Cal Stoll couldn’t wait to coach football. Literally. He played six-man football at his high school in North Dakota. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he resumed playing football at the University of Minnesota. But after playing for two seasons as an end for the Gophers, Stoll chose to forego his senior year of football eligibility so he could graduate early with a degree in education to coach football. After a successful first season as a high school football coach, Stoll jumped to the college ranks, where he served as an assistant coach for the next eighteen seasons at four different schools, including back-to-back national championships at Michigan State. He then was named head football coach at Wake Forest, where he stayed for three seasons. He led the Demon Deacons to their first ACC football championship in 1970 and was also named ACC Coach of the Year. In 1972, Stoll returned to his alma mater—Minnesota—and coached there for seven seasons. In this podcast episode about the Cal Stoll era at Minnesota, host Bob Edholm gets together with his friend, Tom Madigan, to talk about the 1972 through 1978 seasons. They’ll provide you with the specifics of each season, including such things as: · The Gophers’ overall record · How the Gophers fared in their traditional “trophy games” each season against Michigan (Little Brown Jug), Iowa (Floyd of Rosedale), and Wisconsin (Paul Bunyan’s Axe) · Those Gopher players who won individual honors, such as All-Big Ten and the Team MVP Award
