Joseph Roguet Aillet (born Joseph Fuourka, September 13, 1904 – December 28, 1971) 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 and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activ ...

from 1940 to 1966, compiling a record of 151–86–8. Additionally, under Aillet, the Bulldogs won nine conference championships. He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

in 1989.

Joe Aillet Stadium Joe Aillet Stadium (formerly Louisiana Tech Stadium) is a college football stadium in Ruston, Louisiana and the home field of the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs football team, which competes in Conference USA. The football stadium replaced the ...

, the home of the Louisiana Tech football team, was dedicated in Aillet's honor in 1972.

Early life and education

Childhood

Aillet was brought in 1905 from the

New York Foundling The New York Foundling, founded in 1869 by the Roman Catholic Sisters of Charity, is one of New York City's oldest and largest child welfare agencies. The Foundling operates programs in the five boroughs of New York City, Rockland County, and ...

in New York City to

Opelousas :''Opelousas is also a common name of the flathead catfish.'' Opelousas (french: Les Opélousas; Spanish: ''Los Opeluzás'') is a small city and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190 were ...

St. Landry Parish St. Landry Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Landry) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 83,384. The parish seat is Opelousas. The parish was established in 1807. St. Landry Parish co ...

, Louisiana, on an

Orphan Train The Orphan Train Movement was a supervised welfare program that transported children from crowded Eastern cities of the United States to foster homes located largely in rural areas of the Midwestern United States, Midwest. The orphan trains opera ...

. Upon arriving at Youngsville on the orphan train, Father Johanni Roguet, the priest at St. Ann's Catholic Church, claimed the child. Since the priest could not legally adopt a child, he handed over the responsibilities of raising the baby to a widow named Eliza Aillet. From these two individuals, Joseph Fuourka was renamed Joseph Roguet Aillet.

Education

Aillet attended Holy Cross High School in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, where he played football, served as vice-president of the Class of 1921 and held leadership positions in nearly every school society. After graduating in 1921, he attended

St. Edward's University St. Edward's University is a private, Catholic university in Austin, Texas. It was founded and is operated in the Holy Cross tradition. History Founding and early history St. Edward's University was founded by the Reverend Edward Sorin, CSC ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. While at St. Edward's, Aillet played quarterback and participated in all other sports under coach

Jack Meagher John Francis Meagher (July 5, 1894 – December 7, 1968) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. Meagher played football for the University of Notre Dame in 1916, rising ...

. He joined the coaching staff at Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

) while he completed his work on a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 1927. He then worked at Haynesville High School for nine years while he completed his master's degree from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

Coaching

On the high school level, Aillet's teams at Haynesville won three championships during his 1927 to 1935 tenure. He was the first president of the Louisiana High School Coaches Association. Aillet was backfield coach at Louisiana Normal for four years. In addition to his success as a college football coach, Aillet obtained great success as the coach for the Louisiana Tech golf team. From 1952 to 1968, Louisiana Tech's golf team won the Gulf States Conference title 10 times in 15 seasons under Aillet.

Administration

Aillet was the first president of the Gulf States Conference. From 1940 to 1970, he was Louisiana Tech's athletic director.

Death

On December 28, 1971, Aillet died of cancer at age 67.

Recognition

Aillet is a member of the

Louisiana Tech Athletic Hall of Fame The Louisiana Tech University Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1984 to honor student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and benefactors who have been highly successful at Louisiana Tech and who have distinguished themselves professionally. ...

, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame, and the NAIA Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aillet, Joe 1904 births 1971 deaths Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Lady Techsters athletic directors Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball coaches Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football coaches Northwestern State Demons football coaches St. Edward's Crusaders football players University of Louisiana at Lafayette alumni College golf coaches in the United States High school football coaches in Louisiana College Football Hall of Fame inductees Holy Cross High School, New Orleans alumni Louisiana State University alumni Sportspeople from New York City People from Opelousas, Louisiana Coaches of American football from Louisiana Players of American football from New Orleans Basketball coaches from Louisiana