Houston Christian University Athletics

Vic Shealy was named the first head football coach in Houston Baptist University history on April 9, 2012. Shealy won an NAIA national championship while head coach at Azusa Pacific University and served as defensive coordinator and secondary coach at the University of Kansas prior to arriving at HBU.
 
In addition to serving as head coach at Azusa Pacific, Shealy, 59, was an assistant at Kansas, Richmond, UNLV, Air Force, Austin Peay State, Mars Hill College and a graduate assistant at Baylor.
 
The Huskies showed significant improvement in 2019, recording a program-best five wins and finishing 2-6 in Southland Conference play. HBU ranked second in the conference and 12^th nationally in total offense with 462.6 yards per game and ranked third nationally in passing offense with 334.3 yards per game. Senior defensive end Andre Walker and senior kick returner Gamar Girdy Brito earned All-America honors. They were joined on the all-conference teams by junior punter Blake Patterson, junior receiver Ben Ratzlaff and sophomore receiver Jerreth Sterns. Walker led the nation with 15.0 sacks, earned CoSIDA Academic All-America and FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team honors, then was named FCS ADA Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Sterns led the nation in receptions per game and quarterback Bailey Zappe led the nation in completions and attempts per game and also led the nation with 35 touchdown passes during the regular season. Safety Tra Fluellen was a HERO Sports Freshman All-America and linebacker Brennan Young earned Sophomore All-America honors.
 
In 2018, linebacker Langston Tunson earned all-conference honors, leading the Southland and ranking fourth nationally with 12.2 tackles per game. Quarterback Bailey Zappe and wide receiver Jerreth Sterns also earned all-conference recognition, with Zappe tying for the league lead and ranking 12th nationally with 23 touchdown passes and Sterns leading the league and setting the sc hool record with 68 receptions.
 
In 2017, linebacker Garrett Dolan earned All-America honors for a second-straight year, led the Southland Conference and ranked second nationally in tackles and finished his career ranked seventh on the FCS’s all-time tackles list. Junior cornerback Raphael Lewis earned first-team all-conference honors, while senior linebacker Cody Moncure, senior defensive lineman Tyler Helaire and senior punter Christian Guzman also made the all-conference teams. The Huskies also earned the NACDA Academic Progress Rate Award.
 
The Huskies posted a 4-7 record and its best Southland Conference finish at seventh with a 3-5 mark in 2016. HBU recorded its first-ever wins over Abilene Christian and Stephen F. Austin and notched its first-ever league road win at Lamar. Junior linebacker Garrett Dolan became the program’s first All-America honoree, as he was named to the second team by the Associated Press and the third team by STATS FCS. Dolan, a first-team all-conference honoree, was joined on the all-conference teams by second-team pick sophomore kicker Alec Chadwick, who made the longest field goal in Division I with a 60-yarder at Incarnate Word, and six honorable mention selections.
 
In HBU’s first official season in 2014, the Huskies registered their first Southland Conference win on Homecoming, defeating Nicholls, 31-21, on Oct. 25. Five student-athletes earned all-conference honors, including two second-team selections, one academic all-conference honoree and one tabbed Freshman All-America. In Shealy’s second year, two more Huskies earned all-conference honors and one was named to the academic all-conference team. Dolan ranked among the top 10 nationally in tackles per game and punter Christian Guzman ranked among the top 10 nationally in yards per punt.
 
Shealy served as defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Kansas, was the defensive coordinator at Richmond in 2009 and a Austin Peay in 1994. At UNLV, he was the assistant head coach from 2005-08, after serving as secondary coach at Air Force from 1999-2004. Shealy was also assistant head coach at Austin Peay from 1988-89.
 
As the head coach at Azusa Pacific from 1995-98, Shealy led the Cougars to the NAIA national championship in his final season. He posted an overall record of 27-14-1 at Azusa Pacific, including a 12-2 record during the championship run. His first team went 4-4-1, followed by a 7-3 season in 1996, the program’s first winning season in seven years. Shealy was named NAIA Coach of the Year and the Shutt National Coach of the Year in 1998.
 
While at Richmond, the Spiders were ranked No. 1 nationally for seven weeks and ranked ninth in scoring defense en route to an 11-2 season. Shealy helped Air Force to a pair of bowl appearances in the Silicon Valley Bowl in 2000 and the San Francisco Bowl in 2002. He also appeared with Baylor in the Liberty Bowl in 1985 and has seen six of his former players go on to careers in the National Football League.
 
Shealy earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Richmond in 1984, then a Master’s degree in physical education from Baylor in 1986. He was born in Nashville, Tenn., but grew up in South Carolina and graduated from Auburn High School in Auburn, Alabama. He initially attended Liberty University, where he played quarterback, before transferring to Richmond and serving on his father’s staff as a coach. His father, Dal, was the head coach at Mars Hill in 1969, at Carson-Newman from 1970-73 and at Richmond from 1980-88, compiling a 79-74 record. Dal also had stints as an assistant at Baylor, Tennessee and Auburn from 1974-1978.
 
Shealy and his wife, Holly, have four children: Dal, Jake, Kate and Will. Kate is a recent HBU graduate and Will is a senior at HBU.