American football players and coaches
| Born | 20. June 1922 |
|---|---|
| Died | July 11, 2006 (Alter 84) Norman, Oklahoma |
| 1947 | Memphis Chickasaws |
| 1953 | Decatur Commodores |
| 1949–1950 | Henderson State (Assistant) |
| 1951–1952 | Millikin |
| 1953–1956 | Toledo (Assistent) |
| 1958 | Immergrüner Park HS (IL) |
| 1959–1985 | Fenton HS (IL) |
| 1951 | Henderson State |
| 1952–1953 | Millikin |
| 1954–1957 | Toledo |
| total | 6–8–1 (college football) 51–61 (College-Baseball) |
| Football 1 IHK (1952) | |
Robert William Appleby (June 20, 1922 – July 11, 2006) was an American football and baseball player and coach. He was a two-sport athlete at Arkansas State Teachers College, playing guard for the football team and pitching for the baseball team. He also played professional baseball for at least three years, including a stint at Jonesboro where he pitched seven consecutive shutouts and 67 goalless innings.
Appleby spent most of his coaching career. He was Head Baseball Coach at Henderson State University (1949-1951), Millikin University (1952-1953) and the University of Toledo (1954-1957). He was also head football coach at Millikin and assistant coach at Henderson and Toledo in 1951 and 1952. He later served as the head coach of Fenton High School in suburban Chicago from 1959 to 1985.
Early years
Appleby grew up in University City, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. He attended University City High School, where he was a member of the football, basketball and baseball teams. He received all-county honors as a full-back. He attended Maryville Northwest Missouri College for one semester before being drafted. He served in the Air Corps during World War II. He played football as a halfback for service teams at Kearns Army Air Base and Keasler Field in Mississippi. He later served in Germany, where he was player-coach for the regimental football team of the Second Armored Division.
After the war, he attended Arkansas State Teachers College (now University of Central Arkansas), where he served as a guard for the soccer team and as a pitcher for the baseball team. He threw a no-hitter for the state of Arkansas in 1947 and received his bachelor’s degree there in 1949.
Professional baseball and college coaching
In July 1947, Appleby signed a contract to play professional baseball with the Memphis Chicks. He appeared in seven games for the Chicks during the 1947 season. He also played for Jonesboro in the Northeast Pro League, playing seven straight shutouts and 67 goalless innings.
From 1949 to 1951 Appleby was a football line coach and baseball coach at Henderson State Teachers College (now Henderson State University) in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
In July 1951, he was hired by Millikin University as the head coach of the school’s football and baseball teams. He served as a baseball coach for the 1952 and 1953 seasons. His teams won the College Conference of Illinois (CCI) championships in both football and baseball.
In March 1953, Appleby resigned from Millikin and returned to professional baseball. During the 1953 season he appeared in 14 games for the Decatur Commodores.
In July 1953 Appleby accepted a position as head baseball coach and freshman football coach at the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio. He was the chief baseball coach in Toledo during the 1957 season. After three years as a freshman Toledo football coach, he became the 1956 backfield coach for Toledo’s college football team. One of the athletes mentored by Appleby in Toledo was Mel Triplett, who later played in the NFL eight years.
In January 1957, Toledo fired its sports director, as well as Appleby and several other sports department employees. At the time of his departure, his 29 wins ranked second among Toledo baseball coaches, just behind David V. Connelly.
High school coaching and later years
After leaving Toledo, Appleby worked as a high school football coach for many years, starting at Evergreen Park High School near Chicago. His Evergreen Park teams won a championship in baseball and finished second in football.
In September 1959, he was hired as Head Football Coach, Assistant Baseball Coach and Teacher at Fenton High School in suburban Chicago. He remained the head coach at Fenton for over 25 years. In a 1968 interview, Appleby noted that coaching high school athletes was more of a challenge: “You have a lot of pressure in college – a completely different atmosphere – but you also get boys who are better are. Actually, I don’t think you have to do so much coaching in college. ”
After retiring from Fenton High School, Appleby taught disabled skiing in Colorado from 1985 to 2004. He died in Norman, Oklahoma in July 2006 at the age of 83.
Head coaching record
| year | team | total | conference | Stand | Bowl/Playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Millikin Big Blue (Illinois College Conference) (1951–1952) | |||||||||
| 1951 | Millikin | 3–4 | 3–2 | T–3. | |||||
| 1952 | Millikin | 3–4–1 | 3–0–1 | T – 1st | |||||
| Millikin: | 6–8–1 | 6–2–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 6–8–1 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference Division title or championship course | |||||||||
