A celebration of 100 years of Augustana Football: The 1980s

Every Thursday throughout the season, GoAugie.com will take a dive into a new decade of Augustana football in honor of the 100th season. The 100th season of Augustana football is presented by CorTrust Bank.

In large letters of the 1989 edition of the Augustana Edda, “Going to the Playoffs”. The 1988 season (Edda is published in the spring each academic year) was a special one for Augustana as it earned a spot in the NCAA Division II Playoffs for the first time. As we have several times, we’ll let the Edda do the talking for us. 

“The Vikes closed their season with a defeat by the North Dakota State University Bison in the NCAA Division II playoffs. Considering that the squad made 1988 a historical event in the "Augie text of football" — 1988 being the only time Augustana has gone to the playoffs, the defeat was not a terrible disappointment to the team or others. Coach of the year Jim Heinitz commented, "We were not disappointed in the effort that our players gave. I think that our team needs to be commended for its efforts."”

For the fourth time in program history, Augustana accumulated eight victories including wins over North Dakota and South Dakota. Augustana was coming off a 2-9 season in 1987, making Heinitz, who had been the Vikings’ head coach since 1985, a prime candidate as the North Central Conference’s Coach of the Year award. 

More from the Edda, “The turnaround from last year's discouraging season has been credited to the staff's and team's hard work and determination. Coach Heintz said, "It is a fitting end to the first group of recruits that I have had being seniors." The team will lose captains Rob Cundiff and Dan Keefer to graduation. Other graduating team members include Mike Murphy, Jon Vik, Brad Burgmeier, Chris Prawdzik, Darrell Lingle, Bill Ryan, Ron Schwint, and Craig Paulsen. Despite these loses the Vikings are expected to have a successful season in 1989.”

And a 1989 did the Vikings have. Augustana went back-to-back in the playoffs with a second-straight eight-win season, this time going 8-3-1 with wins over South Dakota State, South Dakota and North Dakota. That tie? That was to North Dakota State in Fargo with each team mustering just a touchdown. 

For a second-straight season, Pete Jaros earned First Team All-America honors as he concluded his career with a school record 21 interceptions. That record stands today as Dan Freidel (a student-athlete from 1980-83 – fitting for the 1980s article) and Zac Kallas (2008-11) are second on the list with 17. Quarterback Joel Nelson earned Third Team All-America accolades after his senior year. He concluded his career with 5,994 yards passing and 46 touchdowns. 

In addition to on-field success, David Gubbrud was named a four-time Academic All-America honoree. He went on and earned the College Division Football Academic All-America of the Year, the honor going to the division’s top football student-athlete (includes NCAA Division II, III and NAIA schools). 

We talked about the success of the decade, but how did the Vikings get there? The answer is simple and the turf of Kirkeby-Over Stadium is named after him. Jim Heinitz. The all-time winningest coach in program history was brought on staff in 1982 as the offensive line coach and was named the head coach in November of 1984. After patiently reconstructing the program, he led Augustana to the playoffs just four short years, or one full recruiting cycle, later. 

Throughout the 100th season, alumni, friends, and family of Augustana Football are asked to make a gift to the Augustana Football Excellence Fund. These dollars will help fund a championship-level program and student-athlete experience. Our goal is to raise $100,000 during the 100th season. To donate, click here or head to augielink.com/100in100.