Memory Lane: Wacker-Backers

If you’re a football fanatic, you might have heard the term “Wacker-Baker” before. This term refers to enthusiastic fans who cheered on Texas State coach Jim Wacker. Coach Wacker was known to encite enthusiasm and pride from Bobcat fans. 

Courtesy of Texas State Pedagog

The Wacker-Backers cheered on the Bobcats and Coach Wacker toward back-to-back NCAA Division II national championships in 1981 and 1982.

“Jim Wacker was an important part of the history of this university,” said former Texas State President Denise Trauth. “But he was also so much more. He embodied our spirit and our enthusiasm.”

After he finished coaching at Texas State and TCU, Wacker was an announcer on CBS Radio for two years. From 1998-2001, Wacker moved back home to San Marcos where he was the athletic director for the Bobcats.

In 2003, Jim Wacker died from a long battle with cancer. Texas State named the football field “Jim Wacker Field” in his honor.