Zapalac played college football as a fullback at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas

He lettered in football at Texas A&M in 1941 and 1942.

After serving in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, he returned to Texas A&M and lettered again in 1946.

Zapalac’s coaching journey included stops at several institutions:

After graduating from Texas A&M in 1947, Zapalac was signed to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL, but a recurrent knee injury ended his playing career.[2]

Zapalac began his coaching career in 1947, when he was hired as an assistant football coach at McAllen High School under Chuck Moser. followed by:

• Tarleton State College (now Tarleton State University) from 1949 to 1950.

• Arlington State College (now the University of Texas at Arlington) in 1952 when both schools were junior colleges.

• Assistant coaching roles at Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and the University of Texas at Austin.

• Zapalac continued his coaching career in the National Football League (NFL):

• St. Louis Cardinals (1976–1977)

• Buffalo Bills (1978–1980)

• New Orleans Saints (1981–1985)

TLSN asked Bill Zapalac to share the story behind the photo below. Bill responded,

“Above is a marked-up copy. This picture is in the dressing room after the 1956 A&M team beats UT to go 9-0-1, but are on probation and are not declared conference champions nor do they go to a bowl game. 3 of the coaches on this staff were later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (Bryant, Claiborne, and Owens). Claiborne coached many years at Maryland, and Owens coached many years at the University of Washington. I believe John David Crow was on this team, but is not in the picture. Smoky Harper, identified at the bottom of the group, was the trainer for the football program (a very close friend of my dad) and spent many years with Bryant at Alabama. Pat James, another close friend of my dad, was on the OU staff while we were at Texas. My dad was on Phil Cutchin’s staff at Oklahoma State in 1963. My dad would say at the end of his career that this is where he learned how to coach football.”

Bill Zapalac