Not that long ago, prior to being called the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference*, this organization once comprised of 10 football teams from the state of Wisconsin. Eight of which we're already familiar with: UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Stout and UW-Whitewater. The remaining two were UW-Milwaukee and UW-Superior. When researching for this, I was surprised to learn that from 1934 to 1947 the conference was split into two divisions: North Division (River Falls, Superior, La Crosse, Stout and Eau Claire), and the South Division (Milwaukee, Stevens Point, Whitewater, Platteville and Oshkosh).
When it comes to city size, enrollment size, where they're situated geographically, and why they dropped their football programs (just to name a few differences), Milwaukee and Superior couldn't be anymore different from each other. So if you're interested in a bit of WIAC football history, featuring these two now dormant football programs that were once part of this great football conference, by all means...continue on and I hope you enjoy it.
UW-Milwaukee Football
Conference Membership: 51 years (1913-1963)
Overall Conference Record: 100-93-16
Notable Season: 1929 (7-0-1) First conference championship
Conference Championships: 8 ('29, '30, '31, '38, '39, '42, '47 and '48)
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| 1899 Team Photo |
Like the origin of all WIAC schools, with the exception being Stout, UWM (then called Milwaukee Normal School) started out as an institution to receive a higher education to be a teacher. Back then all "normal" schools were teacher's colleges. In the mid to late 1800s teaching was considered more of a women's profession, and it wasn't until the turn of the century did men make up a third of Wisconsin normal school's enrollment. So it was easy to see why continuity in male athletics didn't exist until the 1900s. With that in mind UWM fielded its first football team in 1898, after receiving just enough parental consent to start a program. Yes, you read that correctly, parental consent was indeed required to participate in college football back then. After learning that, raise your hand if you just pictured Kathy Bates in Waterboy....I know I did. Anyways, after only two seasons UWM closed the doors on the program as a result of poor on-field performance, brutal injuries and lack of funding. This was the first time UWM turned its back on the program, but it wasn't their last. Following a ten-year hiatus UWM reinstated football in 1911 after receiving pressure from the student body who increasingly flaunted interest in a football team. When collegiate sports was in its infancy in the late 1800s, schools never considered budgeting funds for its athletic programs. In fact, for the most part, collegiate sports were funded privately by the athletes and coaches themselves. This was yet another example where continuity was a big issue in collegiate sports during that time. As athletes graduated it was up to the following class of students/athletes if they wanted to fund themselves an athletic team.
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| Coach Kluge |
With the exception of a couple seasons, the UWM football program didn't really flourish until Herman Kluge took over as head coach in 1931. By then the school was referred to as Milwaukee State Teacher's College. In terms of coaching icons specific to a college program, Knute Rockne was to Notre Dame what Kluge was to UWM. Kluge was a native of Milwaukee who attended Riverside High School. He earned his B.A. at Milwaukee Normal School (UWM) before coaching his alma mater a few years later. Despite ending his career with a pedestrian 74-74-15 record, Coach Kluge won six conference championships ('31, '38, '39, '42, '47 and '48) before stepping down and becoming the school's first athletic director in 1955. That, unfortunately, seemed to be the pinnacle of UWM's football program, as it fell on hard times for the remainder of its existence. Two coaches followed after Kluge but neither experienced much success. Armin Kraeft (1956-1959) finished with a record of 9-23, while Wally Dreyer (1960-1968) only mustered up a 29-52 record. The Cardinals** were never able to finish better than fifth place in conference after Kluge stepped down as head coach.
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| UWM Post about the disbandment |
In 1964 UWM decided to leave the WSUC with intentions of forming an urban university conference. Potential schools involved in the proposal were Wayne State (Detroit), Cleveland State, and other city-based universities. Regrettably, the offer was shot down and UWM stood as an independent for the remainder of the program's journey. The beginning of the end occurred in 1974 when Chancellor Werner A. Baum asked the Athletic Board to make cuts in either the football, basketball, or the grants-in-aid program to make room for Title IX. Furthermore, UWM was in financial distress and had a tough time keeping up with inflation and raising funds. Not even a year later, January 17, 1975, the board voted 7-6 in favor of eliminating the football program.
UW-Superior Football
Conference Membership: 80 years (1913-1992)
Overall Conference Record: 118-277-23
Notable Season(s): 1936-1937; Didn't surrender a single point
Conference Championships: 6 ('13, '28, '35, '36, '37, '46)
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| Coach Whereatt |
Following suit with their WIAC brethren, Superior originally stood as a teacher's school (shockingly) called Superior Normal College. Like UWM, they to were an original member of the Wisconsin State Normal Conference. They in fact finished first (2-0-1) in the conference's inaugural season in 1913. Superior's golden years were in the '30s when they won three consecutive conference titles ('35-37). All three championships were coached by Ted Whereatt. The Superior native coached 14 years with the Yellow Jackets, where he had a record of 63-28-14. As of today, Whereatt stands as the 15th winningest coach in WIAC history. His shinning moment had to come during the seasons of 1936 and 1937, where his defense didn't allow a single point during those two seasons. Very impressive, considering that's unheard of in today's game.
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| Ole Haugsrud Field |
From 1954 to 1992 the Yellow Jackets played its home games on Ole Haugsrud Field. The field was named after Oluf "Ole" Haugsrud. The Superior native was one of the early pioneers of the NFL, and was the main reason why the league expanded into Minnesota in the 1960s. He also went on to become part owner of the Minnesota Vikings. In fact, the Vikings' name and team colors actually derived from Haugsrud's old high school (Central High School in Superior). He also served on the UW-Superior Foundation Board of Directors from 1967 until he passed away in 1976.
Compared to UWM, Superior's circumstances for shutting down its football program was quite different. In 1992 the program abruptly ended considering not enough players boasted enough interest to field a team. The administration had little choice but to shut it down, and it remained inactive ever since. Superior however still resides as an affiliate of the WIAC in most other collegiate sports. I was able to come across some old footage when Stout hosted Superior in 1983 (see video below, Superior is in white). Even though there's no sound, it's cool to see at least some evidence of Yellow Jacket football. Just think if Superior still had a football program in this economy. Given how isolated they are from the rest of the conference, you can forget about them playing WIAC teams as non-conference opponents to cut costs (like what's in place now). Instead, the WIAC would have probably oblige Superior to temporarily join the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference until the economy picked back up again. Considering that St. Scholastica (a member of the UMAC) is less than six miles away.
I can't imagine the logistical nightmare it was when Superior and Milwaukee played each other....especially in the early 1900s. Even if you tried, it's almost impossible to get further away from one another in the state of Wisconsin when looking at the two cities. It was an 800 mile round trip for those two teams, just so the players could get their brains beat in for three hours while only wearing a leather helmet! Where as today, the furthest a WIAC team has to travel is just under 560 miles (round trip) - Whitewater to River Falls. Back then it was tough to tell if teams traveled by bus or train. So during a time when highways were barely available, and when bus restrooms, cell phones, and iPods (or any portable music device for that matter) were decades away, I can't imagine how mind numbing those trips were. Regardless, you got to know your team (and their smells) VERY well during those trips. I suppose it gave UWM time to rehearse its fight song.
As a side note, if any DIII football conference has to complain about traveling, that right has to go to the American Southwest Conference. I wouldn't want to be the one who fronts their traveling expenses. They have to travel over states just to play a conference football game....STATES, as in more than one!!! I understand it's not that uncommon for DIII conferences to be in different states. But looking at a map, there's a crap ton of space between ASC schools. In some cases for the ASC, an annual plane trip (Sul Ross State/Mississippi College game) is required.
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| Milwaukee verses Whitewater, 1927. UWM won 12-6 |
Over the past few years there has been some speculation of a football program starting back up in Milwaukee. Previous athletic director, Rick Costello, openly entertained the notion of it before leaving the school. The current AD, Andy Geiger, comes from a rich college football history. He held previous AD positions at Brown, Penn, Stanford, Maryland and Ohio State. If the football program would resume, by no means would it regain membership to the WIAC. UWM's athletics consists of mainly of Division I programs, and would seek conference membership elsewhere (or consider interdependency). The Panthers' faithful remains hopeful that a football program will one day materialize from its ashes, as they keep the dream alive in their own UWM football forum. In 2003 UWM established an intercollegiate football club team called Milwaukee Panther Football. The program experienced success going 4-0 in its first season. Over the past 10 years or so, the Panthers have regularly been playing JV teams from Whitewater, Stevens Point and Oshkosh. If you have any interest about being kept in the loop regarding Milwaukee Panther Football, follow them on Facebook.
As far as resurrecting football in Superior, it's tough to find any info suggesting there's any interest. Probably because, quite simply, there isn't any interest. I've attempted to get in touch with the athletic director at Superior, but had little success. I did come across an article written by their student publication a few years back. They felt that it wasn't in the university's best interest to bring back football. Only because the sport had passed them by, and starting from scratch would make it nearly impossible to catch up to where the rest of the WIAC programs are today. Not to mention the student enrolment is only about 3,000 students (far and away the smallest among WIAC schools). Next closest would be River Falls with just over 5,500. Needless to say, a start-up football program would find it very difficult competing in the best conference in the DIII today.*** However, it has been long debated that enrollment size has little to do with on-field success. As long as the program is well funded, along with landing a charismatic coach and recruiter to build a solid foundation, it's possible to field a competitive team. But I fully understand that's a lot easier said than done. If it was just that easy everyone program would be doing it.
Before we go..... by now you probably figured out what the Cardinal picture at the top of this post is all about (as if the letters "UWM" didn't immediately give it away). But can anyone guess why I bothered posting a rather burly looking picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger?
*The conference cycled through an assortment of names before settling on the WIAC: Wisconsin State Normal Conference (1913-1925), Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference (1926-1950), Wisconsin State College Conference (1951-1963), and the Wisconsin State University (Athletic) Conference (1964-1996). Then in 1997 the WSUC merged with the Wisconsin Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to form the WIAC.
**UWM had four mascots in its history: Braves (1899-?) Green Gulls (?-1956), Cardinals (1956-1964) and Panthers (1964-present).
***According to D3football.com
