Joe Aillet was the head

Head coach

A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...

 football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 coach

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

 at Louisiana Tech University

Louisiana Tech University

Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...

 from 1940 to 1966. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame

College Football Hall of Fame

The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...

 in 1989. During his 26-year tenure, he amassed a career record of 151 wins, 86 losses, and 8 ties. Additionally, under Aillet, the Bulldogs won nine conference championships. Joe Aillet Stadium

Joe Aillet Stadium

Joe Aillet Stadium is a stadium in Ruston, Louisiana, USA. It is primarily used for football, and is the home field of the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs...

, the home of the Louisiana Tech football team, was dedicated in Aillet's honor in 1972.

Childhood

Joe Aillet was born Joseph Fuourka and was brought from New York City

New York City

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 in 1905 on an Orphan Train

Orphan Train

The Orphan Train was a social experiment that transported children from crowded coastal cities of the United States to the country's Midwest for adoption. The orphan trains ran between 1854 and 1929, relocating an estimated 200,000 orphaned, abandoned, or homeless children...

 to Opelousas

Opelousas, Louisiana

Opelousas is a city in and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies at the junction of Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190. The population was 22,860 at the 2000 census. Although the 2006 population estimate was 23,222, a 2004 annexation should put the city's...

 in St. Landry Parish

St. Landry Parish, Louisiana

St. Landry Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is at the heart of Acadian/Cajun culture and heritage in Louisiana. The parish seat is Opelousas. According to the 2010 census, the population of St. Landry Parish is 83,384.St...

, Louisiana. Upon arriving at Youngsville

Youngsville, Louisiana

Youngsville is a city in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,289 as of the 2005 Census Bureau estimates. It is part of the Lafayette Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Youngsville is located at ....

 on the orphan train, Father Johanni Roguet, the priest at St. Ann's Catholic Church, claimed the child. Since the priest could not legally adopt a child, he handed over the responsibilities of raising the baby to a widow named Eliza Aillet. From these two individuals, Joseph Fuourka was renamed Joseph Roguet Aillet.

Education

Aillet attended Holy Cross College in New Orleans, LA where he served as vice-president of the Class of 1921 and held leadership positions in nearly every school society. After graduating from Holy Cross College in 1921, Aillet attended Roman Catholic-affiliated St. Edward's University

St. Edward's University

St. Edward's University is a private Roman Catholic institution of higher learning located south of Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas. The university offers a liberal arts education and its campus is located on a hill overlooking the city of Austin. The campus's most notable landmark is Main...

 in Austin

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. While at St. Edward's, Aillet participated in all sports under coach Jack Meagher. He joined the coaching staff at Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now University of Louisiana-Lafayette) while he completed his work on a bachelor's degree. Upon earning his bachelor's in 1927, Aillet worked at Haynesville High School for nine years while he worked on his master's degree from LSU.

College Coaching Career

In addition to his success as a college football coach, Aillet obtained great success as the coach for the Louisiana Tech golf team. From 1952 to 1968, Louisiana Tech's golf team won the Gulf States Conference Title 10 times in 15 seasons under Coach Aillet.

Aillet is a member of the Louisiana Tech Athletics Hall of Fame, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, and College Football Hall of Fame.

His football years at Louisiana Tech corresponded with Coach Berry Hinton

Berry Hinton

Frank Berry Hinton, known as Berry Hinton , was from 1943 to 1967 a champion baseball coach at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana.-Background:...

's successful baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 teams.

Head coaching record