Truman State University Athletics

Jack Wells, a graduate of Granite City (Ill.) High School, entered the university in the fall of 1947. He performed three years for the football Bulldogs as a starting halfback and graduated in three years with B.S. and B.S.E. degrees in 1950. He earned an M.A.E. degree a year later. He began his coaching career at Marceline High School. In 1954 he started the football program at Pattonville High School in St. Louis and four years later he introduced the sport to the Parkway School District at Parkway Central High School. After 10 years at Central he moved across the district to Parkway West where he spent the next 21 years. In the last nine years at Parkway West his teams have complied an 83-19 record and have reached the Missouri state high school playoffs six times. By the time he retired, he had posted an overall record of 234-122-5 in 38 years at the four different high schools, ranking him among the leading coaches in the Midwest. His teams won 18 league championships and he coached in the 1981, 1983 and 1989 Missouri Lions Club All-Star Games. Mr. Wells was named St. Louis Sporting News Coach of the Year in 1981, Denver Miller Coach of the Year in 1980 and became a member of the Greater St. Louis Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1984. He is a member of various coaching associations and has received a number of other awards, including from this university a Distinguished Service Award in 1969 and Outstanding Alumni Award in 1972.