Teachers College, where he played football, basketball, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and ran

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

before graduating in 1929 with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. He later earned a master's degree in physical education from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. Vest began his coaching career in

Donna, Texas Donna is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. The population was 16,797 at the 2020 census. History Donna is in southeastern Hidalgo County, east of McAllen, in territory that was granted to Lino Cabazos as part of the La Blanca la ...

, mentoring the junior high school football team. He was promoted to head football coach at Donna High School in 1933. Vest returned to his alma mater, Southwest Texas State, in 1937 as an assistant coach. Vest enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

on July 13, 1942, and then attended

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and Enlisted rank, enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a Commission (document), commission as Commissioned officer, officers in the armed forces of a country. ...

. He served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, reaching the rank of major before his discharge in 1946. Vest died on November 15, 1997, in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vest, George 1907 births 1997 deaths American football fullbacks American male high jumpers Baseball catchers Texas State Bobcats baseball coaches Texas State Bobcats football coaches Texas State Bobcats football players Texas State Bobcats men's basketball coaches Texas State Bobcats men's basketball players Texas State Bobcats men's track and field athletes College men's tennis players in the United States High school football coaches in Texas University of Texas at Austin alumni United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War II People from Caldwell County, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas Players of American football from Texas Baseball players from Texas Basketball coaches from Texas Basketball players from Texas Tennis people from Texas Track and field athletes from Texas Military personnel from Texas