University of North Texas Athletics
No. 39: Jack Sisco and 1939 Lone Star Championship
8/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Return to Play
No. 39- Jack Cisco and the First of Three Straight Lone Star Championships
To know how Jack Sisco was so successful as the head coach at North Texas, you have to look back to his roots as one of the best defender to ever play for Waco High under the great Paul Tyson.
In 1921, a Sisco led Waco squad outscored its opponents 526-0 in becoming the first of three teams in Texas high school football history to post a shutout for an entire season. Some reports claim that only one team managed to cross the 50-yard line against Tyson's troops.
He then went on to Baylor where he won a Southwest Conference title in 1924 as a lineman. By all accounts Sisco was a natural born leader and coach.
So, when he took over the struggling North Texas football program in 1929 it didn't shock many folks when it only took him three seasons to bring home the school's first ever conference championship.
That 8-3 1931 TIAA Conference title team was the first of seven conference champions that Sisco would lead, including the 1939, '40 and 41 Lone Star Conference winners. In 13 years as NT's head coach, Sisco would only suffer two losing season, and by 1938 he would have the NT rushing machine firing on all cylinders.
Much like the Mean Green teams of the early 2000s, Sisco's squads rarely lost league games. In '39, NT won its final five games, only to win its last six games in '40, and its final seven games in '41.
Sisco retired from coaching following the 1941 season after conquering the Lone Star Conference for a third straight season, and soon World War II would put football on hold until 1946. He still holds the North Texas record for the best coaching win percentage at .653.
| 100 | 100-yd fumble return for TD | 75- | "Mean Joe" Greene | 50- | Gross and Washington | 25- | Tuesday, August 16 |
| 99 | Fitzgerald Goes The Distance | 74- | NT Downs No. 20 SDSU | 49- | Keith Chapman FGs | 24- | Wednesday, August 17 |
| 98 | Sears Woods' Stuns Knoxville | 73- | Fry & the new Mean Green | 48- | Cody Spencer | 23- | Thursday, August 18 |
| 97- | NT Blows Out Decatur Baptist | 72- | Yaege's Stellar Season | 47- | First Homecoming | 22- | Friday, August 19 |
| 96- | 96 Years Of Football | 71- | Steve Ramsey's TDs | 46- | Meager Against SMU | 21- | Saturday, August 20 |
| 95- | The Jump To Division I-A | 70- | Little's 1970 Season | 45- | Cobb Scores 45 | 20- | Sunday, August 21 |
| 94- | Optimist Bowl Offense | 69- | 7 All-Conference in '69 | 44- | Not A Day To Rush | 19- | Monday, August 22 |
| 93- | Michael High KR Yards | 68- | A Consensus All-American | 43- | Patrick Cobbs | 18- | Tuesday, August 23 |
| 92- | Gowin 92-Yard Punt | 67- | Armour Anchors NT Offense | 42- | Craig Robertson | 17- | Wednesday, August 24 |
| 91- | Chancellor Saves The MGRN | 66- | Love Tops 1,000 Yds | 41- | Erric Pegram | 16- | Thursday, August 25 |
| 90- | Renfro/Haynes Tally 90 pts. | 65- | St. Clair's Win Pct | 40- | Fry Win Total | 15- | Friday, August 26 |
| 89- | Redwine Bursts Onto Scene | 64- | Spider's Special Season | 39- | Jack Sisco and 1939 | 14- | Saturday, August 27 |
| 88- | Mean Green Robbed | 63- | NT & Navy Light Up The Scoreboard | 38- | Wednesday, August 3 | 13- | Sunday, August 28 |
| 87- | Fitzgerald Fries Competition | 62- | Khoury's 62-yd FG | 37- | Thursday, August 4 | 12- | Monday, August 29 |
| 86- | Mean Green 86 The Toads | 61- | Kennedy's 61 TFL | 36- | Friday, August 5 | 11- | Tuesday, August 30 |
| 85- | Adrian Awasom | 60- | Fouts Field | 35- | Saturday, August 6 | 10- | Wednesday, August 31 |
| 84- | Brown Delivers For NT | 59- | The '59 Sun Bowl Squad | 34- | Sunday, August 7 | 9- | Thursday, September 1 |
| 83- | 83 All-Conference Selections | 58- | Mitchell Claims COY | 33- | Monday, August 8 | 8- | Friday, September 2 |
| 82- | Corky Nelson | 57- | Thomas Scampers For 57 | 32- | Tuesday, August 9 | 7- | Saturday, September 3 |
| 81- | One Of The Greats | 56- | Scott Davis Completion Pct | 31- | Wednesday, August 10 | 6- | Sunday, September 4 |
| 80- | Cedric The Sack- Getter | 55- | Gill, NT's First Retired Number | 30- | Thursday, August 11 | 5- | Monday, September 5 |
| 79- | "Blow George, Blow!" | 54- | Pair's Punts | 29- | Friday, August 12 | 4 | Tuesday, September 6 |
| 78- | J.T. Smith Joins the NFL | 53- | OSU's 53 Passing Yards | 28- | Saturday, August 13 | 3- | Wednesday, September 7 |
| 77- | North Texas Goes 10- 1 | 52- | Fouts Field Opens | 27- | Sunday, August 14 | 2- | Thursday, September 8 |
| 76- | Blizzard Battle With FSU | 51- | Bahnsen Named All-American | 26- | Monday, August 15 | 1- | Friday, September 9 |
