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The history of football at Santa Clara and what it would look like to bring it back

College football: America’s favorite pastime. We used to have our very own Bronco football team, but the program was shut down in 1992. Rarely spoken about, many questions arise every year around the team and why it no longer exists. This week, we took a deeper look into the history of our own pigskin balloon chasers.

Q: Why was the football program canceled?

A beautiful, and complicated, question. The answer, in regards to legality, is that the football program was primarily shut down because of the development of Title IX. 

For qualification in the NCAA, “Title IX requires that the men and women's program receive the same level of service, facilities, supplies, etc.” 

As Santa Clara did not have a women’s football program, and did not plan on developing one at any point, the men’s football program was not legally allowed to continue.

Q: Why didn’t they just develop a women’s program and keep both?

As Title IX was implemented, it forced Santa Clara administration into a difficult choice: create an equally-supported women’s football program, or cut football altogether. The program was extremely expensive to run, and as NCAA Division I teams gained traction, the university struggled to fund other programs at the university while also properly funding the football team.

On February 3, 1993, then-president Paul Locatelli was quoted in the University News Bureau reflecting on his own dismay and sadness around canceling the program. 

“This was a very difficult decision, one that was not reached without considering every possible option,” said Locatelli. “I deeply regret that this course of action became unavoidable.”

The decision to cut the program was inevitably pushed over the edge when financial calculations were done, and the administration found that the school would save $3.4 million from 1993-1996. These extra funds went towards the university’s financial foundation.

Q: How have other schools managed to keep funding football along with everything else?

The simple answer is that big football schools, especially the SEC, have huge alumni fan bases that donate millions to the football program specifically. Football doesn’t carry the same cultural weight on the West Coast as it does in the South, which can be easily seen by the continuous domination of the league by teams like the University of Alabama and Louisiana State (LSU).

These schools are able to fund football because of the much larger student populations as well. In 2000, LSU had a student population of 30,000, while Santa Clara had a student population of 2,228. With statistics like that, it becomes apparent how the Bronco athletics department had to pick and choose between programs, and with the knowledge of gaining back such a hefty chunk of money without football, the decision becomes all the more clear. 

Q: How did the student body feel about the cutting of the football program?

The Reason · SCU Football, A School Divided. 

The student body was divided on opinions when the program was cut. Having one less claim to athletic fame raised the alarm for diehard Bronco football fans, while other students looked forward to more funding and attention for other programs. While football was not the end-all be-all of school spirit, players and coaches still felt a heavy blow, reflected in personal doubts over ties with the university.

“The sudden discontinuation left many people from the organization wondering what they should do with their free time, or if they should even continue going to school,” records the Santa Clara University archives. 

Q: Was the football team any good in their time?

An interesting factor in this case: the football team was highly skilled and successful. The program ran for almost 100 years, operating from 1896 to 1992. The Broncos went 352–244–28 all-time, in the order of wins-losses-draws. The ‘80s weren’t just good to our parents, they were good to the Broncos, too, as the football team won two Conference titles in 1983 and 1985. 

Perhaps their most impressive accomplishment: the Broncos won three out of three Bowl appearances. They won two Sugar Bowls back-to-back in 1937 and 1938 against Louisiana State University, both under legendary head coach Buck Shaw. A third victory bowl game against University of Kentucky in 1950 brought the total Bronco bowl game record to 3-0.

Recognizable names from the team’s reign in the 1980’s include Pat Malley, who was later the head coach until his passing in 1985. Notably, his son Terry Malley then took charge until the team was disbanded in 1992. 

Q: Was football the most exciting or successful sport at Santa Clara in its time?

While the answer to this question could be philosophical, something like “it depends on what sports each individual was interested in at the time,” that’s a bit of a cop-out. 

Here in the sports section, we prefer to focus on the success statistics of the teams as well as big names coming out of any given season or time period. So, with those standards, football was not the most popular or successful by a long shot. 

In the ‘90s, women’s soccer asserted its dominance as a program. The team went to the NCAA College Cup for 15 straight years, starting in 1989, and all attention was moving onto Santa Clara soccer as a result. The legendary Brandi Chastain played for the women’s soccer team from 1989-1991, even participating in her first FIFA World Cup in ‘91. The football team’s last season was in the fall of 1992, not six months after Chastain’s recruitment to the National USA women’s team. 

Some might even say that Chastain’s success brought Bronco focus onto the women’s soccer team, taking even more fans and moving interest away from the football program.

Q: What took the place of football in terms of funding and fanbase?

This is a question that can easily be answered by the results of the men’s basketball team and women’s soccer team in the past few years, as well as in reflection of the past 25-30 years. Though this is not a complete list, a few well-known names include:

Brandi Chastain (‘91), USA Women’s National Soccer team. Janet Culp (‘04), Olympic swimming. Ryan Cochrane (‘05), United States National Soccer Team. Julie Ertz (‘14), women’s world cup all-star team. Jalen Williams (‘22), NBA–OKC Thunder. Kelsey Turnbow (‘22), professional soccer. 

These legendary alumni athletes would not have reached success if the football program had not been discontinued. There simply wouldn’t have been enough funding for proper coaching, gear and athlete protections. As much as losing football was a blow to many Bronco fans, it built a pathway towards national glory for other programs.

Q: How would having a team work out in the modern day? Are there any issues with football coming back?

Here’s the deal: school sports can cause massive issues on campus.

Logistically, bringing football back to Santa Clara would be difficult. Before even considering the social and campus implications, the financial strain is on the forefront. Santa Clara athletics are already the priority recipient of donor money and scholarships, so adding yet another Division I team to the mix would create a more complicated financial structure. 

This is especially pertinent because football requires academic accommodations for athletes, at least a dozen coaches and extra room in the budget for gear and other necessities the team would need.

Touching on the student life impact, it would be a high-risk, high-reward situation if the football team was brought back successfully. In some cases, the athletics department can end up ruling the school climate and politics due to its overwhelming revenues and popularity. 

University football teams can be controversial; some schools have higher paid football coaches than university Presidents. 

All that said, let’s not forget: football can be so much fun, both to play and to watch. It builds a community unlike any other, uniting millions of Americans – including many in our town (all hail the 49ers). Additionally, games can be good for revenue, drawing in tons of students, alumni and locals to donate, buy merchandise and purchase concessions. 

Football, like any other sport, builds raucous joy in fans. First round draft picks in other programs have done wonders for Santa Clara in the past, thanks to names like Jalen Williams and Steve Nash promoting our athletic department and school on a national level.

Football as a sport isn’t what breeds school spirit: it’s the athletes. At Santa Clara, there’s more than enough talent and national championship potential to get rowdy with the soccer, basketball, and other teams always bringing their best. We’d say we’re lucky, but it’s not luck – it’s hard work and passion that keep Bronco athletics vying for prestigious titles year after year.