After 181 years, Iowa Wesleyan will shut down for good. “It’s a huge blow to southeast Iowa to lose a campus like that.” When people recall the institution’s legacy, it begins with being the birthplace college football's “Air Raid” offense.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa — Winds of change sweep across this idyllic southeast Iowa community of 9,000, where an Amtrak station separates an old-fashioned town square from a charming college campus.
But when people recall Iowa Wesleyan’s legacy, it starts with its impact on college football as the birthplace of the most influential offensive trend in three decades, the “Air Raid.” When Mumme arrived, two reporters attended his news conference. He called a meeting of returning players. He was told about 40 planned to return. Two showed up. Halfway through his speech, one walked out.
“Nobody would take it,” he says. “It paid $12,000. Even in 1989, that wasn’t very much money. So I decided that I’m just gonna hire the smartest guy I can find and teach him what I want.” “We started looking for an edge, and like we usually did when we needed an edge, we would take a road trip to get the creative ideas going,” Mumme says. “So I told Mike, ‘Find somebody to recruit in Florida, and I’ll get us some airline tickets from Dr. Prins.’ And Mike being Mike, he finds a kicker in Key West.Leach and Mumme stopped to see the Orlando Thunder, then a World League of American Football member and led by longtime CFL coach Don Matthews.
“They wanted it to be fun,” says Hill, now Kentucky’s deputy athletic director. “College sports were supposed to be fun. Practice was supposed to be fun. We’re not gonna grind you to death. We’re not going to run you to death … And because of it, we had a blast. I mean, it was always fun. Going for it on fourth down when it didn’t make any sense. It was just always a good time.”
That year, Iowa Wesleyan finished 10-2 and qualified for the NAIA Division I playoffs. Dewald threw for 4,418 yards, while running back Bruce Carter caught 125 passes and scored 112 points. All remain school records.