In the shadow of Halas Hall in tree-shrouded Lake Forest, the sounds of helmets crashing against shoulder pads, coaches barking out instructions and players enthusiastically yelling encouragement to one another are familiar ones on a crisp autumn late afternoon.
Only this scene doesn’t involve the Chicago Bears, the more recognizable, high-profile tenants of the area. This is the sound of Lake Forest College football, where players practice in the relative obscurity that is small college American athletics.
And, in fact, the Bears have more victories this season than the college team does (as of Oct. 26). To be honest, Lake Forest hadn’t won a football game since 1994 until defeating Lawrence University 28-21 last weekend. But losing isn’t everything.
Several hundred yards away, the Bears are working out at their training field, which is home to the Foresters of Lake Forest. The game is the same, but the contrasts are stark, maybe as stark as the comparison between what these 75 students experience in football versus what players experience at a major school such as Northwestern University just 15 miles to the south.
For this is Division III football. It is a world without football scholarships, Heisman Trophy hopefuls, glossy press brochures and reporters scrambling for interviews with star players. The participants are here just the same, playing a game they say they love and experience for the joy of competition.
Lake Forest College is one of more than 150 schools in the nation that play football in Division III (D-3 for short). By National Collegiate Athletic Association rules, they cannot offer aid based on any grid talent, or they would have to go to a higher division.
So demanding are the classroom studies at Lake Forest that second-year head coach Randy Moore seldom has his full team on hand for a weekday practice.
“It’s tough, but what we are selling at this school is academics first, then the community,” meaning the cozy city and the college’s amenities, said Moore, a former assistant at Division I New Mexico State in Las Cruces, Division II Michigan Tech in Houghton and Division III Wartburg in Waverly, Iowa. “Last year there were some days we just had 22 kids (out of 75) on hand for practice. You make do the best way you can.”
The most noticeable physical difference between D-3 and major college football is the size of its participants. While Wisconsin, Iowa or Illinois may boast linemen 6 foot 4 and more than 300 pounds, Lake Forest’s roster has more than its share of players under 6 feet and 200 pounds, including a pair of 5-foot-8 brothers, Todd and Matt Linklater of Matteson.
“Sometimes it’s tough, managing your time between classes and coming out for practice,” said Todd Linklater, a 180-pound senior defensive back. “I came here because I wanted to compete, and we want to win at all costs. I’m not out here busting my butt through . . . practices and daily drills just to not care.”
“I looked at other schools like DePauw (in Greencastle, Ind.), but I wanted to play on the same team with my brother,” who preferred Lake Forest, explained Matt Linklater, also a defensive back. And even at this level, playing requires commitment. Practice for him is “four hours a day, five days a week. You are in class only four hours a day anyway. Besides, I’m not one who goes out a lot during the week.”
As for losing, Todd Linklater said, “Losing has been tough, no matter where you play or on what level. We’re there, believe me; we are just getting beat in the fourth quarter.”
Added coach Moore: “Sure, it’s a big deal when you lose. Anytime you put your heart and soul into something like this like our players and coaches do, it’s tough to lose. But when you consider the progress we’ve made, everyone knows it’s building, not rebuilding.”
Athletic director and women’s basketball coach Jackie Slaats explained, “The downside to losing is what its impact is on the kids. We want to succeed, and we’re confident Randy is going to. Losing isn’t any fun on any level, but there is more to what our school is about than just the wins and losses. It’s what the student athletes are getting out of the programs they participate in.”
The Linklaters graduated from Rich South High School in Richton Park and are part of a group of Moore’s players who earn extra money by working odd jobs for the Bears. These range from answering phones to placing the tarp on the practice field when the Bears are done with their workouts.
The extra money helps. At Lake Forest College, tuition is $18,750 a year, which swells to $23,400 when room, board and fees are tacked on. But as publicity director Mark Perlman (who doubles as the school’s sports information director) noted, the school offers substantial financial aid for anyone who wants to attend.
“In Division III, . . . 72 percent of all students, not just football players, receive some degree of financial aid,” Perlman said. “Some of it is partial aid, some of it is a full grant-in-aid. It depends upon need, but if someone gets a full scholarship, it’s going to be for their talents and capabilities away from football.”
The average grant/scholarship is $10,650, hardly the full ride star athletes at major colleges might receive.
Yet it is something that Moore, Slaats and other school coaches can use in recruiting athletes to Lake Forest. Yes, recruiting does exist at Lake Forest and Division III schools, but it is strictly limited.
“We can go watch someone play, but we can’t make a recruiting visit. We can invite them to come to our school,” said Slaats, a graduate of Iowa State who has been in charge of the school’s athletic programs for the last five years. “We believe we have something very strong and positive to offer here with the academics, community and the university.”
In Lake Forest’s case, the restrictions are even greater because the conference in which it participates, the 12-team Midwest Conference of Division III schools from Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa, believes in the strictest of academic standards and has tougher regulations than the NCAA, according to Slaats.
Slaats, one of an increasing number of women who have become athletic administrators, has a great deal of enthusiasm about the school, the program and what Moore is trying to accomplish.
“First and foremost, our priority is academics here. We have an outstanding institution and have much to offer in this community,” Slaats said. “I think the work ethic Randy Moore has brought to this college is symbolic of what our entire athletic department is all about.”
As at most colleges, football is still the high-profile sport. Moore brought more than 200 prospects to Lake Forest in the last year in his effort to help build the program.
“The big difference between Division I, II and III is the scholarships, but it’s also the amount of time we can spend with the kids,” Moore explained, referring to shorter practice times for Division III schools. “But as far as the attitude, there isn’t a whole lot of difference.”
Yet quality football talent can come into a program such as Lake Forest for other reasons.
“I wanted to play at Iowa (while weighing options in high school) during my senior year, but my parents wouldn’t let me,” said 5-foot-8, 210-pound tailback Corey Honore of Iowa City, the team’s top offensive player. But they insisted on Lake Forest, believing it was better strictly for education.
Instead of wondering how much a pro contract could hold for his future, Honore, a junior, is a business major who wants to be a financial consultant when he graduates. He is still convinced he could have played D-1 football but is “comfortable” with his decision to compete on the D-3 level.
And that comfort level means he has to love the game, because the last time the team won was Oct. 29, 1994, when it beat Midwest Conference rival Lawrence 42-41.
But the devotion goes beyond the players and coaches. Trainers, film crews and managers are all giving up three to four hours a day to the program.
“The guys are great. It’s fun because the coaches and players always are all excited about what they’re doing,” said student trainer Angie Hill, a sophomore education/psychology major who also plays on the women’s basketball team. “The guys love the sport and want to be here. Everyone out here is trying so hard, there is so much heart, so much love out there.”
Bears players often wander across the street to watch the Foresters practice, speak with the players or spend time with the Lake Forest players who have part-time jobs with the Bears.
“When I was a player here, the old Chicago Cardinals (pro football team) used to be here,” said Mike Dau, now in his 28th year as a coach at the school, speaking from an office no bigger than a walk-in closet. “Now it’s the Bears. I think it is a very positive thing.”
Division III football has changed little since the time Dau took over as head coach in the mid-1960s and guided them to a Midwest Conference title in 1983.
“When I first started, a lot of the kids played both offense and defense. They don’t do that much anymore,” said Dau, a 1958 graduate of Lake Forest who lives in Barrington and serves as handball coach and an assistant football coach. “The program still means as much to the players and coaches. I can tell you the greatest trauma in my life was when I got fired (in 1992 in the college’s quest for `fresh blood.’) When Randy called and asked if I would come back as an assistant, I first said no, then I met him and saw his dedication, and I said yes. It’s always been a labor of love.”
It has to be.
ON GAME DAY, INTENSITY ISN’T MEASURED IN NUMBERS
The atmosphere of a Saturday afternoon home game is more like that of a high school game. Hours before, the Bears had a walk-through practice on the field to get ready for a Sunday date. They are long gone now to Halas Hall, except for a few assistants who are reviewing the game plan.
The smell of a lone barbecue grill wafts through the nearby stands as members of the women’s basketball team grill wieners and sell refreshments to the crowd of around 500. Four small cars are having a mini-tailgate party in the lot where the Bears will park their Lexuses or Range Rovers during the week.
“We enjoy being here; it’s tradition,” says basketball player/concessionaire Audrey Romlen, a junior from Moline, Ill., doling out change for a spectator who places a pregame order. “We take turns with the duties. Fridays some of us pop the popcorn, game days we cook the hot dogs and sell the sodas.”
Proceeds go to pay for a trip to San Diego for the women’s basketball team, a trip they can afford to take only once every three years.
As at any other, major school, cheerleaders are trying to rev up the crowd, most of whom either walk less than a half mile from student housing or drive from nearby Lake County communities. The half-dozen cheerleaders dance to the tunes of pre-recorded, scratchy tapes aired by a less-than-modern public address system.
“I love it; I’ve been a cheerleader since the 6th grade,” says senior captain Katie Dermody, a psychology major from Zion. “My high school was actually bigger than this, but it’s still the fun of being out here.”
Art Miller, who works at the university, has a familial reason to pay the $3 admission: His son, Andrew, is a defensive lineman.
“It’s something, being some place where they’ve been playing for 100 years or so. There are no skyboxes here, just benches, but the football is the same, and it’s special because you know the kids want to be out there,” Miller says.
The players go through a normal pregame routine of running routes, calisthenics and a talk from Moore. They must wait in line at the portable toilets 15 minutes before game time right along with the spectators.
As sports information director Mark Perlman introduces the lineups from Lake Forest and league rival Monmouth College, near Galesburg, Moore is giving last-minute instructions in a strong but instructive teaching manner.
Finally it is game time. Lake Forest takes the kickoff and fumbles on its first play.
The crowd moans, the players hustle off dejectedly. The cheerleaders yell encouragement. The Foresters wind up losing the game. Handshakes are exchanged. The players file out across the street to their locker room and hear Moore talk about putting the loss aside and concentrating on the next opponent. Just like at any other college playing field on this autumn Saturday.
