Don Silas... RIP

[jsenleo]

I wish he would have finished his football career at IU... Watching him in HS and at IU he was a monster on the field.... He had the talent to be a star in the NFL>....... but, those were different times.

Don Silas Obit

 

[vesuvius13]

That period at IU when the black players boycotted the team was a sad time. I often wondered if IU had a coach with a different background IU could have avoided the boycott.

 

[red hornet]

That period at IU when the black players boycotted the team was a sad time. I often wondered if IU had a coach with a different background IU could have avoided the boycott.

Right, Pont & IUFB were on an upward trajectory when the boycott gutted the team's performance & future recruiting.

 

[Walt542]

Right, Pont & IUFB were on an upward trajectory when the boycott gutted the team's performance & future recruiting.

Part of the long story of IU football being snake bit. Time to get rid of that.

 

[Euro]

That period at IU when the black players boycotted the team was a sad time. I often wondered if IU had a coach with a different background IU could have avoided the boycott.

Harry Edward's a young black activist and Black Panther was going around the country stirring up trouble on college campuses and unfortunately our guys bought in

 

[TomEric4756]

Right, Pont & IUFB were on an upward trajectory when the boycott gutted the team's performance & future recruiting.

Correct.

 

[indy1203]

That period at IU when the black players boycotted the team was a sad time. I often wondered if IU had a coach with a different background IU could have avoided the boycott.

Heard that Michigan & Ohio State had a hand in the revolt, no
proof.

 

[4IUSox2]

Heard that Michigan & Ohio State had a hand in the revolt, no
proof.

I’ve never heard that re the player revolt of the late-60’s. Considering Pont and Bo, in his first year at UM in ‘69, were good friends and roommates in college, seems a bit of a stretch. Things like this were going on, not just at IU, but all over the country at that time and not just in athletics. Of course, it did impact IU football greatly, no doubt. In a book by Michael Rosenberg titled “War As They Knew It” (a book mostly about the OSU/UM Rivalry) these late-60’s tumultuous times were being discussed overall, Bo made a point of defending his college friend and roomie against racism charges.

Perhaps you are thinking of the IU recruiting scandal and subsequent lengthy probation of the early-60’s? I have read other conference schools twisting the knife on IU in that period.

 

[jsenleo]

I’ve never heard that re the player revolt of the late-60’s. Considering Pont and Bo, in his first year at UM in ‘69, were good friends and roommates in college, seems a bit of a stretch. Things like this were going on, not just at IU, but all over the country at that time and not just in athletics. Of course, it did impact IU football greatly, no doubt. In a book by Michael Rosenberg titled “War As They Knew It” (a book mostly about the OSU/UM Rivalry) these late-60’s tumultuous times were being discussed overall, Bo made a point of defending his college friend and roomie against racism charges.

Perhaps you are thinking of the IU recruiting scandal and subsequent lengthy probation of the early-60’s? I have read other conference schools twisting the knife on IU in that period.

Yes, it's a complete stretch that OSU & UM had a hand in the 1969 revolt....

I have talked about this at length with two long-time friends of mine who were on the 1969 team. Both of them told me that Pont wasn't so much the problem, but instead, a couple of his assistants. According to my friends, many of the players on the team thought it was very clear that two Pont assistants were not going to give some of the black players much playing time... even though it was obvious that they were better than the... white, guys... playing ahead of them... The way I understood it was that Pont turned his head and let his assistants do what they wanted. Even though Pont tried to get them back, it back-fired and the boycott came about.

It appears Pont wasn't the real culprit.... Thinking about it now, I get the feeling Pont pulled a Paterno, kinda, and thought it would all go away... I might be wrong about that but I trust my friends knew what happened since they were on the team at the time.

 

[4IUSox2]

Yes, it's a complete stretch that OSU & UM had a hand in the 1969 revolt....

I have talked about this at length with two long-time friends of mine who were on the 1969 team. Both of them told me that Pont wasn't so much the problem, but instead, a couple of his assistants. According to my friends, many of the players on the team thought it was very clear that two Pont assistants were not going to give some of the black players much playing time... even though it was obvious that they were better than the... white, guys... playing ahead of them... The way I understood it was that Pont turned his head and let his assistants do what they wanted. Even though Pont tried to get them back, it back-fired and the boycott came about.

It appears Pont wasn't the real culprit.... Thinking about it now, I get the feeling Pont pulled a Paterno, kinda, and thought it would all go away... I might be wrong about that but I trust my friends knew what happened since they were on the team at the time.

Good intel. Wasn’t around at all in early 60’s and barely around in the late-60’s. But, typical IU football karma we’ve all come to know, in how they made such a quantum leap to the Rose Bowl only to fall right back down a few years later.

 

[Euro]

Yes, it's a complete stretch that OSU & UM had a hand in the 1969 revolt....

I have talked about this at length with two long-time friends of mine who were on the 1969 team. Both of them told me that Pont wasn't so much the problem, but instead, a couple of his assistants. According to my friends, many of the players on the team thought it was very clear that two Pont assistants were not going to give some of the black players much playing time... even though it was obvious that they were better than the... white, guys... playing ahead of them... The way I understood it was that Pont turned his head and let his assistants do what they wanted. Even though Pont tried to get them back, it back-fired and the boycott came about.

It appears Pont wasn't the real culprit.... Thinking about it now, I get the feeling Pont pulled a Paterno, kinda, and thought it would all go away... I might be wrong about that but I trust my friends knew what happened since they were on the team at the time.

My assessment is different than your friends

 

[jsenleo]

My assessment is different than your friends

I'd love to hear what you know... Yes, there was more to it than just what I've said and other players from the team might feel differently but according to the two players I was friends with they thought that bias of a couple of assistant coaches was the main reason they boycotted.... Again, I'd like to hear more.

 

[Euro]

I'd love to hear what you know... Yes, there was more to it than just what I've said and other players from the team might feel differently but according to the two players I was friends with they thought that bias of a couple of assistant coaches was the main reason they boycotted.... Again, I'd like to hear more.

Many reasons for the boycott but as I said above Harry Edwards stirred the pot. Once that seed was planted there were many reasons why it happened. As for playing time , I saw the best players on the field no matter of color