Quarterback Jay Jeffrey (left), coach Grant Teaff and running back Walter Abercrombie (right) were key figures in Baylor’s 1980 Southwest Conference championship season. They’re pictured here in the Southwest Conference wing of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. (Photo by Rod Aydelotte)

T he boys of the 1980 Baylor football team are men easing into their 50s now with children and grandchildren of their own.

But make no mistake: These guys have been bonded for 30 years and will be brothers for life.

When they get together for reunions, the members of that Southwest Conference championship team feel like they’ve never left that sweaty locker room underneath Floyd Casey Stadium.

Every detail of Baylor’s last championship football team under Grant Teaff comes back to life in a way that can only be told by men who experienced it.

Remember that great comeback against SMU?

How about the emotion everybody felt when paralyzed former teammate Kyle Woods got out of his chair and stood up before the Arkansas game?

How sweet was that feeling of domination after a 16-0 shellacking of Texas that completed an unbeaten SWC season?

Walter Abercrombie set a school record with 1,187 yards rushing while scoring a team-high 10 touchdowns in 1980.
Associated Press file photo

“It’s an amazing thing,” said former Baylor running back Walter Abercrombie, now the executive director of the “B” Association for former Baylor athletes. “When we get together, you immediately see that closeness and the bond each player has with each other. Even in my pro years, I never felt the kind of camaraderie and togetherness that the 1980 team had.”

Though they often go years without seeing each other, the former players stay in touch through e-mail, Facebook and phone calls. That season was a life-changing experience for all of them, and nobody will forget it. They’re the only Baylor football team to go unbeaten in conference in the past 87 years, romping through the SWC with an 8-0 record en route to a 10-2 season. Six years after the 1974 “Miracle on the Brazos” Bears shocked everyone by winning the SWC title, the 1980 squad won the league by a whopping three games.

“A big part of it was the way we did it,” said All-America guard Frank Ditta. “We went unbeaten in conference play. It wasn’t like we went 7-4 and won conference by one game. We ran Arkansas out of the stadium and shut out Texas, which no one had done in a long time. If it hadn’t rained at Texas A&M, we would have put 60 on them.”

Dennis Gentry rushed for 883 yards in 1980 and went on to a productive NFL career with the Chicago Bears.
Associated Press file photo

There was unquestionably a lot of talent on the 1980 squad. Middle linebacker Mike Singletary was a three-time All-America selection who went on to a Pro Football Hall of Fame career with the Chicago Bears, and now coaches the San Francisco 49ers.

All-America safety Vann McElroy became a Pro Bowl player for the Los Angeles Raiders, while defensive back Cedric Mack, offensive lineman Randy Grimes, defensive end Charles Benson, and running backs Abercrombie, Dennis Gentry and Alfred Anderson all enjoyed solid NFL careers.

“I don’t know if people realized how good we were,” said McElroy, currently a Texas-based sports agent. “Coach Teaff assembled a lot of talent. The coaches not only went after good players, they got guys with leadership skills. We had real good chemistry because we had good leaders and good followers.”

Coming into the 1980 season, the Bears were a confident bunch fresh off a 1979 Peach Bowl win over Clemson. The bowl win capped off an 8-4 season, but everybody felt bigger things were ahead.

“We experienced a real good year in 1979, but there was a bit of disappointment because we had a ton of talent but didn’t jell much as a team,” said Ditta, who lives in The Woodlands. “People ranked us fifth or sixth in the conference coming into 1980, but internally we felt we had something special.”

The team also felt a strong bond after Woods was paralyzed from the neck down while taking a hit during preseason workouts in 1979. The Bears grew up a lot during that season and had to lean on each other for strength.

“These guys went through the horrible experience with Kyle Woods,” said Teaff, the executive director of the American Football Coaches Association in Waco. “They were 18 and 19 years old and realized the game they played can be dangerous. That 1979 season was a great maturing experience for all of them. They were grounded and had some tenacity. After watching film from spring football, you could see they could beat a lot of people.”

Associated Press file photo

The Bears exploded out of the gates as they blew away Lamar, 42-7, and manhandled West Texas State, 43-15. In the SWC opener against Texas Tech, the defense delivered in a big way by limiting the Red Raiders to minus 36 yards rushing in an 11-3 win. Benson was everywhere as he made seven tackles behind the line of scrimmage and knocked down three passes to earn SWC player of the week.

The Bears won their fourth straight game when Abercrombie rushed for 110 yards in a 24-12 win over defending SWC champion Houston.

But things couldn’t have looked much worse the following week as SMU jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the second quarter in Waco. After throwing an ill-advised pass for an interception, quarterback Jay Jeffrey thought he was through for the day.

“I asked Coach Teaff, ‘Are you going to take me out?’ ” Jeffrey said. “He said, ‘Jay, you’re my quarterback, let’s win this thing.’ Coach Teaff always made you feel like you’re the right guy at the right time. He’s a special man and a special coach. He was a great motivator who could see the big picture.”

Jay Jeffrey was the quarterback of Baylor’s 1980 SWC championship team six years after brother Neal Jeffrey (right) was the quarterback of the Bears’ 1974 title team.
Associated Press file photo

With Jeffrey passing for 188 yards and rushing for three touchdowns, the Bears rallied for a 32-28 win. They were starting to believe it could be a special season.

“Winning that SMU game was a defining moment for me and the football team,” said Jeffrey, who is an executive vice president at Time Manufacturing Company in Waco.

With Abercrombie piling up 143 yards rushing, the Bears went to College Station and blew away the Aggies, 46-7. They kept rolling with a 21-6 win over TCU in Fort Worth to improve to 7-0 and move to 10th in the Associated Press poll.

But just when everything seemed to be going their way, San Jose State slipped out of Baylor Stadium with a shocking 30-22 win. The Bears hurt themselves with four interceptions and two fumbles as their dream of an unbeaten season died.

“We had a chance to win the national championship,” Teaff said. “A loss like that can devastate you. You can either go in a downward spiral or try to go in an upward spiral. I think that loss propelled them to win the SWC championship.”

Before playing Arkansas on homecoming the following week in Waco, Woods joined the team for the first time since he was paralyzed in the summer of 1979. Teaff asked him to say a few words to the team before they went out on the field.

Kyle Woods
Tribune-Herald file photo

“Kyle said, ‘Look guys, it’s real simple: You have to turn a setback into a comeback,’ ” Teaff said.

Then Woods began to rock back and forth, rose from his wheelchair and briefly stood.

“It was very intense to see Kyle get out of his chair,” Ditta said. “That really got us motivated. I felt sorry for Arkansas because they didn’t have a chance.”

With Abercrombie and Gentry each rushing for more than 100 yards, the Bears romped to a 42-15 win over the Razorbacks. Running for 168 yards, Abercrombie followed with his best game of the season in a 16-6 win over Rice the next week.

The only thing standing between Baylor and an 8-0 SWC record was a regular-season finale against Texas in Waco. On a cold, rainy day, Baylor’s defense rose to the occasion by intercepting four passes and holding the Longhorns to 138 total yards in a 16-0 win.

The Bears became the first private school since the 1949 Rice team to go unbeaten in the SWC. Jay Jeffrey felt especially emotional about winning the title because his older brother, Neal, was the quarterback of Baylor’s 1974 SWC championship team.

“We dominated everyone in the SWC,” Jay Jeffrey said. “We expected to win and we had great coaches. We had talent everywhere when you see all the guys who played in the pros. Winning that championship was a defining moment in Baylor football history and one of the highlights of my life.”

Legendary Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant meets with Baylor’s Grant Teaff. The Crimson Tide beat the Bears, 30-2, in the 1981 Cotton Bowl.
Associated Press file photo

Ranked No. 6 in the country, the Bears met another Bear in the 1981 Cotton Bowl. Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant was nearing the end of his legendary career.

“I never thought I’d get the opportunity to meet him,” Abercrombie said. “So when we were warming up, I saw him on the field in his houndstooth hat and said, ‘I’m a running back for Baylor and I just wanted to come over here and meet you.’ He said, ‘Oh yeah, No. 34, I know who you are.’ ”

The Crimson Tide romped to a 30-2 win as it forced seven turnovers and held the Bears to 158 yards total offense. Despite the disappointing ending, it was still a great season for the Bears.

“We didn’t play as well as we should, but we were still SWC champions and went unbeaten in the league,” Ditta said. “You certainly want to win, but at the end of the day bowls are a reward for a wonderful season.”

Middle linebacker Mike Singletary and offensive lineman Frank Ditta earned All-America honors on the Bears’ 1980 team that went 8-0 in the SWC.
Associated Press file photo

Singletary and Ditta earned All-America honors and 12 Baylor players made all-SWC teams. The Bears set a school record by averaging 440.7 yards per game. Abercrombie set an individual rushing record with 1,187 yards. Led by players such as Singletary and McElroy, Baylor’s defense dominated teams all season.

“Everybody on the team had great respect for each other,” Teaff said. “We ran an option offense and all our backs took pride in helping each other get yardage. Our defense was equal to our offense. Singletary was a great All-American player, but he had good players around him. They all had the confidence and belief that they were going to get the job done.”

After meeting sporadically throughout the years, many of the players reunited last year for Woods’ funeral in the Metroplex. Both Teaff and former Baylor receiver Radar Holt spoke, and some players cried during the afternoon.

“Kyle was one of the most inspirational guys I’ve ever known,” Abercrombie said. “Though he had a devastating injury, I never saw a sad look on his face.”

Just like before that homecoming game against Arkansas in 1980, Woods inspired the team once again.

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