If you want small NAIA D2 Austin College reasons to root for one of the Big Dogs in the NCAA football title game tomorrow, I’ve got a few for you. And they all point to that school in the Pacific Northwest on the Bay: the Washington Huskies.
NAIA Division 2 existed from 1970 to 1996, before the ever-growing NCAA forced the NAIA to consolidate. Austin College won the NAIA D2 national title in 1981, and made the NAIA D2 playoffs in 1979, 1988, and 1990 (last month’s Roo Tale). In 1996, AC completed 100 years of college football and competed in NAIA D2 for the final time. That last 1996 NAIA D2 title was won by Sioux Falls University, whose roster included Huskies Head Coach Kalen DeBoer.
From the 1996 Sioux City Journal:
“Not many people gave Sioux Falls any chance of winning a national championship when the season started. The Cougars had never won a title in any sport. And with an enrollment of just under 1,000 in South Dakota, Sioux Falls didn’t seem to have enough of anything to last long enough to even play in a championship game. Until Saturday.”
Kalen DeBoer was a starting wide receiver on the 1996 championship squad, leading the team in receptions. Like many an Austin College student, he wasn’t a Heisman athlete. But he did have a Heisman coaching mind. DeBoer has worked his way up the coaching ranks to get Washington to the biggest game in collegiate football. And DeBoer has had help along the way.
DeBoer’s defensive coordinator at Washington, Chuck Morrell, was a 1996 DeBoer teammate at Sioux Falls. Morrell played safety, leading the team in tackles. DeBoer’s offensive coordinator at Washington, Ryan Grubb, played at tiny Buena Vista in nearby Iowa. DeBoer, Morrell, and Grubb led Sioux Falls to a (post 1996-merger) NAIA national title in 2008.
Now, these three coaches are just one win away from the biggest trophy in NCAA college football. This “boys in the boat” NAIA D2 coaching team leads Washington against Michigan, the school which has more victories than any other (1,003) in college football. Sounds like a tall order.
But if we’ve learned anything this Holiday season about the Huskies and long odds, it’s that tall orders are nothing for underdogs who compete for Washington. In 1936, Washington crew upset the biggest schools in the country to earn a spot in the Olympics, and then bested Hitler’s best in his own backyard to win the gold for America. The movie “Boys in the Boat” is the feel-good movie of the season.
Austin College football during the 1970-1996 NAIA D2 era has been a writing joy for me. I’m thrilled that all four playoff appearances are now Roo Tales, tales which would be difficult without Willie Jacob’s 1996 book “100 Years, 100 Yards: The Story of Austin College Football.” I enjoyed the movie “Boys in the Boat” the day after that last 1990 Roo Tale was wrapped up, and later learned about the Washington coaching staff’s ties to Austin College’s old NAIA D2 classification. I’ve moved on from the Longhorn loss to Washington and am ready for the Huskies to bring it all home.
So good luck to my friends in Seattle tomorrow (h/t Eric Sanderson, Caroline Sanderson, Cindy Weaver Schaufenbuel). Like them, I’ll be rooting for this Purple & Gold coaching “crew” with Austin College-like roots to upset the mighty and favored Michigan Wolverines, before celebrating on the field with QB Michael Penix Jr. and the rest of their “boys in the boat.”
