THIS IS GVSU FOOTBALL
LAKER TRADITION Since 1971, when Grand Valley State University kicked off the first season of varsity football in Allendale, the Lakers have established themselves as one of the most successful college football programs in the country. Grand Valley has won national championships, rewritten record books, and produced numerous all-americans and NFL caliber players on the way to becoming a force in Division II football. NCAA Division II All-Time Winningest Teams
.677 - West Chester
.681 - Texas A&M-Kingsville
.683 - Valdosta State
.708 - Bentley
.729 - Grand Valley State
By Percentage
From Grand Valley State's first all-american in 1973 to the 2002 season when 11 Lakers garnered various all-america honors, GVSU has produced some of the top players in the country. Since 2001, the Lakers have had at least four players earn all-america plaudits each season with the exception of 2011. Eric Lynch (1989-90), Jeff Fox (1998), Curt Anes (2001-02), Cullen Finnerty (2006) and Brad Iciek (2007-09) finished among the top eight finalists for the Harlon Hill Award. After finishing second in 2001, despite having the most first place votes, Curt Anes claimed Division II’s top award in 2002 and led Grand Valley State to its first National Championship the following day.
2009 2008 2007 2006 2002 2001 1998 1990 1989
GVSU Harlon Hill Finalists Brad Iciek Brad Iciek Brad Iciek Cullen Finnerty Curt Anes Curt Anes Jeff Fox Eric Lynch Eric Lynch
4th 5th 7th 2nd 1st 2nd 3rd 8th 6th
Since 2000, GVSU has won 141 games, four national championships, completed five undefeated regular seasons and won more games than any other Division I FBS, Division IFCS, and Division II football team in the country. The Lakers staked their claim as the team of the decade for the 2000’s.
136 - Boise State
136 - NW Missouri State
137 - Montana
141 - Grand Valley State
167 - Mount Union
All-Divisions Most Wins in the 2000s
Florence, Alabama has become a “home away from home” for the Laker football program in the 2000’s. GVSU has made the trip from Allendale to Florence six times this decade. The Lakers own an impressive 6-1 record in national semi-final games, along with a 4-2 record in the championship game. The Lakers held the longest active streak for playoff appearances in Division II at 10. GVSU appeared in the playoffs every year from 2001 through 2010. Grand Valley held a 27-5 record during the 10-year playoff streak. NCAA Division II Football Championships All-Time 5 - North Dakota State
4 - Grand Valley State
3 - North Alabama 3 - NW Missouri State
2006 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS In 2006, the Lakers successfully defended the national championship. Along with the title defense, the Laker football program went 15-0 for the first time in school history and for just the second time in NCAA history as well. Chuck Martin earned his second AFCA Coach of the Year plaudit in just his third season as the coach of the Lakers. Cullen Finnerty finished second in Harlon Hill balloting, while Mike McFadden received his second consecutive Gene Upshaw Award in 2006. The Lakers went wire to wire as the #1 team in the country. Grand Valley got off to a bit of a rough start early in the season, but was able to peak at the right time despite suffering key injuries on the offensive line and defense. GVSU moved through the playoffs without too much of a scare, defeating South Dakota, North Dakota, and Delta State by an average score of more than two touchdowns. In the championship game, Grand Valley defeated a determined NW Missouri State for the second year in a row, 17-14. Cullen Finnerty was responsible for both Laker touchdowns, while Billy “Pix” Brechin intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble to clinch the win.
2005 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS The Lakers again returned to Florence, Ala. making their fourth appearance on ESPN in just five seasons. AFCA Coach of the Year, Chuck Martin, led the Lakers to a second undefeated championship season in just his second campaign as head coach. Grand Valley State became just the third school to win three Division II football National Championships. Cullen Finnerty, who ran for two touchdowns, connected with Brandon Langston on a screen pass which he took 35 yards to paydirt for what would be the eventual winning touchdown. The Laker defensive unit stood tall, as Mike McFadden continued to pressure the NW Missouri State quarterback despite fighting an injury from the previous week. As the game came down to the final seconds, Kirk Carruth and Joe Ballard stuffed a last gasp pass completion just short of the goal line to seal the victory. Josh Bourke and Mike McFadden garnered all-american honors, and McFadden also earned the Gene Upshaw Award. The senior class finished as the winningest class in GVSU history (51-4).
2003 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS In contrast to the 2002 season, the Lakers took to the road to claim the national championship in back-to-back seasons. In the end, GVSU would travel 13,232 miles to defend the title. Grand Valley continued its winning ways after graduating 13 starters from the previous season. Depsite seeing its 20-game win streak come to an end in the middle of the season, GVSU regrouped to finish strong with only one blemish preventing another undefeated season. Scott Mackey scored the only touchdown against Saginaw Valley in the playoff rematch to give the Lakers a 10-3 victory over Grand Valley’s biggest in-state rival. The win would give the Lakers a berth in the semifnals where GVSU ran over highly touted Texas A&M-Kingsville for a return to the championship game in Florence, Ala. Mackey, along with Lucius Hawkins, would help lead the Lakers in a tough battle versus North Dakota in the championship game. In the end, Mike Hoad would play the hero as he put an end to a late Fighting Sioux drive by picking off a pass to give the Lakers a 10-3 win against the team who narrowly defeated them in the 2001 championship game.
2002 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS Staking the claim as one of the most explosive and dynamic football teams in DII history, the 2002 Lakers went wire-to-wire as the #1 team in the nation with an incredible 11 players that earned some sort of all-america mention. GVSU completed its second undefeated regular season in 2002, on its way to winning the GLIAC title for the second consecutive year. The Lakers would go on an amazing playoff run before returning to Alabama to face Valdosta State in the title game. Grand Valley posted an average margin of victory of 42 points in three playoff games versus C.W. Post, IUP and Northern Colorado. The title game featured the first NCAA Division II championship game in which the top two teams in the country were both undefeated. Grand Valley entered as the #1 team, while Valdosta State was ranked #2. GVSU led for most of the game, but a Valdosta State comeback effort put the Blazers in position for the win. However, a calm, cool and collected Curt Anes found Kircus late in the fourth quarter to cap off a 65-yard drive to take the lead. Darren Smith tallied his second interception of the game to put Valdosta State away and seal the Lakers’ first championship. All-american David Kircus racked up a Division II championship game-record 270 receiving yards and three touchdowns to lead the Lakers to their first national championship.
Game 1 Aug. 27, 2005
Game 5 Oct. 1, 2005
THE STREAK From August 27, 2005 through December 1, 2007 Grand Valley State’s football team left the field as the victor for 40 consecutive games. GVSU stood the test of time to put its name in the history books by breaking the record for the longest winning streak in NCAA Division II history.
Game 11 Nov. 26, 2005 Game 16 Sept. 16, 2006
Hillsdale College set the record in 1957 with 34 straight wins. That mark stood strong for 50 years with few challengers. As history has shown, the record for the longest winning streak is a virtually impossible task to conquer. Wilkes and Morgan State reached just over 30 wins in the late-60’s, but no school would test the record again until 1995 when an undefeated Bentley team dropped what would have been their 31st consecutive win in the last game of the regular season against Stonehill.
Grand Valley’s path to 40 straight wins came from a more unique direction than those in the past. While Hillsdale, Wilkes, Morgan State, and Bentley all made their runs through regular season and in-conference bowl game wins. The Lakers faced the best in the country each year after the regular season concluded in a playoff system. The “second season” provides a different type of challenge by adding four or five extra games against nationally ranked opponents each season.
Game 26 Dec. 2, 2006
Game 30 Sept. 15, 2007
The improbable 40-game winning streak consisted of three consecutive undefeated regular seasons, three postseason berths, 11 playoff victories and two national championships.
Game 37 Nov. 3, 2007
Game 40 Dec. 1, 2007
QUARTERBACK U The Laker offense has been directed by six quarterbacks since 1996 and if you go all the way back to 1985, 11 primary signal callers have lined up under center. Four of GVSU’s last five quarterbacks have been Harlon Hill Award finalists as the DII Player of the Year. Brad Iciek concluded his career at GVSU in 2009 and he was a finalist for the Harlon Hill Award each of his three years. Cullen Finnerty concluded his college football career with the Lakers in 2006 and in his four seasons as the starter for Grand Valley Finnerty became the winningest starting QB in NCAA history with a 51-4 record. Finnerty also led the Lakers to a 14-1 record in the playoffs with three championship victories. Curt Anes finished his career at the top with the Lakers, leading GVSU to its first-ever NCAA DII Football National Championship during his senior year in 2002. Anes finished second in the Harlon Hill voting as a junior, despite having the most first place votes, before winning the award in 2002. Anes held the school record for most passing yards in a career (10,581) when he completed his four year career. Before Cullen Finnerty and Curt Anes, Holland native, Jeff Fox was setting records and laying the foundation for future Laker signal-callers. Fox became the first Grand Valley QB to throw for over 2,000 yards in multiple seasons. In each of Fox’s three seasons at the helm of the offense rank in the top 10 for passing in Laker annals. Kwame McKinnon, Jack Hull, Guy Schuler, Jim Lynch, and David Quinley are just a few more athletes who have stood tall as the field general for the Lakers in past seasons.
NATIONAL AWARDS The Gene Upshaw Award was introduced to NCAA Division II in 2004 to represent the lineman of the year. Since its inception, the Manheim Touchdown Club has named five winners of the award, with three of the five recipients being linemen from GVSU. Mike McFadden earned the honor in 2005 after leading the Lakers to a national championship. McFadden then capped off his career by winning the award again in 2006. Brandon Barnes kept the hardware in Allendale by garnering the most votes in 2007. Curt Anes brought the Harlon Hill Trophy back from Alabama in 2002 along with the first national championship trophy. Anes finished second in 2001. Jeff Fox and Eric Lynch both preceeded Anes as Harlon Hill finalists. Lynch was the first two-time nominee from Grand Valley (1989, 90) and Jeff Fox reached the national stage in 1998 when he would finish third in the voting. Cullen Finnerty finished his career with three national championship victories and a second place finish in the 2006 Harlon Hill votin. Brad Iciek kept the tradition alive, being the first GVSU player to be named a Harlon Hill finalist for three consecutive seasons.
ALL AMERICANS No NCAA DII program has produced as many All-Americans as Grand Valley State since 2001. Curt Anes, Dale Westrick, David Kircus, Reggie Spearmon, Josh Bourke are just a few of the Lakers that built the decade of dominance. Lucius Hawkins, Scott Mackey, Eric Fowler, Brandon Langston, Keyonta Marshall and Mike McFadden continued the individual accolades. Grand Valley State’s 2012 squad will again have a number of players that could garner post-season honors. Matt Armstrong, Charles Johnson, Erik Thompson and Tim Lelito are 2012 preseason all-america candidates.
Tom Tefft earned the first postseason award from the NAIA in 1973. Since then, the Lakers have earned well over 100 all-america awards. Just a few seasons later, in 1975, Dan Karpowicz proved to have the talent to lead the Lakers to national prominence. He was the first player from GVSU to earn the national award from the NAIA ranks. In 2002, while the experts were debating if the Lakers were the best team in NCAA Division II history, GVSU tallied eleven different all-americans. Now that the tradition has been built, the Lakers produce some of the nations best players every season as they contend for the national championships, all america honors and national awards every year.
GAME DAY From players walking to the football center being greeted by tailgaiting fans before the game, to the fireworks that light up the sky to signal a Laker touchdown, a football game at Lubbers Stadium has become a community event. Just before each game the football players rush the field toward the student section to the cheers of well over 12,000 fans at each home game. It doesn’t get any better than Laker football in Lubbers Stadium. Crowd noise isn’t the only reason Lubbers Stadium is an intimidating place to play.
“The crowd [GVSU student section] was extremely loud. We had a difficult time at that end of the field the whole game. They are one of the loudest crowds we’ve played in front of.” -Bob Biggs, UC Davis head coach after GVSU defeated UC Davis in 2002 Lubbers Stadium is one of the most exciting Division II venues in the country. The stands are regularly packed with thousands of excited students providing a homefield advantage in the south end zone. Opposing players are surrounded on game day between the student section, Laker fans that fill the seats on each side, as well as the GVSU Marching Band in the north end zone. Both fans and players are able to experience game day in Allendale more than most any other program in the country. In the last five seasons, the Lakers have played 13 extra home games in the postseason. Laker game days can’t be contained to just five games per year.
THE COMMUNITY Student-athletes at GVSU have the opportunities to gain a great education, participate in college athletics and make a difference in the world around them. Football players have helped on campus the last few years by lending a helping hand on freshman move-in day. The Lakers have also looked to impact the community in different ways, from hurricane relief in Mississippi, visiting a Ronald McDonalds house, helping with youth football camps, and clearing room for a play area at a local camp. The Laker football team logged over 3,000 hours of community service during the 201112 academic year at various charitable organizations in West Michigan.
MEDIA COVERAGE GVSU has appeared a number of times in Sports Illustrated because of its success in the 2000’s. The Lakers have also been highlighted twice in the “Leading Off” section of the magazine. They have also been featured on the national stage by USA Today. The Lakers appeared on College Football Live’s 50 States Tour in 2009 during the show that featured the State of Michigan on ESPNU. The Lakers are also regularly covered by the Grand Rapids Press/MLive, which is read by over 1,000,000 state wide on a daily basis. In addition, the Holland Sentinel, Grand Haven Tribune, the Lansing State Journal, the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press cover the Laker football program. All of Grand Valley State’s home games are shown live on the internet and on TV throughout the State of Michigan on Comcast Cable. GVSU has also been on the ESPN family of networks nine times in the last nine years.
FACILITIES Arend D. Lubbers Stadium is the home of Laker football. The Lakers have played at Lubbers Stadium since 1972 and have amassed a .818 winning percentage in those 39 seasons. Lubbers Stadium is the focal point of the Laker football program. Since its construction it has seen many additions to improve the facilities. Including the 2012 renovations, which included lowering the field eight feet and taking out the track to add four rows that form a horseshoe. In recent years the stadium has expanded the home stands by one full section on each side, a new student section was built, luxury suites were added, and a new scoreboard with a prostar video display was constructed in the north end zone.
FACILITIES The Lakers are housed in the football center that sits next to Lubbers Stadium. The building includes meeting rooms for each position as well as a team room which can be used for full team meetings and press conferences. Right next to the Football Center sits the Rob Odejewski weight room which was opened just before the 2002 season. In the fall of 2008, the university opened the doors to the Laker Turf Building which has already been honored with national awards for its construction. The football program uses the facility to avoid adverse weather conditions during practices and also during off-season workouts. It features a full six lane track and a 100 yard Field Turf surface.
LUBBERS STADIUM QUICK FACTS All-Time Home Record: 159-34-1 All-Time Home Playoff Record: 16-3 Record Attendance: 16,467 Field Surface: Natural Grass Year Built: 1972 The Lakers have not been shut out at home since 1992. GVSU has a 74-4 record at home when ranked and has won 11 straight home openers.
LAKERS IN THE PROS Cameron Bradfield (Jaguars) was the latest Laker to join the NFL ranks in 2011. GVSU had two players from the program enter NFL camps by signing free agent contracts in 2010. OL Nick McDonald and K Todd Carter were both picked up by teams right after the draft and are currently participating in their off-season camps. Bradfield, Carter and McDonald are just the latest players on a list of former Lakers looking to turn the game of football into a career. There are currently five Lakers on NFL or CFL rosters heading into the fall; Brandon Carr (Cowboys), Dan Skuta (Bengals), Nick McDonald (Patriots), Cam Bradfield (Jaguars), and Josh Bourke (Alouettes). OL Josh Bourke is also playing in one of the premier professional leagues, the CFL. Bourke was picked up by the Montreal Alouettes after a short stint in the NFL. He has been successful in his native Canada, having been named to the CFL All-Star team three straight years and helped to lead his team to a Grey Cup titles each of the last two years.
LAKERS IN THE PROS LAKERS AND THE NFL Name Gary Evans Roger McCoy Ron Essink Steve Michuta Rob Rubick Jeff Chadwick Stan Snider Rick Johnson Brian Mulcahy Frank Miotke Mark Prins Eric Lynch Rusty Setzer Mike Sheldon Diriki Mose Kevin Clemens Curt Anes David Kircus Keyonta Marshall Josh Bourke Derrick Jones Mike McFadden Eric Fowler Brandon Barnes Cullen Finnerty Brandon Carr Sam Allen Dan Skuta Nick McDonald Todd Carter Cameron Bradfield
Team NY/Cle. Buffalo Sea./Dallas Cleveland Detroit Det./Sea./LA Detroit Detroit Tampa Bay NY/Houston Phoenix Detroit Los Angeles Buff./Miami Detroit Seattle Detroit Det./Denver Phila./Carolina Green Bay Pitt./Tenn./Buff./ SD Tampa Bay Pitt./STL/Detroit Baltimore/Ind. Baltimore Kansas City/Dallas San Diego Cincinnati G.B./New England Carolina Jacksonville
THE GVSU FOOTBALL COACHING TREE Miami (OH) is known as the Cradle of Coaches for producing successful football coaches. GVSU’s tradition has been building its own legacy and here are just some current big-name coaches with roots that extend back to Allendale. When GVSU’s football coaches tell recruits they have a chance to receive some of best coaching in the country, they can point to former GVSU coaches to prove the claim. Grand Valley claims to have great football history and tradition, and that extends beyond just players who make it to the NFL. There are currently a number of coaches experiencing success on a big stage after playing their role in building one of the best football programs in NCAA Division II. Two of the biggest names at two of the biggest programs in the nation have ties back to GVSU. Brady Hoke was a part of the all-time winningest NCAA Division II program in 1983, and now he’s at the helm of the winningest NCAA Division I program at Michigan. Brian Kelly directed the Lakers to national championships in 2002 and 2003, and now he’s in charge of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish as they look to return to national prominence. BRIAN KELLY Now: Head Coach at Notre Dame
From 1992-03: Head Coach at GVSU
BRADY HOKE Now: Head Coach at Michigan
In 1983: Defensive Line Coach at GVSU
JEFF QUINN
BRIAN VANGORDER
Now: Head Coach at Buffalo
Now: Defensive Coordinator at Auburn
From 1989-03: Assistant Coach at GVSU
From 1989-91: Assistant Coach at GVSU
CHUCK MARTIN
TODD MONKEN
Now: Offensive Coordinator at Notre Dame
Now: Offensive Coordinator at Oklahoma State
From 2004-2009: Head Coach at GVSU
From 1989-90: Assistant Coach at GVSU
DALE CARLSON
JOE WOODS
Now: Head Coach at Valparaiso
Now: Defensive Backs Coach for the Minnesota Vikings
From 1985-86: Defensive Line Coach at GVSU
From 1994-96: Defensive Backs Coach at GVSU
JOHN JANCEK
WILLIE MARTINEZ
Now: Co-Defensive Coordinator at Cincinnati
Now: Defensive Backs Coach at Auburn
From 1999-02: Defensive Line Coach at GVSU
From 1992-94: Defensive Backs Coach at GVSU
RON BURTON
MIKE DENBROCK
Now: Defensive Line Coach at Air Force
Now: Wide Receivers Coach at Notre Dame
In 2002: Defensive Line Coach at GVSU
From 1992-98: Defensive Backs Coach at GVSU
THE GVSU FOOTBALL COACHING TREE