It’s a whole new ballgame! Football’s return to campus in 1977

Editor's note: “UB Then” is an occasional feature highlighting people, events and other interesting elements of UB history pulled from the University Archives.

“Let ‘em get a football first,” said George Halas, legendary coach and owner of the Chicago Bears, in response to news in 1959 of a rival league forming in the shadow of the established National Football League.

Halas’ dismissive remark, weighted with equal parts humor and skepticism regarding a challenger’s potential for success, did contain a measure of wisdom. Football’s complex infrastructure requires time and resources to build anything respectable and enduring.

Step one: get a ball. 

That’s exactly what Bill Dando had to do on April 28, 1977, when he was named UB’s head football coach. Dando needed a ball because, at the time, UB didn’t have one. Or for that matter, any players to carry it. The university had dropped its major college football program following the 1970 season.

“It is with deep regrets that I announce that [UB] will not compete in intercollegiate football next fall,” said then-university president Robert Ketter at a press conference on Jan. 11, 1971.

Football cost the university $400,000 ($2.1 million, adjusted for inflation) in 1970, with $129,000 coming from a mandatory student athletic fee. In 1967, the university made the fee voluntary, a decision that, three years later, accounted for $150,000 in lost revenue. Loans from the Faculty Student Association kept the team afloat, but debt continued to climb.

Football was over at UB until 1977, when Ketter announced its return.

Dando was charged with building a new program from scratch, albeit on a smaller scale than its predecessor. UB’s new team would compete in Division III of the NCAA, which does not permit athletic scholarships.

With six months to prepare for his first game and an annual budget of $20,000, Dando, who would become the winningest football coach in the UB program’s history, went to work developing what is today the closest unbroken evolutionary thread to the university’s current Division I team, under the leadership of head coach Pete Lembo. 

There may have been six months to kickoff on the calendar, but Dando, in reality, had much less time than that. Practice, under Division III rules, could not begin until August.

Dando planned to recruit a staff of assistants from the local community, but finding players in a hurry was the more difficult task.

Division III schools often attract students interested in intercollegiate athletics, but football hadn’t been part of the campus mix for seven years, which meant there were no students at the university in 1977 who, in part, based their decision to attend UB on the possibility of playing intercollegiate football.

No one really knew how much dormant football talent, if any, was at the university.

Calls for players ran in The Spectrum, asking anyone interested to arrive for meetings in gym shorts and cleats, but most came in cut-off jeans and concert T-shirts, according to Craig Cirbus, an offensive lineman for the Bulls from 1977-79 and who, coincidentally years later, became the team’s head coach as it transitioned back to the Division I level.

“These meetings were technically called ‘tryouts,’ but no one was really ‘trying out,’ since we needed everyone who showed up,” said Cirbus. “Someone from another team said we were a group of ‘misfits and walk-ons,’ which wasn’t far from the truth.

“But that’s not to say we didn’t have some good players on that team.”

Although a pulse seemed to be the only requirement to play for the Bulls in 1977, at least one hopeful was dismissed after learning that participation was limited to students who were actually enrolled at the university.

“He just rode off afterwards on his motorcycle,” said Cirbus.

Rumblings of football’s return had been a part of campus life since the sport’s demise at UB, with The Spectrum referring to the Student Association’s annual vote to reintroduce football as an “honored tradition.” In April, The Spectrum reported the possibility of football’s return.

But there were obstacles. Finding opponents with open dates was complicated, since most teams finalize their schedules two years in advance. That meant UB would play only four games in ’77. Rotary Field, which has since been razed, was partially condemned. What was suitable for spectators needed repair. There was, however, a likely head coaching candidate already on staff, which allowed things to get going quickly

That was Dando, who was then the university’s golf coach.

Dando was an assistant at UB from 1966-70 and had previously served as head coach at John Carroll University, another Division III school. Dando was also a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ scouting staff.

“Bill Dando was the perfect choice to coach that team,” said Cirbus. “He had the right temperament, the right experience and the people skills to bring a disparate group together in a hurry.”

On Oct. 8, 1977, the Blue, White and Gold were ready for their first game against RIT.

Gold?

“Most of our equipment consisted of mothballed stuff from the earlier team and hand-me-downs from the Buffalo Bills and the University of Notre Dame, who provided us with gold pants,” said Cirbus. “We didn’t care about the mismatched uniforms. We just wanted to play.”

Roughly 1,700 fans braved the day’s constant rain to watch the Bulls tie the visiting Tigers from RIT, 7-7.  Three losses would follow against Canisius, Brockport and the Coast Guard Academy.

But it was a start.

“That team under Bill Dando’s leadership built the foundation for what exists today,” said Cirbus. “It was a rough year, but we had a great time.”