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Joseph Edward Kerbel (May 3, 1921 – March 20, 1973) was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. He is the second winningest coach in West Texas A&M Buffaloes history.

After a successful coaching career at Bartlesville and Cleveland High School in Oklahoma, Kerbel became head coach at Breckenridge High School in 1952. Breckenridge had won its first 3A state title in 1951 under coach Cooper Robbins who had just left for Texas A&M, raising the expectations high for Kerbel. He did not disappoint, as he won two additional state championships in 1952 and 1954. He then left for Texas football powerhouse Amarillo High School, which had won four state championships under coaches Blair Cherry and Howard Lynch.

After coaching at Amarillo High School for three seasons, Kerbel became an assistant under DeWitt Weaver at Texas Tech University in 1957. He then took over a West Texas A&M football program in 1960 that had won just two games in two years under head coach Clark Jarnagin. Kerbel turned the program around, amassing a 68–42–1 record the next 11 years and winning two bowl games, the 1962 Sun Bowl and 1967 Junior Rose Bowl, along the way. Notable players for Kerbel included Stan Hansen, Mercury Morris, Duane Thomas, Jerry Don Logan, and Thomas Krempasky, three-time All Texas defensive back. Kerbel retired in 1971 after the school chose not to renew his contract. He was succeeded by Gene Mayfield.

Kerbel was born in Dallas and raised in Seminole, Oklahoma. He died of a heart attack, on March 20, 1973, at Arlington Memorial Hospital in Arlington, Texas.

Head coaching record

College

Further reading

• Cashion, Ty (1998). Pigskin Pulpit: A Social History of Texas High School Football Coaches. Austin: Texas State Historical Association. ISBN 0-87611-168-1.
• Harris, Jack (1990). A Passion for Victory, The Coaching Life of Texas Legend Joe Kerbel. Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company.

References

1. "Joe Kerbel Dies Of Heart Attack". Clovis News-Journal. Clovis, New Mexico. United Press International. March 21, 1973. p. 16. Retrieved September 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
2. "Services Set For Kerbel". San Angelo Standard-Times. San Angelo, Texas. Associated Press. March 21, 1973. p. 3D. Retrieved September 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .

External links

• Joe Kerbel at Find a Grave

• 1921 births
• 1973 deaths
• Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches
• West Texas A&M Buffaloes athletic directors
• West Texas A&M Buffaloes football coaches
• High school football coaches in Oklahoma
• High school football coaches in Texas
• People from Seminole, Oklahoma
• Sportspeople from Dallas
• Coaches of American football from Oklahoma