North High School

Shoup's career began at North High School

Shoup's coaching career began in 1956 at North High School in Torrance, California. He led the high school football team to six league championships and was named Coach of the Year on two occasions. Before his recruitment to California Lutheran College, Shoup had garnered fame at the Torrance high school, where he had compiled an enviable record for championships. He was also notable for his time at University of California, Santa Barbara, in the 1950s.^[14] The football team at Torrance had been described as a “local laughing stock” prior to Shoup's arrival, and it had gone two years since they last won a game. Two years later, the team won the league title. Having built a winning team, Shoup set about the task of building a stadium for the high school. Shoup later explained: “The administration gave me the carte blanche to put together whatever I wanted,” and continued “that stadium had everything imaginable: nice locker rooms, training rooms, coaches’ offices, lights, press box, concession stands, you name it. And we sold it out every game.” The high school team only lost four games during the next three seasons.^[15] Shoup was also a coach of Torrance’s newly established tennis team.^[15]

As Shoup was hired when North Torrance High School was a new school just starting to play football, Shoup, at age 24, helped build the football program from scratch.^[16] In 1957, Shoup was asked by the high school to move up to varsity. He accepted and soon won the first varsity game in the school’s history, against Redondo High School.^[16] The high school team hadn’t won more than two or three games in total over the preceding years, however, the team became league champions in Shoup’s first year.^[17] Within a few years, Shoup had built a championship team at North High. When Shoup was hired at California Lutheran College in 1962, he brought many former high school players with him.^[18]

Cal Lutheran

Hollywood Palladium

Shoup was instrumental in helping to bring the Dallas Cowboys to CLC.^{[2][13][19][20]}

In 1962, Shoup was informed by James Kallas, a former NFL player for the Chicago Bears, that the Regents at California Lutheran College had just approved a college football program. Kallas played a key role in helping to recruit Shoup as the college’s first football coach.^[21] Dr. Luther Schwich made the plans to form California Lutheran College's first football team in 1962 and selected Bob Shoup to begin the team. Shoup’s first assignment at CLC was to recruit and build a football team, develop a schedule, and secure new facilities. During the “Year of the Champions” in 1965, the team brought into fulfillment with an 8-1 record. The winning streak continued into 1966, nicknamed the “Year of the Victors”, with an 8-2 record. In 1967, the “Year of the Conquerors,” a 7-2 season, Gary Loyd emerged as the best punter in collegiate football and was named an NAIA All American in 1968. That same year CLC also appeared for the first time in the national rankings, coming in ninth. The following year, 1969, nicknamed “Year of the Warriors,” Robbie Robison set an NAIA record with seventeen field goals, which moved the team up to seventh place in the national ratings. From an 8-1-1 record in 1970, the team moved into their greatest season the following year, when the team captured the national championship beating both Westminster College and Montana Tech in the playoffs. A celebration was held at the Hollywood Palladium in conjunction with the Dallas Cowboys, an NFL team which trained at CLC, who won the Super Bowl in January 1972. After having won the championship, coach Shoup was named NAIA Coach of the Year and also Lutheran Coach of the Year. From the championship team, numerous players were drafted for professional football careers, including Brian Kelley who was drafted by the New York Giants and Sam Cvijanovich who played in the Canadian Football League. Another key player, Mike Sheppard, later became the head coach at California State University Long Beach. As of 1984, the CLU team was among the top small college teams in America, which makes Coach Robert Shoup one of the winningest coaches in the country.^[14]

In the early 1960s, Shoup was the college's football coach, took over the baseball program, was an instructor in physical education, became dean of men, and chaired the student discipline committee. He also worked in public relations, church relations, fundraising, and admissions.^[15] Following the death of Jack Siemens in 1969, Shoup also assumed the role of Athletic Director for the college. As the athletic director from 1969–1977, Bob Shoup hired Major League Baseball player Ron Stillwell as the head baseball coach in 1972.^[22] His son Rick Shoup helped his father coach the football team for six years as a volunteer and one year as a paid assistant.^[15] Shoup was also a teacher in two courses at the university: body conditioning and recreational leadership. He was also the head coach for the golf team from 1976-1986.^[23][24] The 1982-83 season was one of the best seasons for Cal Lutheran's golf team. The college finished 17th in the national competition in Texas and during the next season, Shoup was able to send Greg Osbourne to compete in the national competition in Michigan, where he ultimately finished fourth. In 1984, Osbourne captured the NAIA District III individual championship, picked up All-America honors, and raised the bar for the program.^[25]

After winning the 1971 national title, Shoup considered changing jobs and interviewed for jobs at Idaho State, Cal State Fullerton, Pacific Lutheran University, and Montana, but ultimately decided to remain at Cal Lutheran.^[18]

Carlsbad High School

After his career at Cal Lutheran, he worked as an assistant at Carlsbad High School for head coach Bob McAllister.^[26][27]

College football