12 Rings, 12 Weeks: Close-knit 2000 Squad Stepped Up To Every Challenge
10/2/2020 10:13:00 AM | Football, Support, Features
With the cancellation of the fall 2020 football season, Lehigh Athletics is taking a look back at Lehigh football's 12 Patriot League championship teams with the 12 Rings, 12 Weeks series, presented by Lehigh Valley Health Network and Coordinated Health. Three of those championship teams are celebrating noteworthy anniversaries in 2020. We begin with a look back at the 2000 Patriot League champions, 20 years later.
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By Eli Fraerman '21
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November 25, 2000: As Lehigh's football team entered Hanson Field in Macomb, Illinois, to face Western Illinois in the I-AA playoffs, trash talk rained down on the Mountain Hawks.
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But this wasn't just any trash talk. No, Lehigh was being flat out insulted. Western Illinois, with over 20 FBS transfers, didn't respect the Mountain Hawks. And they let them know it.
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While the disrespect Lehigh faced as they entered the field may have caught the Mountain Hawks off guard, it wasn't the first time they felt underestimated in 2000. Just a week prior, athletic director Joe Sterrett had informed the team that, despite their 11-0 record, they had not secured a home game in those playoffs, the equivalent of the FCS playoffs in present day.
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Lehigh's players were far from happy, to say the least, said linebacker Bryant Appling, '01. After three consecutive Patriot League Championships that included just one regular season loss during that span, Lehigh felt it had earned the right to a home game and a better seed than No. 10.
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Not only did they not get to play in Goodman Stadium in front of a pro-Lehigh crowd, but the team would have to travel all the way to Macomb, a small town in the western outskirts of Illinois almost 900 miles from Lehigh's campus in Bethlehem.
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Upon arrival, wide receiver Josh Snyder, '02, took notice of the conditions that Lehigh had been asked to play in. The field wasn't nice, the facilities weren't nice, and the players certainly were not nice. The crowd of just over 3,200 paled in comparison to the attendance the Mountain Hawks had been able to draw at Goodman Stadium, even having overfilled the 16,000-person capacity field in a game against Bucknell the previous month in the largest non-Lehigh-Lafayette crowd in Goodman Stadium history.
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Before the season, then defensive coordinator Tom Gilmore said externally, the expectations of Lehigh were to be an above-average team due to how many star seniors had graduated that previous spring. Lehigh defied those expectations, however, going undefeated in the regular season en route to one of the best season in school history. The Mountain Hawks defied those odds against No. 7 seed Western Illinois too, and cruised to a 37-7 blowout victory in the first round of the playoffs, using the trash talk as motivation.
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"We came out and played extremely well right from the beginning, by the time we got to the end of the third quarter, we were on cruise control," Gilmore said. "The game was completely out of touch, but for the whole first half, it was such a surprising thing to watch."
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For Lehigh, the 2000 season continued one of the greatest runs in school history that eventually led to four consecutive Patriot League Championships and a 42-1 regular season record from 1998-2001. The 2000 campaign marked Kevin Higgins' last year as head coach.
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As dominant as the run was, there were a lot of questions in the lead up to the 2000 campaign.
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"We lost a lot of star power the year before, and there wasn't a lot of star power coming back," Snyder said. "I think out of all four of those years, that was the best collective team we have had, just because everyone held their own weight, picked up their own weight, because of the lack of star power."
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Coming into the 2000 season, Lehigh's football team was in a period of change. Future Hall of Fame quarterback Phil Stambaugh, '00, had graduated, leaving Brant Hall, '02, as his successor. Star running back Ronald Jean, '00, had also departed. Gilmore, Lehigh's current head coach, was hired as the team's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, replacing Joe Bottiglieri.
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Appling said it took a little while to buy into Gilmore's defensive system, but ultimately, it was the strength of the defense that allowed Lehigh to be so successful in 2000.
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Describing Gilmore as looking like a "big, crazy meathead" when he first met him, Appling said he and linebacker James "Bubba" Young, '01, would mess with Gilmore all the time about that, but have tremendous respect for him as a coach and what he taught them.
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"He was so smart in the way he broke the film down, broke games down, the progression of teaching us the game was at a different level," Appling said.
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Gilmore said it was his players football acumen that allowed them to have success on defense and understand complex schemes. Lehigh's defense allowed just 14.5 points per game in 2000, leading the Patriot League and tying for the sixth best scoring defense in the NCAA.
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After Lehigh traveled to Wofford in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in week one and upset the Terriers 34-14, neutralizing their triple-option offense, Gilmore said he gained more respect from his players.
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He said that defense was one of the most intelligent groups he has been around, and that holding a team like Wofford to just 14 points was not a feat just any group of players could accomplish.
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"Were they talented? Sure, they sure were," Gilmore said. "Were they tough? Absolutely. But, their football IQ and their ability to execute rather sophisticated game plans was probably as high as you can get."
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Hall remembers the defense being especially crucial in a game at Princeton, where the Mountain Hawks held off the Tigers in a sloppy battle that finished 20-18. Lehigh intercepted Princeton two times and added a fumble recovery and key goal line stop to halt a two-point conversion attempt that would've tied the game.
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If not for Lehigh's defensive play in a game where the offense struggled, Hall said there is no way Lehigh would have amassed an undefeated record in the regular season.
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Coming into that year, however, the Lehigh team led by an inexperienced Hall faced doubt they would even be able to replicate the success of the 1998 and 1999 seasons with Stambaugh as their quarterback, let alone go undefeated.
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Hall, who sat behind and learned from Stambaugh his freshman and sophomore years, was not the typical Lehigh quarterback. A dual-threat scrambler from Maryland, Hall may have not yet established a reputation on a national level, but his teammates knew what he was capable of.
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Taking over for Stambaugh was no easy feat, but Hall said external doubt came mostly because of the unproven nature of some of Lehigh's starters who had played behind stars in 1998 and 1999, not because they were incapable of performing well.
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Hall called the 2000 season a "coming out party" for the Mountain Hawks.
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"I think I was confident in my ability to actually run and lead the football team and to play the game of football," Hall said. "But I had to get out there and really produce for people to see it, in order for the team to believe that I could help lead them and win some bigtime games and ultimately win a championship."
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And when he did get that opportunity to lead the team, Hall flourished. Finishing the season with 18 passing touchdowns and just three interceptions coupled with 346 net rushing yards, Hall guided the Patriot League's top scoring offense to their third consecutive championship, clinching it in a 51-17 blowout win over Fordham as the Mountain Hawks moved to 10-0 on the year.
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Wide receiver Brian Endler, '01, led the Mountain Hawks in receptions in 2000 with 50 and tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns. He echoed the how underestimated Hall was in 2000 outside of the locker room.
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"There were a lot of questions about how we were going to respond and how Brant (Hall) was going to lead us," Endler said. "Internally, we were around Brant for a couple years in practice and we knew what he was capable of doing. Our team was very confident in Brant and obviously he really did the job."
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Hall specifically recalled a play against Colgate in early November, when Lehigh was down by 14 points in the second quarter. At the time, both Lehigh and Colgate were 3-0 in conference and contending for the league title. In those years, Hall said, Lehigh and Colgate were the best two teams in the Patriot League and the importance of that game had elevated to Lehigh-Lafayette levels.
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In fact, Colgate was Lehigh's lone loss in their four-year 42-1 regular season run, which came the year before in 1999. Hall and the Mountain Hawks were determined to not let Colgate beat them two years in a row.
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The play, called "28 waggle post," sent Snyder on a route toward the end zone, and after shaking off a defensive end, Hall hit him for a touchdown.
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"That kind of changed the trajectory of that ball game, it was one of the times where you could actually feel the stadium shake," Hall said. "It was pretty awesome, and that play always stands out to me."
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That victory made the road to defend Lehigh's Patriot League Championship clear cut. After beating Colgate, Lehigh would go on to defeat Fordham and Western Illinois before falling to Delaware in the quarterfinals of the I-AA playoffs.
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While Lehigh's 2000 may not have been the most star studded in its history, Endler, Appling, Hall and Snyder all emphasized the team's culture and camaraderie amongst the players helped lead the Mountain Hawks to an undefeated regular season.
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"We were a very close-knit unit, we were truly family," Appling said. "We called each other out when we needed to call each other out and we encouraged each other when we needed to encourage each other. That's why I believe when we had tough games in certain situations, we stepped up to the plate."
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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By Eli Fraerman '21
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November 25, 2000: As Lehigh's football team entered Hanson Field in Macomb, Illinois, to face Western Illinois in the I-AA playoffs, trash talk rained down on the Mountain Hawks.
Â
But this wasn't just any trash talk. No, Lehigh was being flat out insulted. Western Illinois, with over 20 FBS transfers, didn't respect the Mountain Hawks. And they let them know it.
Â
While the disrespect Lehigh faced as they entered the field may have caught the Mountain Hawks off guard, it wasn't the first time they felt underestimated in 2000. Just a week prior, athletic director Joe Sterrett had informed the team that, despite their 11-0 record, they had not secured a home game in those playoffs, the equivalent of the FCS playoffs in present day.
Â
Lehigh's players were far from happy, to say the least, said linebacker Bryant Appling, '01. After three consecutive Patriot League Championships that included just one regular season loss during that span, Lehigh felt it had earned the right to a home game and a better seed than No. 10.
Â
Not only did they not get to play in Goodman Stadium in front of a pro-Lehigh crowd, but the team would have to travel all the way to Macomb, a small town in the western outskirts of Illinois almost 900 miles from Lehigh's campus in Bethlehem.
Â
Upon arrival, wide receiver Josh Snyder, '02, took notice of the conditions that Lehigh had been asked to play in. The field wasn't nice, the facilities weren't nice, and the players certainly were not nice. The crowd of just over 3,200 paled in comparison to the attendance the Mountain Hawks had been able to draw at Goodman Stadium, even having overfilled the 16,000-person capacity field in a game against Bucknell the previous month in the largest non-Lehigh-Lafayette crowd in Goodman Stadium history.
Â
Before the season, then defensive coordinator Tom Gilmore said externally, the expectations of Lehigh were to be an above-average team due to how many star seniors had graduated that previous spring. Lehigh defied those expectations, however, going undefeated in the regular season en route to one of the best season in school history. The Mountain Hawks defied those odds against No. 7 seed Western Illinois too, and cruised to a 37-7 blowout victory in the first round of the playoffs, using the trash talk as motivation.
Â
"We came out and played extremely well right from the beginning, by the time we got to the end of the third quarter, we were on cruise control," Gilmore said. "The game was completely out of touch, but for the whole first half, it was such a surprising thing to watch."
Â
For Lehigh, the 2000 season continued one of the greatest runs in school history that eventually led to four consecutive Patriot League Championships and a 42-1 regular season record from 1998-2001. The 2000 campaign marked Kevin Higgins' last year as head coach.
Â
As dominant as the run was, there were a lot of questions in the lead up to the 2000 campaign.
Â
"We lost a lot of star power the year before, and there wasn't a lot of star power coming back," Snyder said. "I think out of all four of those years, that was the best collective team we have had, just because everyone held their own weight, picked up their own weight, because of the lack of star power."
Â
Coming into the 2000 season, Lehigh's football team was in a period of change. Future Hall of Fame quarterback Phil Stambaugh, '00, had graduated, leaving Brant Hall, '02, as his successor. Star running back Ronald Jean, '00, had also departed. Gilmore, Lehigh's current head coach, was hired as the team's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, replacing Joe Bottiglieri.
Â
Appling said it took a little while to buy into Gilmore's defensive system, but ultimately, it was the strength of the defense that allowed Lehigh to be so successful in 2000.
Â
Describing Gilmore as looking like a "big, crazy meathead" when he first met him, Appling said he and linebacker James "Bubba" Young, '01, would mess with Gilmore all the time about that, but have tremendous respect for him as a coach and what he taught them.
Â
"He was so smart in the way he broke the film down, broke games down, the progression of teaching us the game was at a different level," Appling said.
Â
Gilmore said it was his players football acumen that allowed them to have success on defense and understand complex schemes. Lehigh's defense allowed just 14.5 points per game in 2000, leading the Patriot League and tying for the sixth best scoring defense in the NCAA.
Â
After Lehigh traveled to Wofford in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in week one and upset the Terriers 34-14, neutralizing their triple-option offense, Gilmore said he gained more respect from his players.
Â
He said that defense was one of the most intelligent groups he has been around, and that holding a team like Wofford to just 14 points was not a feat just any group of players could accomplish.
Â
"Were they talented? Sure, they sure were," Gilmore said. "Were they tough? Absolutely. But, their football IQ and their ability to execute rather sophisticated game plans was probably as high as you can get."
Â
Hall remembers the defense being especially crucial in a game at Princeton, where the Mountain Hawks held off the Tigers in a sloppy battle that finished 20-18. Lehigh intercepted Princeton two times and added a fumble recovery and key goal line stop to halt a two-point conversion attempt that would've tied the game.
Â
If not for Lehigh's defensive play in a game where the offense struggled, Hall said there is no way Lehigh would have amassed an undefeated record in the regular season.
Â
Coming into that year, however, the Lehigh team led by an inexperienced Hall faced doubt they would even be able to replicate the success of the 1998 and 1999 seasons with Stambaugh as their quarterback, let alone go undefeated.
Â
Hall, who sat behind and learned from Stambaugh his freshman and sophomore years, was not the typical Lehigh quarterback. A dual-threat scrambler from Maryland, Hall may have not yet established a reputation on a national level, but his teammates knew what he was capable of.
Â
Taking over for Stambaugh was no easy feat, but Hall said external doubt came mostly because of the unproven nature of some of Lehigh's starters who had played behind stars in 1998 and 1999, not because they were incapable of performing well.
Â
Hall called the 2000 season a "coming out party" for the Mountain Hawks.
Â
"I think I was confident in my ability to actually run and lead the football team and to play the game of football," Hall said. "But I had to get out there and really produce for people to see it, in order for the team to believe that I could help lead them and win some bigtime games and ultimately win a championship."
Â
And when he did get that opportunity to lead the team, Hall flourished. Finishing the season with 18 passing touchdowns and just three interceptions coupled with 346 net rushing yards, Hall guided the Patriot League's top scoring offense to their third consecutive championship, clinching it in a 51-17 blowout win over Fordham as the Mountain Hawks moved to 10-0 on the year.
Â
Wide receiver Brian Endler, '01, led the Mountain Hawks in receptions in 2000 with 50 and tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns. He echoed the how underestimated Hall was in 2000 outside of the locker room.
Â
"There were a lot of questions about how we were going to respond and how Brant (Hall) was going to lead us," Endler said. "Internally, we were around Brant for a couple years in practice and we knew what he was capable of doing. Our team was very confident in Brant and obviously he really did the job."
Â
Hall specifically recalled a play against Colgate in early November, when Lehigh was down by 14 points in the second quarter. At the time, both Lehigh and Colgate were 3-0 in conference and contending for the league title. In those years, Hall said, Lehigh and Colgate were the best two teams in the Patriot League and the importance of that game had elevated to Lehigh-Lafayette levels.
Â
In fact, Colgate was Lehigh's lone loss in their four-year 42-1 regular season run, which came the year before in 1999. Hall and the Mountain Hawks were determined to not let Colgate beat them two years in a row.
Â
The play, called "28 waggle post," sent Snyder on a route toward the end zone, and after shaking off a defensive end, Hall hit him for a touchdown.
Â
"That kind of changed the trajectory of that ball game, it was one of the times where you could actually feel the stadium shake," Hall said. "It was pretty awesome, and that play always stands out to me."
Â
That victory made the road to defend Lehigh's Patriot League Championship clear cut. After beating Colgate, Lehigh would go on to defeat Fordham and Western Illinois before falling to Delaware in the quarterfinals of the I-AA playoffs.
Â
While Lehigh's 2000 may not have been the most star studded in its history, Endler, Appling, Hall and Snyder all emphasized the team's culture and camaraderie amongst the players helped lead the Mountain Hawks to an undefeated regular season.
Â
"We were a very close-knit unit, we were truly family," Appling said. "We called each other out when we needed to call each other out and we encouraged each other when we needed to encourage each other. That's why I believe when we had tough games in certain situations, we stepped up to the plate."
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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