Marcelino Huerta
 |
|
| Sport(s) | Football |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
October 31, 1924 Tampa, Florida |
| Died | October 8, 1985 (aged 60) Tampa, Florida |
| Playing career | |
| 1947–1949 | Florida |
| Position(s) | Guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1950–1951 | Tampa (assistant) |
| 1952–1961 | Tampa |
| 1962–1964 | Wichita / Wichita State |
| 1965–1967 | Parsons (IA) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 104–53–2 |
| Bowls | 2–1 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 MVC (1963) | |
| Awards | |
| University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame | |
|
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 2002 (profile) |
|
Marcelino Huerta, Jr. (October 31, 1924 – October 8, 1985), also known by his nickname Chelo Huerta, was an American college football player and coach. Huerta played college football for the University of Florida, and he was later the head football coach for the University of Tampa, the Municipal University of Wichita—later known as Wichita State University—and Parsons College. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2002.
Huerta was born in Tampa, Florida in 1924. He was the son of Ybor City cigar workers, both of whom were immigrants from Asturias in Spain. Huerta attended Hillsborough High School in Tampa, and was an offensive lineman for the Hillsborough Terriers high school football team.
He joined the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II, serving as a B-24 Liberator bomber pilot and flying missions over Nazi-occupied Europe. When Huerta's aircraft was shot down over Yugoslavia, he evaded capture by German military units, and with the assistance of Yugoslav partisans, he was able to safely return to his base.
After being discharged from military service, Huerta enrolled in the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played guard for coach Raymond Wolf's Florida Gators football team from 1947 to 1949. He was a standout two-way lineman for the Gators during a time the players ironically dubbed the "Golden Era"—a stretch when the Gators never won more than five games in a season. Huerta graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1949, and he was later inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1983.
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