One of the projects the Sickos Committee on Substack will explore during this off-season is one where we will do a dive into the internet archives to find out the seemingly lost history of College Football teams who we used to have playing on Saturdays in the fall. We will explore universities and colleges who used to have football but then decided for whatever reason to end their football program. Then we will highlight their Best Season of all time in our however many part series called the Best Season of All Time for Schools Who Stopped Having A Football Team also known as the BSOATFSWSHAFT (ya damn right). 

I’ll give you some background on the program if I can find it. Give you some basic history about the team, when they started playing and when/why they stopped playing and of course their best season in my opinion. Also, I’ll see if I can find a football helmet with the logo to show it to you here.

Now for the next team I wish to explore in this series.

Long Beach State

Why did I choose Long Beach State?

In the 1950s, there was this weird phenomenon that when the Private schools in California or on the West Coast got rid of football, it was basically born again in a public state school. Then California had a plethora of college football teams that basically all disappeared at the same time in the early 1990s. There was so much West Coast football at one time and then so much of it went away so quickly. What tipped the scales here was I remembered that Long Beach State plays basketball in a 4,000 seat pyramid so they got the nod to go next. (Walter Pyramid below)

Just a brief history on this Pyramid. On March 5, 2005, Long Beach State officially renamed The Pyramid to Walter Pyramid in honor of Mike and Arline Walter. The Walters were given this recognition for a $2.1 million donation given to the university. In addition to being the vice-president of Levi Strauss & Co., Mike Walter was also a dean for Long Beach State's College of Business Administration from 1993 to 2000.

A PYRAMID BUILT BY JEANS!!!

History of the Long Beach State 49ers team

Their first season was in 1955! At first I was like wait a minute, this is too recent but then I found out the University didn’t open till 1949. It made more sense now.

Wikipedia said Long Beach State was looking to capitalize on the boosters for both USC and UCLA residing in Long Beach, the 49ers program was established. 

The College enrollment doubled and reached 5,700 students by Fall 1956.

Long Beach added so many other sports at this time also with this enrollment boom. They added Cross Country, Crew, Wrestling and a Swim team shortly after adding football. Their first on campus dorm wasn’t constructed until 1958! 

Back to the Football Team. 

From 1955-1957, they played as an Independent but then The 49ers joined the California Collegiate Athletic Association in 1958. By the 1969 season, the 49ers joined the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (now the Big West) as a founding member, where they remained until the program was suspended following the 1991 season.

Throughout their history the 49ers did win three conference titles and the program finished with a 199–183–4 (.521) record overall. Hey over .500 looks like a success to me. 

Before the 1990 season, the legendary George Allen came out of retirement to coach the 49ers. Allen led the team to an undefeated home schedule, although the overall win-loss record was 6-5. Also, Allen recruited Terrell Davis in 1990. He wound up at Georgia after the program shuttered.

Allen died on December 31, 1990, leaving the future of the program in doubt. After Allen’s death, there was some speculation afterward that his death may have been caused by a form of Gatorade shower. On November 17, some of his Long Beach State players dumped a Gatorade bucket filled with ice water on him following a season-ending victory over UNLV. In an interview some weeks later, Allen quipped that the University couldn't afford actual Gatorade, and said that he had felt somewhat unwell since then.

The sports editor of the Long Beach State newspaper, the Daily Forty-Niner, recalled that the temperature was in the 50s with a biting wind. Allen stayed on the field for media interviews for a considerable length of time in his drenched clothing, and remained in his wet clothing on the bus back to Long Beach State.

Why didn’t they get him a towel or something? Did no one offer him a dry shirt or pants? Also, that’s a really weird thing to have hanging over the football program. “Did we kill our coach with a Gatorade bath?”

The rumors of this were finally fully dispelled over 30 years later in 2012. Allen's son George denied that the Gatorade shower caused the death, saying it merely caused a cold, and said that his father had a pre-existing heart arrhythmia. He stated that seeing Gatorade showers on television was a reminder that his father "went out a winner". 

After George Allen’s death, the program continued for one more season, under rookie head coach Willie Brown, a former NFL star who like Allen and Davis is now a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The team went 2-9 in its last season.

Some facts about Long Beach State here too, although the 49ers have not played a game since 1991, (as they say Undefeated since 1991) Long Beach is still the NCAA record-holder in several categories. Some of these records include: the most passes caught by a running back for both a single game and season with 18 and 99, respectively, by Mark Templeton, during the 1986 season. 

Why did the team get shut down?

On December 10, 1991, university president Curtis McCray announced the 49ers football program would be disbanded immediately. The decision to disband the football team was prompted by financial shortfalls resulting from California's budget crisis, coupled with increased costs of operating the program and declining fan support. That pesky money thing happens again. 

Why didn’t the boosters of USC and UCLA who lived in Long Beach save the team?? I’m just kidding here. 

Athletic director Perry Moore deemed it as  “One of the worst mistakes we ever made” in the book “Long Beach State: A Brief History” by Barbara Kingsley-Wilson. 

The program's last game was a 37-36 loss to Cal State Fullerton in Santa Ana, CA in front of a crowd of only 2,123. (I will note the Cal State Fullerton program only made it through 1992 and yes they are on the list too)

Enough with the depressing things let’s get to the purpose of this substack series…

The 1970 Long Beach State 49ers

The 49ers were coached by Jim Stangeland. 

Stangeland started his coaching career at Long Beach City College, leading the Vikings to national championships in 1960, 1962, and 1964. He parlayed that success into an assistant coach position at USC, where he spent four seasons. During his time as an assistant, the Trojans played in three Rose Bowls and had two Heisman Trophy winners, as well as winning the 1967 national championship.

Stangeland was then named the third head coach of Long Beach State, beginning in the 1969 season. He found immediate success, leading the 49ers to an 8-3 overall record in his first season. 

Then in 1970, Stangeland's 49ers tied a school record with nine wins, and advanced to the 1970 Pasadena Bowl, the only bowl appearance for Long Beach State football. That wasn't the only record that Stangeland's 1970 49ers broke but we will get to that one a bit later... 

Over five seasons, Stangeland posted a 31-24-2 record with Long Beach State, and led Long Beach State to a pair of PCAA Championships. He ranks third among LBSU football coaches in total wins (Reed, Currey) and winning percentage (Howard, DeLotto). 

I can’t believe this is the photo that Long Beach State uses for Stangeland’s Hall of Fame profile, it looks like he’s worried the players will drop him. 

Let’s talk about their greatest season now. 

Their offensive attack was led by Leon Burns and for good reason. In 1969 he led the nation in rushing and scoring. (Look at Leon, he looks like he was a man among boys…)

They started with a win over Montana State in Montana, 19-3. 

The Great Falls newspaper praised the Bobcats for containing Leon and holding him to only 87 yards rushing. They did add Leon did break free for a 77 yard touchdown but it was called back by a penalty. Nevertheless, Long Beach State started 1-0. 

Next week, they traveled to Stockton California to play the University of the Pacific.

Pacific’s defense shut down Leon Burns and held him to 54 yards on 28 carries. Burns did score the only touchdown for the 49ers in the 1st Quarter. Long Beach had a chance to tie but their field goal was off the mark. The 49ers fell to 1-1 and 0-1 in the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA) now the Big West. 

They faced Hawaii for their first home game and Leon Burns was sidelined with an ankle injury limiting him to 5 carries for a total of 7 yards. However, the 49ers led late in the 4th with a slim 14-13 lead. Hawaii drove down to get a 30 yard touchdown pass plus the 2 point conversion for a 21-14 lead. The Niners comeback attempt was thwarted by a QB sack for a safety ending their hopes and they fell to the Rainbow Warriors 23-14. They dropped to 1-2 on the year… but this was the last game they’d lose all year. 

As Burns’ ankle began to heal, so did the 49ers offensive attack. They squeaked by San Jose State 7-3. Handled Boise State 27-14. And when Burns had gotten up to full speed again, the 49ers crushed UC - Santa Barbara 33-7.

Leon had an interesting way of carrying the football. Didn’t seem like it mattered much though. No worries about ball security. Also, Leon just seemed much bigger than all these people trying to tackle him, wonder why that was…

In their next game Burns exploded for 300 yards rushing in 28 carries against Cal Poly. This included two touchdown runs of 80 and 85 yards. The Long Beach State offensive was back on track. 

Long Beach then faced Fresno State in a pivotal PCAA Conference match-up. 

The Niners offense continued to roll as Leon Burns and his backfield partner Jim Kirby rolled up over 400 yards rushing on the Bulldogs in a 50-14 win. This put them squarely in 2nd place of the PCAA behind the San Diego State machine. 

In their next game, they hit on some big passes as Long Beach rolled up 250 yards passing to crush the Cal State Los Angeles Diablos 40-7. Burns only ran for 76 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown in a light work day. 

This set the stage for a PCAA Showdown between San Diego State and Long Beach State for PCAA supremacy. 

The Niners were now 7-2 and 4-1 in conference. Their foe San Diego State hadn’t lost in 32 games and they were coached by College and Pro Hall of Famer Don “Air” Coryell at the time.

Long Beach State played host to San Diego State, with the Aztecs coming to Anaheim Stadium boasting that previously mentioned 32-game unbeaten streak. That’s right this game was held in the stadium that the Anaheim Angels played in. 

Last Year, Burns had annihilated SDSU’s defense for 4 TDs but the Aztecs had a comeback win 36-32. The newspaper credited Aztec Linebacker Carl Weathers (yes that Carl Weathers) for finally stopping Burns in the 4th Quarter.

The 49ers knew they would have to change their running game the next time around. Also, San Diego State didn’t have Carl Weathers, he went on to the Oakland Raiders in 1970.

The game took place in front of a crowd of 39,0005, the second-largest attendance for an LBSU home game. 

The game plan was different this time, “Burns was used as a decoy,” Safety Jeff Severson said. “They knew they had to stop Leon.” CSULB football past. 

You see the guy Leon is lifting over his head here?

That is fullback Hans Albrecht. The ball would instead be handed off to fullback Hans Albrecht, who ran over 200 yards in the 27-11 upset. Leon also had 122 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown too. 

The team’s fans flooded the field after the upset win, and 49ers safety Jeff Severson recalled watching a group of fans mob star running back Leon Burns as he ripped his jersey open, revealing a Superman shirt underneath.  “It was mayhem on that field,” said Severson. from Long Beach, Angels History Runs Deep

With the win over San Diego State, the 49ers qualified for a postseason bowl game, the Pasadena Bowl which was the 49ers only bowl game in their history. 

Oh yeah, they also defeated their next opponent a non conference game against Valley State 21-0. They were led by none other than Leon Burns. 

He racked up 121 yards in a muddy affair with two touchdowns. This brought him to 1,033 yards on the season and 20 touchdowns. 

Leon did deserve this induction to the Long Beach State Hall of Fame photo. (I swear he looks at least 40 years old here)

Their bowl game was known as The Pasadena Bowl aka the Junior Rose Bowl. It was billed as the Junior Rose Bowl the first few years, but now featured teams from the National Collegiate Athletic Association's College and University Divisions. But then it featured teams from the NCAA College and University Divisions from 1967 to 1971. 

Long Beach State faced a Lee Corso coached Louisville Cardinals football team.

As you expect, Leon Burns dominated again scoring all three touchdowns Long Beach State got on the day. 

The game ended in a tie but got there in a bit of a strange way too. Louisville held a 10 point lead in the 3rd Quarter but the Niners were able to get a safety to make it an 8 point deficit and Leon Burns got a late touchdown and a 2 point conversion tied the game. Long Beach State could have likely won this game if not for their 4 turnovers. 

After the season, Leon Burns was named to the Little All American Team - First Team and a First Team All American. He was taken by the San Diego Chargers with the 13th pick in the 1st Round of the NFL Draft.

Oh by the way he was 29 during this season due to issues with the law in his youth. It’s a fascinating Wikipedia read with a tragic ending. Leon Burns Wikipedia. 

One more thing about that Pasadena Bowl, I found an interview of three former Louisville Players in 1977 on PBS called Run That By Me Again. This is the most 1970s thing I have ever seen and I recommend you watch it. 

I will give you one screenshot to try to convince you. 

Here’s Louisville Tight End Cookie Brinkman.

Any chance of the program coming back?

I am never saying never here. Long Beach State has a huge enrollment and the other schools I reviewed so far were much smaller schools. Long Beach has 38,273 total students with over 32,000 in undergrad as of Fall 2022. That’s bigger than many current FBS programs.

Student Efforts to revive a Division 1-AA (aka FCS) Football program began in April 2008 at CSULB.

In March of 2011, Bring Back 49er Football gathered 2,200 signatures well over the 5% needed to warrant a campus wide vote.

The Referendum took place March 21 - March 24 online, only current CSULB students were able to cast a vote on this matter. 3,084 people voted total with 52% of the student body voting "no" and 48% voting "yes". Narrowly denied.

Will there be another effort? I am not sure. It’s a really big school. It’d be cool to see the Niners back playing in the Big Sky Conference or maybe the new iteration of the WAC.

But for now, all Long Beach State students an Alumni can continue with their saying about Long Beach State Football…

Undefeated Since 1991.