Wildcats celebrate improbable 1975 football championship
By Jim LaJoie
Guest Correspondent
They traveled to Marquette from as far away as Arizona, Florida, Texas and California and all states in between. Nearly 50 made their way to the Upper Peninsula to celebrate an achievement of a lifetime.
Former players from the 1975 Northern Michigan University national championship football team reminisced, recalled incredible memories and had a weekend of fellowship for the ages from Oct. 9 through 11. The national champions celebrated a team lunch together, told stories with the public at a neighborhood brewpub, participated in a festive dinner and were recognized at halftime of the NMU football game that weekend against Grand Valley State University.
And, to top it off, championship-winning quarterback Steve Mariucci, a native of Iron Mountain who later went on to coach a number of teams, including the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions, had his No. 18 jersey retired during halftime of the football game.
It was a weekend that these proud Wildcats will not soon forget.
“It doesn’t seem like it is 50 years,” said Dan Stencil, a center on the title team. “It’s not easy winning [a championship]. That’s why you don’t see teams repeating multiple times.”
Northern won the national championship in 1975 with a thrilling 16-14, come-from-behind victory over Western Kentucky in the final game. NMU, led by second-year head coach Gil Krueger, went 13-1 that season, one year removed from a winless campaign in 1974.
Stencil remembers the ’75 team as being tight knit, disciplined and having unwavering support of one another.
“Many of us, we’re God-fearing, and there were times when some of us prayed,” he said. “We came so far that season and couldn’t be denied. For us to have lost that game would have been heartbreaking.”
For several players on that team, losing had taken its toll. In the previous season, the Wildcats went 0-10. Then, in the offseason, Carl “Buck” Nystrom joined the staff as offensive line coach. That helped set the tone on a remarkable journey to go from winless to national champs, a feat that has never been duplicated in any sport.
“I remember us playing Western Illinois. We were down, 21-7, at halftime, and we said if we don’t win this game, we’re not going to the playoffs,” said Fred Smith, who played offensive guard on the championship team. “We ended up winning, 28-21, and it made us believe we could win it all. That was a stellar game for us. Once we got in, we got it done. It is special.”
Inside linebacker Joel Hanner, who served as the team’s co-captain, said the team’s offseason work ethic and simmering confidence spilled over into the regular season.
“It started the year before,” Hanner said. “We had talent and coaches on the offensive and defensive side. Then this guy named Buck Nystrom came to town. He taught us how to believe in ourselves. He was such a great inspiration for the players. He was one of the greatest coaches in America, and he was a reason why we won. We were so blessed to have someone like him.”
Mariucci said Nystrom was good everywhere he coached.
“He was as impactful as any coach I’ve ever been around,” he said. “He lived football. It made him tick.”
Nystrom passed away in September 2021 at the age of 88. Krueger died in 2016 at age 87.
Hanner and others said the team’s intense practice habits instilled confidence. As each game entered its fourth quarter, the NMU players would raise four fingers, indicating to their opponents that they were conditioned to fight to the bitter end.
“I remember our practice habits and staying focused,” he said. “We got rid of the silly mistakes we did the year before. A lot of seniors grew up. The momentum increased as the season went along, especially coming back [from a 14-3 deficit] in that last game. The playoff games were not easy. It was a Cinderella team. We went from one end of the rainbow to another. We had to deal with failure … a great teaching moment.”
Smith said it was about work ethic.
“Teams don’t have that today,” he said. “The only place you get better is in practice. Teams don’t know how to practice anymore.”
“One of the things I saw was we believed in each other,” Stencil said. “We weren’t going to point fingers. When we lost, it was a team loss, not like somebody fumbled or lost the ball. That camaraderie was there and the ability to outwork people. When you came to practice, the offensive line never stopped and we fought to see who would show up first in a drill.”
Mariucci said winning a national title never crossed his mind during the magical, rags-to-riches season.
“I was trying to enjoy the ride and survive,” he said. “Your thoughts weren’t on the future. They were immediate, one game at a time, one day at a time. This team had a lot of work to do to get there.
“It’s easy to love one another and have good team chemistry when you’re winning. It’s natural. When you are losing, sticking together is a trick. You could feel it evolving in ’74. … The wheels never came off. Players can get discouraged and point fingers, but that never happened. It didn’t tear the team apart.”
Connie Awrey was a Wildcat cheerleader that season. She recalls the exuberant sounds of the band, the fresh-cut grass at Memorial Field in Marquette and the team’s work ethic.
“As I was cheering, I knew what was going on, and I know football,” said Connie, who met her future husband, Randy, the team’s stalwart tailback, the night the team celebrated after the championship win in the Camellia Bowl. “The band was such a big support for the crowd and provided energy. I don’t remember a superstar on that team. It was a team, everyone fighting for one another, a team that kept getting better and better. The way they came together was a God-given gift.
“When Randy was running for a touchdown, I grabbed a camera and started sprinting down the sidelines and took a picture of him scoring a touchdown. Ten years after we were married, I showed him the picture of him scoring the touchdown. Win, lose or draw, it’s the relationships and trusting one another.”
Randy Awrey, who, like Mariucci, hailed from Iron Mountain, couldn’t agree more.
“We associated that team with Buck, who was hard-nosed and had a get-after-it, never-quit, fourth-quarter approach,” said Awrey, whose 67-yard touchdown proved to be a momentum booster in the championship game. “We had so much faith instilled in our coaches and teammates.
“Up and down that roster, if one of the guys said, ‘I need you,’ they’d be there in a minute. It was a brotherhood that developed in college football. We had guys from all different backgrounds who wore the same jersey. That’s what I love about college football. It was not an accident we won.”
Mariucci teared up when the life-size jersey was revealed during halftime in the Superior Dome.
“Northern has been playing since 1904. That’s a lot of years to be the first. … I hope I’m not the last [to have his jersey retired],” he said. “There are a lot of good football players who have come out of here. I’m proud I’m hanging out in the rafters, but I’m not hanging alone. I’m representing a team that had a heckuva record.”
Herb Grenke is the lone surviving coach from that championship team. The winningest coach in NMU football history with a 53-28-1 record, the native of Oconto Falls, Wisconsin, was the defensive line coach on the 1975 team. He took part in the weekend activities.
Northern’s dramatic turnaround has captured the attention of national movie makers. During a press event during the reunion weekend, representatives spoke about the production of an upcoming feature-length film titled “Northern Boys.”
Production is in its preliminary stages, with much of the filming to occur in and around Marquette County. The movie has a budget of $28 million and is expected to be released next fall.