Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer

Lou Wacker, Legendary Emory & Henry Football Coach, Dies At 84

Lou Wacker stands on the football field with the  home grandstand in the background.

EMORY, Va. - Louis "Lou" Wacker, an Emory & Henry College Hall of Famer who won nearly 70 percent of his games as head football coach of the Wasps, has died at age 84. The Richmond, Va. native spent 23 seasons as the Wasps head coach, and previously spent 20-plus years on the coaching staff at Hampden-Sydney College. Wacker died of heart failure on Friday, February 15, his family said.

There will be a celebration of life on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m. in Memorial Chapel on the campus of Emory & Henry College.

RELATED - Lou Wacker Obituary (Farris Funeral Service)

Inducted into the Emory & Henry Sports Hall of Fame in 2008, Wacker led Emory & Henry to an unprecedented 164 victories, 11 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championships and five NCAA Division III playoff appearances.

Wacker came to Emory & Henry in 1982 after serving as an assistant coach at Hampden-Sydney College under the legendary J. Stokeley Fulton. Wacker was an outstanding football player in his own right at the University of Richmond before starting his football coaching career.

Under Wacker's leadership, 136 Wasps were named to the All-ODAC First Team, 36 earned All-America honors and five were chosen as ODAC Player of the Year. The 1987 Emory & Henry team reached the NCAA Division III semifinals while the Wasps of 1992 were among the final eight in the country.

Wacker managed an impressive 37-game home winning streak from the final game in 1991 until the end of the 1998 season, the longest in the country at the time.

At the time of his retirement, Wacker's 164 wins, 136 All-ODAC First-Teamers, 86 ODAC wins, 11 ODAC titles, five NCAA Division III playoff appearances, and five ODAC Coach of the Year honors were conference records.

In 2014, the College honored Wacker by naming the home grandstand "Lou Wacker Grandstand" in appreciation for his accomplishments and dedication to Emory & Henry.

Wacker is a member of five different Sports Halls of Fame including, Emory & Henry College, the University of Richmond, Hampden-Sydney College and Highland Springs High School. He was also inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. Watch his 2014 Virginia Sports Hall of Fame induction speech below: