Mike Watson Era

All-American; he would go on to play in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills. The team finished with an 11-2 overall record, including playoff victories over Northwood and the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Once again, the team’s only losses came at the hands of Grand Valley State. The final meeting for the two teams that season — the Lakers hosted the Cardinals in Allendale — was SVSU’s third playoff game, ending in a familiarly disappointing 24-17 loss. GVSU went on to win the national championship again.9

Mike Watson Era

Mike Watson began working as SVSU’s new athletic director in February 2007. He replaced George Eastland, professor of chemistry and the long-time faculty athletics representative, who served as interim athletic director after Vogl stepped down from the role. A graduate of Miami University of Ohio, Watson played four seasons in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints before returning to his alma mater in 1983 as a football coach. Watson devoted the ensuing two decades to a career in collegiate athletics, eventually becoming the associate director of athletics at Miami in 1995.

Watson’s primary mission at SVSU was rebuilding what in many ways had become a fragmented department. He noted while walking around Ryder Center during his first weeks on the job that coaches regularly would pass each other in the halls without acknowledging one another. He felt it important to get people within the department to talk to one another as the first step to create an atmosphere in which coaches, staff and athletes would

Mike Watson, who played four seasons in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints, was named athletic director in 2007.

feel comfortable sharing ideas. Watson removed the partitions that separated cubicles in the Athletic Department offices. He mandated that nearly all coaches have offices under the same roof in Ryder. During an early department meeting, he said his plan for creating community might not work well for everyone and asserted that “if you are not here, it’s of your own accord.”10

Following the 2006 football season, Gilbertson approached Awrey about a contract extension. According to Gilbertson, Awrey hesitated, citing uncertainty about wanting to work under Watson. Awrey had built a winning football program at SVSU, and some who worked with him praised him for his focus, intensity and organizational skills. Eastland said he simply could “get things done.” Others saw Awrey as stubborn and unwilling to change.

Then, within months of Watson’s arrival, and while Awrey was in the final year of his contract, the university authorized an independent investigation into potential violations of NCAA rules relating to the football program. Coach Awrey reportedly had negotiated reduced housing rates at a local apartment complex for his two sons, players on the Cardinals football team, and for two assistant coaches.

Based upon the investigation, administrators submitted a self-report to the NCAA. The NCAA accepted the university’s actions, which included forfeiting a number of the football team’s 2007 season wins, and instituted no further sanctions. In addition, SVSU did not renew Awrey’s contract.

Awrey denied that he had violated NCAA rules, and sued the university, claiming breach of contract. In March 2011, a Saginaw County jury decided that Awrey had completed the terms of his prior employment contract and was entitled to a longevity bonus, but that the employment contract should not be extended. The university’s administration responded to the verdict, stating that it “did the right thing by reporting the violations that the NCAA accepted.”11

Awrey’s replacement as head football coach was Jim Collins, previously head coach at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, for more than a decade. A wide receiver at Wittenberg University, Collins brought an exciting offensive attack to SVSU that frequently produced high-scoring contests, including a wild 55-52 victory over Grand Valley State in the final game of the 2012 season.

From 2008 through 2012, the Cardinals’ record under Collins was 35-20 with two postseason playoff appearances. In 2009, the Cardinals lost to Nebraska-Kearney 35-20, and two years later it lost 30-27 to the defending national champion, the University of Minnesota-Duluth. In 2009, linebacker John Jacobs was named an American Football Coaches Association All-American and GLIAC “Defensive Back of the Year.” In 2011, SVSU hosted its first nationally televised game, as the CBS College Sports Network and Fox Sports Detroit carried the team’s game against Ashland University. The CBS staff was so pleased with the support the university provided for the national broadcast that it asked to do it again the following season when the Cardinals hosted the defending Division II national runners-up, Wayne State University.12