GALLOWAY–Former Rowan head football coach Richard Wackar received the Contribution to Amateur Football Award at the South Jersey Chapter of the National Football Foundation’s 18th Annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet on February 28 at the Carriage House.
The Contribution to Amateur Football Award is presented to a South Jersey resident whose efforts and activities have supported amateur football. The recipient has demonstrated dedication to football and has worked to help our youth through their love of the sport. The award represents the individual’s dedication to athletics along with civic leadership.
Richard Wackar served as a health and physical education professor and coach at Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) for 32 years (1956-88).
Lovingly known as “Coach” by his students, athletes and peers, Wackar coached four different sports. He is the only New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) coach to have won a conference title in four different sports. Wackar was Glassboro State’s golf coach for 25 years (1965-88), amassing over 200 wins and leading the Profs to seven NJAC Championships. His student-athletes collected 14 individual championships, three of his golfers were All-Americans and seven went on to play professionally.
As football coach (1963-80), Wackar guided the Profs to five conference titles and one Eastern Conference championship. Four of his players received All-America honors and one played professional football. Wackar is responsible for reinstituting the University’s football program in 1963 after it was discontinued following the 1950 season.
Wackar was the men’s basketball coach at Glassboro State from 1956-62. His teams won three state championships and finished second three times. He led the Profs to a 100-53 record during his seven seasons as head coach. Responsible for starting the sport at Glassboro State, Wackar coached the men’s cross country team from 1957-62. He guided the Profs to two NJAC Championships, two district titles and one appearance in the national cross country championship.
An outstanding teacher at the undergraduate and graduate levels, Wackar is recognized for his expertise in health education. He helped establish the health and physical education undergraduate major and graduate program at the University. Wackar’s input led to the development of several athletic facilities at Glassboro State.
Today, Wackar remains an active member of the University’s Brown and Gold Gridiron Club. One of the organization’s founding members, he is still a role model and mentor for alumni and current players. Wackar’s presence in the club continues to bridge the gap between players of the past, present and future.
In 1993, Wackar was inducted into the Rowan-Glassboro State Sports Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the South Jersey Football Coaches, Lion (Middletown North High School), Gloucester County, South Jersey Chapter of the National Football Foundation and South Jersey Coaches Halls of Fame.
In 1982, he received the Professional Achievement Award from the New Jersey Association for Health and Physical Exercise Research and Development. Wackar was the Touchdown Club of Southern New Jersey’s Man of the Year in 1978. He was named Co-Coach of the Year by the New Jersey College Football Writers Association in 1977.
This past season, Rowan renamed its newly renovated stadium, Coach Richard Wackar Stadium, in his honor.