With war enlistments decimating the team near the end of the 1910s, the football squad was looking to begin the 1920s with a more revived program. As the team had to deal with the tough times brought on by the war, it also had to deal with a handful of coaching changes early on in the 1920s. Four different men coached Buena Vista during the decade. On November 9, 1921, all BV athletic teams were first officially referred to as the Beavers and were no longer called the BVers. In 1923, the program also had to deal with another type of change as the team left the Hawkeye Conference and became members of the current Iowa Conference.

	Beavers in action, 1924

George Wanner took over for A.A. Gilmore before the 1920 season and led the Beavers to a 4-1 record, losing only their first game of the season, 14-0 to Iowa State Teachers College. The team finished with four straight wins to end the year at 4-1. During the four-game winning streak, the Beavers outscored their opponents 158-7. The 1921 team finished the season at 3-4-1, losing its final three games of the season. That season was the final one for Wanner as he stepped down and J.D. (Jim) Kelly took over the team.

Although many said Kelly’s coaching techniques might be a little rugged, his teams didn’t seem to care. In his first season, the Beavers went 5-0-1 while outscoring their opponents 95-14. The next four seasons saw the club go 17-5-2 with eleven shutouts, including five in a row during the 1925 season. One of those shutouts was historic. Buena Vista’s 6-0 win over Coe College came in the team’s 100th game. A season earlier, the team recorded its 50th victory when it defeated Morningside 27-6 in 1924.

	J. Leslie "Whitey" Rollins

During Kelly’s four-year tenure as the Beaver head coach, his squads outscored their opponents 446-122. The team’s biggest victory during that time was its 89-0 dismantling of Ellsworth in the 1923 season finale. Some of the star players which came out of this era include Edward Hagedorn at center and Forrest Gaffin at fullback. Gaffin was an all-conference selection in 1924 while Hagedorn was selected in both the 1924 and 1925 seasons. J. Leslie Rollins, one of the school's all-time greatest all-around athletes, also highlighted the 1925 squad.

When Kelly left the team following the 1925 season, Burton North was brought in as his successor. Things didn’t go quite as planned, as the 1926 team did not win a single game and finished with a 0-6-1 record. The team bounced back the next year going 3-5 under new coach Frank Casey before going 5-3-1 in 1928 and then 5-1-2 in 1929. Casey’s 1929 team defeated second place Luther handed Columbia (Loras) its only loss of the season.

During an era which saw wholesale changes being made, the team fought through all of them and tried to build up a winning tradition. The 1920s marked the opening of Bradford Field, named for former Board of Trustees President Scott Bradford, which is the current site for Buena Vista football home games. The future for the team was looking bright at the end of the decade after having suffered just one loss in 1929.

MORE ON THE 1920s

To learn more about this decade, go to: Buena Vista Football Records >>

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