Bison Football--the 1970's

[SamsRams]

It had to be after 73.

yessir whatever year wacker came in and my pops was hired as oline coach. 76 or 77?

[BadlandsBison]

It had to be after 73.More than likely after Kjelbertson left(fired) which would have been after 75.

Earhardt left after 72 and went to the Patriots.

Who did he know to get that job?

[56BISON73]

Who did he know to get that job?

Chuck Fairbanks who had coached at Oklahoma was just named the head coach. He called Coach up about the job. They talked a little bit and Earhardt said well I suppose you are going to want me to come out there and interview and do all that stuff. Where Fairbanks said NO Im offering you the job. Whats interesting is Coach had been offered numerous assistant coaching job from many big time schools and he turned them all down. Why? As he told me in conversation one time--
Why do I want to be an assistant coach? Already did that. Here Im the BOSS. (he was AD as well and HC)
There want anything that wasnt at his finger tips back then.

[BraxtonT]

Wacker left because he thought that NDSU would never have the talent to win a national championship...or so he said. Did he go to TCU?

Wacker was the head coach of Southwest Texas State (now Texas State) when they defeated the Bison in the 1981 Palm Bowl in McAllen, Texas, for the DII national championship.

[scbison91]

Wacker was the head coach of Southwest Texas State (now Texas State) when they defeated the Bison in the 1981 Palm Bowl in McAllen, Texas, for the DII national championship.

Whacker went to TCU shortly after winning that Championship with Southwest Texas State.. Whacker was known for man of integrity with TCU as he ended up kicking Kenneth Davis (and other others) off the team for some NCAA infractions and turned the program in voluntarily to the NCAA. NCAA put some pretty heavy recruiting sanctions on TCU and killed the program for a decade.

[Hammerhead]

Wacker first went to SW Texas State (Just Texas State now) for a bit and then on to TCU. The Bobcats beat the Bison in the 1981 D-II championship game. He was the coach who reported NCAA violations for payments to several players leading to big punishments from the NCAA. After that, he coached at Minnesota for a few years and did about as well as anyone could there.

I went to a lot of these games. These teams were fun to watch, and mostly very good. Once Erhardt left it took some doing to rebuild things. Wacker came and lit a fire with his tremendous enthusiasm. He brought the veer and set the table for the 80s. I could be wrong about this...but I have a memory of hearing that Wacker left because he thought that NDSU would never have the talent to win a national championship...or so he said. Did he go to TCU?

[BlueKeyAlum]

Great thread. This decade predates my Bison years so this is good stuff!!

[roadwarrior]

NCC titles in the 70s:

1970 6-0-0 Erhardt
1972 6-1-0 Erhardt
1973 6-1-0 Kjelbertson
1974 5-2-0 Kjelbertson
1976 6-0-0 Wacker
1977 6-0-1 Wacker

[roadwarrior]

The D-II playoff system began in 1973.

The following are the playoff games the Bison played in the 70s:

1976 Quarterfinal NDSU 10 Eastern Kentucky 3 (Richmond KY)
1976 Semifinal Montana State 10 NDSU 7 (Fargo ND) attendance 6,100
1977 Quarterfinal NDSU 20 Northern Michigan 6 (Fargo ND) attendance 2,200
1977 Semifinal Jacksonville State 31 NDSU 7 (Anniston AL)

[Wacker_in_the_Hall]

I went to a lot of these games. These teams were fun to watch, and mostly very good. Once Erhardt left it took some doing to rebuild things. Wacker came and lit a fire with his tremendous enthusiasm. He brought the veer and set the table for the 80s. I could be wrong about this...but I have a memory of hearing that Wacker left because he thought that NDSU would never have the talent to win a national championship...or so he said. Did he go to TCU?

Wacker never said that he could not win a National Championship here.....The 1976 and 1977 teams both made the D2 Semi Finals and if not for "the food poisioning incident" at Jacksonville State in 1977, we had a pretty good chance of winning it all. I think the weather was as much of a reason for Wacker leaving as any. He really hated the cold. I know he went to the Gophers a few years later, but large salaries will make people do strange things.

"Sams Rams" were officially started in 1976. Sam Neis was the Grand Pooba and founder of the group. He also developed the units code of KHCO. He had the perfect mentality for an offensive line coach