By Jim Elworth and Joe LoFaro
Editor’s Note: The 1975 season of Cardinal football marked a watershed moment for the program, as the team’s achievements helped secure long-term funding and engage students once more in what would become a viable athletic program to this day. The authors were members of the 1975 team, and the original manuscript has been edited for publication in The Cardinal magazine.
By mid-morning cars are already streaming in, filling the DuFour Center parking lots and the designated tailgating area. Soon, the smell of BBQ and the sounds of loud music fill the air. The sun reflects off the artificial turf, accentuating the deep green grass. Hundreds of excited students, proud family members, and area fans mingle, laugh, and raise a cheer in unison, as 60 or more uniformed players charge onto the field. It’s gameday at The Catholic University of America.
Football is ingrained into the social scene of Catholic University. However, if not for the success of the 1975 Cardinal football team, the sport would likely not exist on campus today. The 1975 Cardinals returned the football program to past prominence, ignited spirit and support throughout the University community, and became the catalyst for elevating the program to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III level. What we see today we owe to the 1975 team’s success!
Back Story
Catholic University was a regional football powerhouse prior to World War II. In particular, the decade of the 1930s saw the Cardinals, led by legendary coach Dutch Bergman, compete against — and beat — schools such as Boston College, Wake Forest, South Carolina, and University of Miami (Fla). The team reached a pinnacle on January 1, 1936, when it defeated the University of Mississippi in the Orange Bowl. Catholic University also battled Arizona State University to a 0–0 tie in the Sun Bowl following the 1939 season. Like many private schools, however, Catholic did not field teams during the war years. Football was then reinstated in 1947, but the team was disbanded in 1950, after winning only seven games in four seasons.
An organized Catholic University team did not take the field again until 1965, losing the only game it played. A club team of students continued to play in the ensuing years but, aside from some modest success in 1968, it flagged under partial schedules, far more losses than wins, and a revolving door of coaches. Team rosters were limited and turned over frequently. The on-campus Brookland Stadium, a state-of-the-art facility in decades past, became dilapidated. The University administration at the time was not able to provide much support, and the student body’s attitude toward the team could best be described as “uninterested.”
A Sea Change
The situation shifted with the arrival of Joe Pascale as head coach in 1972. Pascale envisioned building a stable, successful program, and by his second season in 1973, the team under his direction played a ten-game schedule and won five of those games. He was a tireless recruiter, using his contacts throughout the region to identify and onboard talented student-athletes.
Despite his budding success, Coach Pascale faced continuing obstacles, including low funding and campus apathy. The players were required to appear before the University Student Government (USG) annually to request operating funds, and the team was often not taken seriously. One future player, when speaking to a University recruiter who visited his New York high school, was told that the team was an embarrassment and not a reason to attend the University.
Regardless, Pascale brought in solid recruiting classes for the 1973 and 1974 seasons. He didn’t coach in 1974, as he was working on his doctorate (his assistants guided the team to a 4–5 record), but he did continue to recruit. In 1975, he helped to enroll a third strong class of recruits.
In 1973, the NCAA established the college football structure that exists today, separating football-playing institutions into three divisions based on the amount of athletically-related financial aid awarded. As the Cardinals prepared for the 1975 season, Pascale set his sights on proving that the Catholic University program was worthy of moving from the club level up to NCAA Division III, which is made up of smaller, mostly private schools. In spite of the strong recruiting classes and talented roster, this was a tall order as the team faced a difficult schedule.
The 1975 Cardinals served notice of the success to come in their season opener, a 30–8 home romp over Central Piedmont University that snapped the visitors’ 19-game winning streak. Catholic University standouts, as they would prove to be all season, included sophomore quarterback Gerard Goeke (a star-starter since arriving on campus the previous year); All-Americans Joe Haynos and Terry O’Connell; and defensive backs, Bobby Daley and freshman Danny Davis, each of whom intercepted two passes. The next day, the Sunday Washington Post published a lengthy article about Haynos, his pride in playing for Catholic, and his football prowess.
The next two games, both on the road, produced similar results. The Cardinals crushed Kings College, 35–6, before blanking Virginia Commonwealth University, 38–0. The following week was perhaps the highlight of the season. The 3–0 Cardinals debuted at number 11 in that week’s National Club Football rankings — just in time for a huge home clash against top-ranked St. Francis College University (Loretto, Pa.).
The campus community was beginning to take notice, as the athletic department organized a pep rally for the team the night before the game. The October 10, 1975, edition of The Tower, published the day before the game, explored the reasons for the team’s new-found success:
“Many people are asking: ‘What has happened to this team?’ How can a team change so swiftly from a struggling .500 ball club into one of the top squads in the nation? The answer is returning head coach, Joe Pascale. Pascale has molded a new attitude for the players. He has taken apathy and turned it into desire, and that desire has produced victory. His knowledge of the game, and his ability to tap every source of energy from his players has turned a floundering football program into a power to be respected. Tonight’s pep rally is an indication of the spirit he has instilled in the entire campus, a spirit that has been missing for a long time.”
The Catholic Cardinals blasted St. Francis 28–7 and moved into the national Top 10. After a highly controversial four-point loss to Duquesne, the Cardinals crushed their last four opponents by a cumulative score of 172–7. The team finished with an 8-1 record and was ranked second nationally in the final poll.
By this point, the 1975 Cardinals had galvanized the campus. As the season went on, home games were attended by big, enthusiastic crowds. No one could recall the last season with a football pep rally. As almost all the team’s major contributors were underclassmen, Pascale’s coaching and recruiting assured a consistent, competitive program for the future.
Scaling Up
Following the season, the club decided that the time was right to move to Division III. Funding was a major hurdle, as the NCAA would not accept any program that did not have a guaranteed source of funds for at least two years. At the time, the USG Constitution only allowed for single-year awards to campus organizations.
USG allotted $12,500 for 1975–1976 and, obviously, the success of the 1975 team had changed attitudes toward the team. But Football Club President Joe Lofaro (co-author of this piece), in consultation with Pascale and the athletic administration, determined that the team would need as much as $20,000, guaranteed over multiple years, to adequately finance a Division III program. While the request was termed “unusual,” the timing was right.
On the heels of the successful season, students signed petitions in support of the team. A scant seven months after writing that USG might want to consider not funding the team at all, The Tower editorialized on November 21, 1975, that it was time for the university to step up and fully fund the program. The writer reasoned that the university as a whole was profiting from the positive publicity generated by the 1975 team and that school spirit, enrollment, and prestige would continue to improve with a move to the more stable and well-regarded NCAA.
The Football Club cleared the first hurdle in April 1976, when USG approved $15,000 for 1976–1977. On May 6, 1976, USG ratified what was being referred to as the “football amendment” to its constitution and committed to funding the team with at least $15,000 through the 1979–1980 academic year. The Sports Advisory Council of the University Board of Trustees approved the move to Division III in July, and University President Clarence Walton signed off on the move shortly thereafter.
The 1976 team, the final club squad, validated the decision when it posted a strong 7–2 record and senior linebacker, Mike Moriello, was voted by the D.C. area football referees as the best player in the entire region, regardless of school size. The team began playing in Division III the following year and immediately posted a winning record.
Where We Go From Here
In the years since, the Cardinals have moved into a beautiful facility at the DuFour Center, attained winning seasons, and qualified for the NCAA playoffs. With 60 or more squad members, football has served as an important enrollment driver for the University, which long ago assumed funding responsibilities from USG. The football program annually produces quality graduates who learn “lessons of life” through sport and become terrific ambassadors for Catholic University.
But it almost didn’t happen. Without the success of the 1975 team, football likely would have disappeared from the campus scene. Through their dominating season, the Catholic University football student-athletes brought back pride and spirit to the campus and ensured that football would remain part of the University’s social life for years to come.
