Central Michigan University Athletics
Strong Bonds Endure for 1974 Chippewas
9/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 17, 2014
And after four decades, the bond is as strong as ever.
“You would think over time, that 40 years would maybe reduce that bond a little bit,” said Dick Dunham as he gazed around a banquet room at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort. “But it hasn’t. That’ll tell you how strong it was.”
Strong and enduring from a Central Michigan University football team that made history in 1974, winning the Division II National Championship.
Dunham was one of the more than 60 members of that team, including several coaches, who gathered last weekend to mark the 40th anniversary of that oh-so memorable season.
Among them was head coach Roy Kramer, who went on to become the athletic director at Vanderbilt and, eventually, the commissioner of the Southeast Conference.
“Amazing how many I recognize,” Kramer said, pausing to take it all in. “They’ve all changed a lot. We had a great camaraderie and to see them all here, and understand how much that experience meant to them -- it meant an awful lot to me.
“But you never know how much it means to them, and to see and feel that pride in coming back, it is special.”
Special then, special now.
The ’74 Chippewas finished 12-1 and rolled past Delaware, 54-14, in the title game to deliver CMU its only national championship. The Chippewas opened the playoffs with a 20-6 win over Boise State, then beat defending national champ Louisiana Tech, 35-14, in a semifinal game.
“I think the thing I remember most about that team is how close they were,” said Kramer, who went on to become athletic director at Vanderbilt, the commissioner of the Southeast Conference, and the founder of the Bowl Championship Series. “They were very, very close. They had such a bond between them and they had such pride, particularly once we got moving toward that national championship. It was a bond that they never lost. You can see that here tonight, they’ve never lost that feeling.”
The ’74 squad has marked other milestone years with reunions, the 25th, the 30th. But as time marches on, the gatherings become more special, said Mike Franckowiak, the team’s All-American quarterback.
“It’s just a thrill to come back and see everyone,” said Franckowiak, a retired equities trader now living in North Carolina. “Whether you made the 20-year reunion or the 25th, or the 30th – not everyone makes every one. So this one is special.
“You get a little older and you’d better do things while you can.”
Steve Bograkos, a senior safety on that team, said the reunions make him emotional.
“There was that closeness with us seniors and to go out as champions and finish 12-1 – you can’t describe it,” said Bograkos, who owns a beverage catering business in Denver, Colo., where he has lived for the past 35 years. “It was just wonderful, that confidence, that feeling that when you went out there you were going to win.”
The ’74 Chippewas had all the common-denominator ingredients of a championship team: Talent, experience, drive, leadership, good coaching.
Especially, the players said, good coaching.
“It’s when we get older that you realize what you had as a coaching staff,” Bograkos said. “Not when we were younger, not when we were playing, but now? Yeah, especially now. When I talk about, I always say that most of our success was our coaches.
“They prepared us, they coached us well. We felt confident going in to every game and it’s evident by the 12-1 record.”
Dunham, a sophomore fullback on that team, echoed Bograkos’ sentiments.
“I can remember talking to coach Kramer years afterwards and he said the most successful coach isn’t the one who knows more than the other one, it’s the one who knows the psychology and the personalities of his players and knows how to get the most out of them,” said Dunham, who has worked as an educator, including as a school superintendent, and spent a good deal of his career as a high school football coach.
“I think that’s what made Roy successful and his coaching staff successful. He knew how to motivate us individually which led to collectively motivating us as a team.”
For Dunham, the one loss that ’74 team suffered left an indelible mark, and it’s one that he drew on throughout his career.
“We started the year with a loss to Kent State,” Dunham said. “I took some real personal responsibility for that game because we were going into score a touchdown and I fumbled the football. We could have at least tied or won the game.
“I still remember coach Kramer saying, ‘He’s going to learn from that. And we’ll get better because of that.’
“That’s a coach not giving up on a young guy, and that’s seniors not giving up on a young guy. It was just one of those teams that just came together, and a lot of that was due to coach Kramer and his coaching staff to be able to pull that together.”
By Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com - MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – They gathered to honor, to celebrate, to reminisce.
And after four decades, the bond is as strong as ever.
“You would think over time, that 40 years would maybe reduce that bond a little bit,” said Dick Dunham as he gazed around a banquet room at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort. “But it hasn’t. That’ll tell you how strong it was.”
Strong and enduring from a Central Michigan University football team that made history in 1974, winning the Division II National Championship.
Dunham was one of the more than 60 members of that team, including several coaches, who gathered last weekend to mark the 40th anniversary of that oh-so memorable season.
Among them was head coach Roy Kramer, who went on to become the athletic director at Vanderbilt and, eventually, the commissioner of the Southeast Conference.
“Amazing how many I recognize,” Kramer said, pausing to take it all in. “They’ve all changed a lot. We had a great camaraderie and to see them all here, and understand how much that experience meant to them -- it meant an awful lot to me.
“But you never know how much it means to them, and to see and feel that pride in coming back, it is special.”
Special then, special now.
The ’74 Chippewas finished 12-1 and rolled past Delaware, 54-14, in the title game to deliver CMU its only national championship. The Chippewas opened the playoffs with a 20-6 win over Boise State, then beat defending national champ Louisiana Tech, 35-14, in a semifinal game.
“I think the thing I remember most about that team is how close they were,” said Kramer, who went on to become athletic director at Vanderbilt, the commissioner of the Southeast Conference, and the founder of the Bowl Championship Series. “They were very, very close. They had such a bond between them and they had such pride, particularly once we got moving toward that national championship. It was a bond that they never lost. You can see that here tonight, they’ve never lost that feeling.”
The ’74 squad has marked other milestone years with reunions, the 25th, the 30th. But as time marches on, the gatherings become more special, said Mike Franckowiak, the team’s All-American quarterback.
“It’s just a thrill to come back and see everyone,” said Franckowiak, a retired equities trader now living in North Carolina. “Whether you made the 20-year reunion or the 25th, or the 30th – not everyone makes every one. So this one is special.
“You get a little older and you’d better do things while you can.”
Steve Bograkos, a senior safety on that team, said the reunions make him emotional.
“There was that closeness with us seniors and to go out as champions and finish 12-1 – you can’t describe it,” said Bograkos, who owns a beverage catering business in Denver, Colo., where he has lived for the past 35 years. “It was just wonderful, that confidence, that feeling that when you went out there you were going to win.”
The ’74 Chippewas had all the common-denominator ingredients of a championship team: Talent, experience, drive, leadership, good coaching.
Especially, the players said, good coaching.
“It’s when we get older that you realize what you had as a coaching staff,” Bograkos said. “Not when we were younger, not when we were playing, but now? Yeah, especially now. When I talk about, I always say that most of our success was our coaches.
“They prepared us, they coached us well. We felt confident going in to every game and it’s evident by the 12-1 record.”
Dunham, a sophomore fullback on that team, echoed Bograkos’ sentiments.
“I can remember talking to coach Kramer years afterwards and he said the most successful coach isn’t the one who knows more than the other one, it’s the one who knows the psychology and the personalities of his players and knows how to get the most out of them,” said Dunham, who has worked as an educator, including as a school superintendent, and spent a good deal of his career as a high school football coach.
“I think that’s what made Roy successful and his coaching staff successful. He knew how to motivate us individually which led to collectively motivating us as a team.”
For Dunham, the one loss that ’74 team suffered left an indelible mark, and it’s one that he drew on throughout his career.
“We started the year with a loss to Kent State,” Dunham said. “I took some real personal responsibility for that game because we were going into score a touchdown and I fumbled the football. We could have at least tied or won the game.
“I still remember coach Kramer saying, ‘He’s going to learn from that. And we’ll get better because of that.’
“That’s a coach not giving up on a young guy, and that’s seniors not giving up on a young guy. It was just one of those teams that just came together, and a lot of that was due to coach Kramer and his coaching staff to be able to pull that together.”
Friday, June 26
Wednesday, June 24
Thursday, June 18
Thursday, June 18