Pappy’s Boys, an organization created 34 years ago to support the Cal football program and by extension, the university itself, is in its final days. It has been quite a ride.
The “Pappy” in the title is, of course, Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf, who as head coach of the Bears from 1947 through 1956, directed the most successful decade in their colorful history. The “Boys” are his former players and supporters who have carried on his legacy. But boys become men, get older and inevitably leave us.
“The time for folding up the Pappy’s Boys tent was fast approaching, said Tuck Coop (’67), current Chairman of Pappy’s Boys and former Executive Director of the Cal Alumni Association “It has been a wonderful organization and we wanted to have as many members as possible be able to celebrate all that we’ve accomplished with one final banquet.
“With each passing month we were losing members and it just made sense to bring this storied chapter to a close and so, per our bylaws, the players voted to dissolve the organization. The love that the players have for their coach, for each other, for the Cal football program and for the University has been extraordinary. It’s been a hell of a ride!”
In the 31 years between Waldorf’s retirement as head coach and the founding of Pappy’s Boys, his players were in casual contact with one another, but the group meetings were irregular. In 1987, six years after Pappy’s death, a group of his former players decided to form an organization that would enable them to better stay in touch, rekindle friendships, perpetuate Waldorf’s legacy and assist the university and the football program.
They have done pretty well on all counts.
The first official Pappy’s Boys banquet was held on Sept. 9, 1988, with an attendance of 170. Since then the attendance at the dinners surged. The late Jack Vohs. who was in charge of 16 straight banquets starting in 1998, estimated a combined total attendance of 3,000 members, wives and guests.
But Pappy Boys has been more than eating and drinking. The contributions include financial support for the football program to fund volunteer assistant coaches and air transportation to aid recruiting. Some members provided housing assistance for assistant coaches in the complex Bay Area real estate market,
Members, Ed Bartlett. Stu McKee and Paul Larson, headed up a Kids to Campus program that brought young people from the Oakland Boys and Girls Club and schools from the Central Valley to the campus, for many of the guests it was their first visit to any university.
More visible contributions are some significant campus landmarks: the giant statue of the Bear near the stadium, the statue of Pappy in faculty glade, and a bench halfway up a staircase on the west side of the stadium.
Perhaps the organization’s most impressive ongoing accomplishment is the Pappy Waldorf Endowment Fund Scholarship. Begun in 1993, the fund pays for a grant for a team member selected by the coaching staff “for leadership both on and off the field.” The 22 recipients have included Todd Steussie, Kyle Bollerm, Keenan Allen, Jared Goff and current quarterback Chase Garbers.
Pappy’s Boys has some final goals. A total of 27 scholarships (there are four two-time winners) have been funded at a cost of more than $450,000. At the same time, the endowment held by the Regents is about $1.1 million. In order for an endowment to be considered fully funded forever, the University requires at least $1.2 million.
In order to reach that, Pappy’s Boys is “passing the helmet” if you will, and asking its members to make one final contribution. Given the “Boys”’ history, that should be no problem, and the scholarship will serve as an annual reminder of what Waldorf and Pappy’s Boys meant to the University.
Former winner Chris Manderino (2005), who has been instrumental in rallying fellow recipients to help the scholarship endure, is making an effort to start an organization similar to Pappy’s Boys with alums who, like himself, played for Jeff Tedford. Much as Pappy did, Tedford took a team that was at the bottom and instantly made it successful.
Plans for the final Pappy’s Boys banquet to be held at the Claremont Hotel on the eve of the USC game are well underway, and it should be quite a show. It has been in the works for 34 years.
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