Colorado

In March of '62, the delirium of the great 1961 season turned to horror as the NCAA and Big Eight Conference came down hard on Colorado. Head Coach Sonny Grandelius who had done what he was hired to do, was unceremoniously fired as it was revealed that there was a veritable laundry list of violations he and his staff had committed. An illegal slush fund provided at least twenty recruits and their families with cash payments and automobiles. Nine players including the emerging Ralph Heck who went to the Eagles in 1963 and played in the NFL through 1971, were suspended for the 1962 season and most left school. Grandelius eventually had a lengthy NFL assistant's career with the Lions and Eagles and was the GM of the short-lived Detroit Wheels of the World Football League, but what appeared to be a long-term tenure as a successful collegiate head coach was over. Bud Davis, a former Buff player for Dal Ward and a successful high school coach in both South Dakota and at Greeley, CO was quickly asked to step in. To quote the late Fred Casoti, the former CU Sports Information Director and Assistant Athletic Director, "Giving the job to Bud Davis was like making an aviation cadet fly solo in a burning plane. There was no way he could land safely: the only question was how bad the crash would be." With spring ball literally days away, Davis hired coaches he knew whom were other high school coaches, bereft of college coaching experience. He also hired his former head coach Dal Ward from the CU physical education department. Many saw this as a bone thrown to Ward and others saw Davis as a turncoat who had help to usher the successful Grandelius out the door although he obviously had nothing to do with the investigation and penalties. Davis changed the uniforms in an attempt to completely wash away the sting of the NCAA crackdown but the team was horrid. The 2-8 record was worse than imagined or predicted and the Buffaloes looked terrible in all-yellow uniforms; the socks, pants, jerseys, and helmets were a Sunflower gold. Davis also placed three-quarter-inch black flanking stripes and black three-inch rounded "Charger" style player numerals on each side of the helmets. The Buffalos new pass-oriented offense looked as terrible as the uniforms!. Other than a 6-0 win over hapless Kansas State and a going-away gift victory over Air Force in the final game, the year was a washout. Circumstances that included the sanctions against the program, the last-minute preparation of the squad, and the poorly schooled staff made for a terrible season but Bud Davis was certainly and obviously capable as he later became a college president! Dan Grimm, who held a guard spot in the NFL for four teams over a seven-year span played at an All Conference level as the lone bright spot on the team.