Chance for glory
The beginnings of a champion
In 1915, American football was still in its infancy. The first Rose Bowl was just in its planning stages. East Coast teams were becoming household names, but what chance did a West Coast team with a losing streak have in achieving any fame or notoriety?
William "Lonestar" Dietz
Everything changed in the fall of 1915 when William “Lone Star” Dietz, half Native American, was hired to coach Washington State College’s football team. His experience and knowledge would help a group of undersized players to become giants on the football field, and soon the team would become household names across America.
A Journey Into History
Much more than just a football story, Chance for Glory is a microcosm of American history. Author Darin Watkins places the 1915 WSC team and the first Rose Bowl in the context of two Washington schools trying to compete academically for their very existence. We get glimpses into early Hollywood movie making, we meet people with their roots in a legacy of Indian Wars from just a few decades earlier, and we hear in the distance the guns on the European battlefields of World War I.
Chance for Glory
One of the greatest football stories ever told
Intrigue, romance, courage, determination, strategy, and serendipity all meet in these pages to catapult the story of the winning Cougars into becoming one of the greatest football stories of all time. Relive the moments as the players go from being farmhands and the sons of laborers to national champions.
WSU's Keith Jackson - A broadcast legand
"The Rose Bowl has become a masterpiece of our society - and Washington State was there from the very beginning."
Keith Jackson
(WSU '54)
ABC Sportcaster
Get your copy today
Available online and in fine book stores near you - or you can order directly from Washington State University Publications