Jim Amidon — Wabash football coach Chris Creighton will spend Christmas tomorrow with his wife, Heather, and their three children. They’ll wake early, open presents, and celebrate the wonders of the season.
On Wednesday, Creighton will turn the page to a new chapter in his life as the head coach at Drake University. He’ll have very little time to wrap up his time at Wabash and in Crawfordsville before moving to Des Moines to begin shaping the Bulldog football program in his image.
As Dean of Students Tom Bambrey told me when he heard the news that Creighton was leaving Wabash, it’s been a great run for Little Giant football.
While Wabash had great gridiron success under coaches Frank Navarro, Stan Parrish, and Greg Carlson, posting undefeated seasons, a run through the NCAA Division III playoffs, and winning for Wabash several conference championships, Creighton, Neal Neathery, and the entire coaching staff took a proud Wabash football tradition to a new level.
Creighton posted two undefeated seasons, three runs into the playoffs, and won four league titles over seven seasons. His teams were 63-15, an average of nine wins per season.
A new coach will soon arrive on campus and begin to make his own mark on a tradition-rich college football program that is sixth all-time in victories.
The X’s and O’s of game-day football and the student-focused work of recruiting will continue. Wabash will continue to contend for North Coast Athletic Conference championships. Wabash players will excel in the classroom, on the field, and as leaders on campus.
None of that will change.
In Creighton, though, Wabash loses a coach that was about more than football. He created a family atmosphere for players, their parents, and the entire Wabash nation. He grounded the program on values of integrity, dedication, work ethic, and commitment to team. He developed in his players an unwavering commitment to the youth of our community manifested in reading and mentoring programs, and in the wildly popular Youth Football Clinic.
The swagger that his teams took on as a by-product of their confidence in each other and success on the field extended across campus and throughout the alumni body.
Wabash alumni and friends developed what I can only describe as a love affair with the football team the last seven autumns. But it wasn’t love at first sight. In replacing Carlson, Creighton had more than a few skeptics that first season of 2001.
The Monon Miracle, the Hail Mary pass from Jake Knott to Curt Casper (via Ryan Short) that gave Wabash the victory over DePauw to end the 2001 season, instantly converted the critics.
Since that time, Wabash has experienced unprecedented success on the football field, which whether related or not, has coincided with record numbers of applications for admission and record-setting fund-raising results.
All of Wabash has taken on that swagger.
Dean Bambrey got it right on the mark — it’s been a great run for Wabash.
And while the Creighton era has come to an end, there is a very bright future for the football program. Creighton preached five fundamental program goals designed to create hard-working, dedicated men of impact.
I have to think that’s the part of the Creighton legacy that will continue long into the future. Doing things right — doing them hard and with dedication — not only produces wins on the football field, it produces winners in life.
All of us wish Coach Creighton and his family the best — on and off the field — in their time at Drake University. We bid them farewell as “Some Little Giants!”
