Finally retiring in 1939, Emerson returned to Detroit, working in the personnel department of the
Ford Motor Company and coaching at
Wayne State University. During
World War II he served his country in the
U.S. Navy in 1942 and attained the rank of
lieutenant commander. He served on the
aircraft carrier USS Block Island, which was sunk in the
Atlantic by
German submarine U-549. Transferred back to the United States, Emerson coached the
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi team until his discharge. He stayed in
Corpus Christi coaching
Alice High School (1947-1949, where he went 25-6-1) and
Del Mar Junior College until he took the freshman coaching position at the
University of Texas at Austin in 1951. Supposedly, the wishbone formation owed its creation to Emerson as
Emory Bellard was an assistant coach to Emerson when he saw a guard being placed behind the line in order for the player to have room for running and blocking; Bellard later became an assistant to
Darrell Royal at Texas and made a suggestion about using what he saw in high school under Emerson. He coached at Texas until 1956. He served as head coach at Austin Johnston High in 1960 before becoming the first ever head coach at Austin Lanier High School. He went 35-51-5 (with all but three of his victories coming in Class 3A before the move up to 4A) while winning two district championships. He retired from the position in 1969 but stayed on as a fulltime teacher. In 1970, Emerson attended a celebration of the old days of pro football being in
Portsmouth, Ohio. In 1976, he coached football and taught
American history at St. Louis Catholic School until his final retirement in 1985. On November 26, 1998, Emerson died of
pneumonia in Austin at the age of 90. Services were held at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home on December 1. The
Professional Football Researchers Association named Emerson to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2010. Emerson was selected to the
National Football League 1930s All-Decade Team in 1969. He is one of ten players named to the All-Decade Team that have not been inducted into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a Hall of Fame Finalist in 2020 and a nominee again in 2023. ==References==