It’s a heavy topic. Honestly, if you grew up anywhere near the Tri-State area of West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, the story of Marshall University football 1970 isn't just sports history. It’s a part of the local DNA. It’s the kind of thing that people still lower their voices for when they talk about it at a diner in Huntington.
Nov. 14, 1970. That’s the date everything changed.
The team was flying back from a game against East Carolina University. They lost that game 17-14. A tough loss, sure, but nobody cared about the score once the news broke later that night. Southern Airways Flight 732, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, clipped trees on a ridge just west of the runway at Tri-State Airport. It went down in flames.
Every single person on that plane died.
We’re talking 75 lives. It wasn't just the players. It was the coaches, the athletic director, the flight crew, and 25 prominent Huntington boosters who were the backbone of the program's financial support. It remains the deadliest sports-related air disaster in United States history.
The Night Huntington Stood Still
Most people know the Hollywood version. You've probably seen We Are Marshall. It’s a decent movie, but it glosses over how raw and truly broken the town was. Imagine a small city losing its entire football team in one 30-second window. It wasn't just a "sports tragedy." It was a community-wide amputation.
The impact was immediate and suffocating.
There were 37 children who lost one parent that night. Six children lost both.
Jack Hardin, a reporter for the Huntington Advertiser, was one of the first on the scene. He described a hillside of fire. There was no "rescue" operation. It was just a recovery. Because the fire was so intense, identification became a nightmare. Six players were never identified and were eventually buried in a row at Spring Hill Cemetery, overlooking the university.
👉 See also: Last Match Man City: Why Newcastle Couldn't Stop the Semenyo Surge
Basically, the school had a choice.
They could shut the program down. Many people thought they should. It felt disrespectful to keep playing, or maybe it just felt impossible. How do you replace an entire roster? How do you find a coach willing to step into a graveyard?
Why Marshall University Football 1970 Almost Didn't Come Back
The university didn't just snap its fingers and start winning. Not even close. In the immediate aftermath, there was a massive debate about whether to even field a team for the 1971 season.
Donald Dedmon, who was the acting president at the time, was under immense pressure. The athletic department was a ghost town. Red Dawson, an assistant coach who happened to be on a recruiting trip and wasn't on the flight, was one of the few links left to the old program. He was understandably traumatized.
The "Young Thundering Herd" only exists because of a technicality and a lot of begging.
At the time, the NCAA didn't allow freshmen to play on varsity teams. They were restricted to "freshman ball." Marshall's new head coach, Jack Lengyel, knew he couldn't field a team with just the few returning players who weren't on the flight—mostly guys who were injured or stayed behind for various reasons. He and Dedmon had to lobby the NCAA for a special waiver to allow freshmen to play.
They got it.
That decision didn't just save Marshall; it changed the landscape of college football. By 1972, the NCAA changed the rule for everyone, allowing freshmen to play varsity across the board.
✨ Don't miss: Cowboys Score: Why Dallas Just Can't Finish the Job When it Matters
The Reality of the 1971 "Young Thundering Herd"
If you look at the stats, the 1971 season was a disaster. They went 2-8. But those two wins? They're probably the most important wins in the history of the school.
The first home game was against Xavier. It was the first time the community gathered back at Fairfield Stadium. People were terrified of the emotion of it. When Marshall won that game 15-13 on a last-second touchdown pass from Reggie Oliver to Terry Gardner, the stadium didn't just cheer. People were sobbing in the stands. It was a release of a year's worth of pent-up grief.
But let's be real about the 1970-1971 era. It wasn't all sunshine and movie scripts.
The program struggled for a decade. A long, painful decade.
Between 1970 and 1983, Marshall didn't have a single winning season. They were the doormat of the Southern Conference. People forget that part. The "miracle" wasn't that they became good overnight; it was simply that they continued to exist.
The Names We Should Actually Remember
When we talk about Marshall University football 1970, it’s easy to focus on the numbers. 75 dead. But it’s the names that matter.
- Rick Tolley: The head coach. He was only 30 years old. He was known as a tough, disciplined guy who was just starting to turn the program around.
- Charlie Kautz: The Athletic Director who helped organize the flight.
- Marcelo Lajterman: The team's kicker. A guy whose family had to deal with the unimaginable task of identifying him through dental records.
- The "Morehouse 7": A group of African American players from various backgrounds who were building a brotherhood in a time when that wasn't always easy in the South.
There’s a misconception that the plane crashed because of bad weather alone. While the ceiling was low and there was mist and rain, the subsequent NTSB investigation pointed toward a "descent below Minimum Obstacle Clearance Altitude." Basically, the pilots didn't realize how low they were until they hit the trees. It was a CFIT—Controlled Flight Into Terrain.
The Legacy Beyond the Movie
The fountain on campus—the Memorial Fountain—is the heart of the school now.
🔗 Read more: Jake Paul Mike Tyson Tattoo: What Most People Get Wrong
Every year on Nov. 14, they turn the water off. It stays off all winter. It’s a silent, stark reminder. If you ever visit Huntington, go there. It’s a massive bronze sculpture with 75 "leaves" representing the lives lost.
One thing most people get wrong is thinking the tragedy "caused" Marshall's later success in the 90s with guys like Randy Moss and Chad Pennington. It didn't. That success came from decades of grinding by coaches like George Chaump and Jim Donnan who refused to let the program die. They built on the foundation laid by the 1971 "Young Thundering Herd" who got beaten 66-6 by West Virginia but kept showing up to practice anyway.
The 1970 team was 3-6 at the time of the crash. They weren't a powerhouse. They were just a group of guys trying to make something of themselves in a blue-collar town. That’s what makes it hurt so much. They were us.
What You Can Do to Honor the History
If you’re a sports fan or a history buff, don't just watch the movie and call it a day. The real story is much deeper.
- Visit the Spring Hill Cemetery: If you're ever in West Virginia, go to the Marshall Memorial. It’s a somber place, but it gives you a sense of the scale that a screen can't capture.
- Read "The Marshall Story" by James E. Casto: This is widely considered the definitive account of the crash and the recovery. It’s factual, unsentimental, and devastating.
- Support the Memorial Fountain Endowment: The school maintains a fund specifically for the upkeep of the memorial and scholarships in honor of those lost.
- Watch the Documentary "Marshall University: Ashes to Glory": It features interviews with the actual survivors—the players who weren't on the plane—and provides a much more accurate historical context than the Hollywood dramatization.
The 1970 Thundering Herd didn't get to finish their season. They didn't get to grow old. But the fact that Marshall still plays on Saturdays is the only trophy that actually matters.
The program exists because a few people decided that the worst thing they could do was stop. They played through the grief, they played through the losses, and eventually, they won. Not just games, but the right to keep their story alive. It’s a reminder that sometimes, just showing up to the field is an act of defiance.
Key Facts at a Glance
- Date of Crash: November 14, 1970.
- Casualties: 75 (37 players, 8 coaches/staff, 25 boosters, 5 crew).
- Opponent before crash: East Carolina University.
- Location: Ceredo, West Virginia (near Tri-State Airport).
- First Win after crash: September 18, 1971, against Xavier (15-13).
The impact of the 1970 crash remains a benchmark for how sports communities handle collective trauma. It proved that while a team can be destroyed, a program's identity is tied to the people who refuse to let it go. Marshall's journey from the ridge in Ceredo to the top of the MAC and Conference USA is a long, winding road that started with the heaviest loss imaginable.
Next Steps: You might want to look into the specific biographies of the "Young Thundering Herd" players who took the field in 1971, many of whom had never played a down of varsity football before being called up to save the program. Their stories of playing through the 1971 season provide a granular look at the resilience required to rebuild from scratch.