Football at Pacific
The first football game at Pacific was in 1895.
Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library, Football-University of the Pacific football team playing against UCLA,FB11
Great Expectations
Originally the football team/program faced a lot of criticism. In a telegram by the dean of the College of Pacific, Harold S. Jacoby mentions of the few years in which the football team had a perfect record of 11-0. Since then, it had become quite clear that there were incredibly high standards for any future College of Pacific football teams.
Valley Bowl
The Stockton Campus raised approximately $200,000 to build the new stadium. From the start, it was clear the football had to find ways to generate its funds due to the drastic expenditures it would procure.
It would ultimately come down to the revenue that is generated from ticket sales that determined the football program's fate.
Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library, Football-University of the Pacific football team playing against UCLA,FB11
"The Valley Bowl" Becomes "Pacific Memorial Stadium"
In the October 21, 1950 edition of the Football Program, it was formally announced that the "Valley Bowl" will now be known as the "Pacific Memorial Stadium" as a way to commemorate the war dead from College of the Pacific.
Students Feel Left Out
In a sociology paper by a student at College of Pacific, there is some clear concern that the student body feels excluded from the building of the new football stadium on campus.
Re-Orientation
In a report from 1960 from the President of the College of the Pacific, the football program is praised for its former glory and former successes in its production of professional football players and coaches. However, the tone of the message changes towards the end due to the concern over football drop in revenue.
Re-Orientation Proceeds
In a 1971 Spring Football Prospects report, there is a lot of criticism due to the lack of success the football team has generated and is even referred to as a, "nightmare." Some will even argue this is the, "Beginning of the End."
Acknowledgments:
We would like to thank our source archives, the Holt-Atherton Special Collections at the University of the Pacific for permission to use their metadata, digital archives, and archival expertise. We would like to specifically thank Nicole Montjoy-Grady and Mike Wurtz for their support and willingness to share their collections.