How Green Bay West High School Helped Change Husker Football

1970 Huskers Epitomized a Physical Mindset

1971 Team Voted College Football's Best Ever

Game of Century Transcends Time, Loyalties

Randy York N-Sider

Official Blog of the Huskers

Lifelong friend Jerry Seiler is a surgeon in Hastings, Neb., a University of Nebraska donor and a Husker season ticketholder in football, volleyball and men’s basketball. A loyal fan, he relishes history in all Big Red sports but is particularly captivated by football.

This past weekend, Dr. Seiler harkened back to the earliest stages of his fascination with Nebraska football and wanted to talk about how Green Bay (Wis.) West High School remains the standard by which all other prep schools contributing to Nebraska football history should be measured.

The instant Jerry reminded me of Green Bay West High School, I knew the rest of the story and congratulated him for remembering a legitimate milestone for Nebraska football and why it’s so timely and relevant.

The impact that Green Bay West had on Nebraska football was so pivotal, it enabled the Huskers to win back-to-back national football championships in 1970 and 1971, thanks in no small part to the following three student-athletes:

Jerry Tagge, Nebraska’s quarterback who led the Huskers to 1970 and '71 national championships. The Green Bay West graduate was the offensive captain on the Huskers' fabled Game of the Century team.

Jim Anderson, Nebraska’s right cornerback, started every game in ‘69, ’70 and ’71 and was voted defensive captain. The Green Bay West graduate was a formidable force on a roster that was voted college football’s best ever.

Dave Mason, the Huskers’ starting monster on the legendary ’71 Blackshirts, showed how remarkable he could adapt, arriving in Lincoln as Tagge’s favorite high school receiver and equally obvious recruiting target.

Tagge is a partner for Tagge Rutherford, an individual and corporate investment management company in Omaha.

A former secondary coach at the University of New Mexico, Anderson retired in Albuquerque after serving decades in the Finance Department at UNM.

Mason is still a dentist in Green Bay, where all three Husker players grew up with prep teammate Dennis Gutzman, a 1968 Husker letterman who continues to work as an  orthopedic surgeon in San Antonio.

In the last few days, I was able to reach Tagge in Omaha, Anderson in Albuquerque and Mason in Green Bay to discuss their unique arrival from Wisconsin to Nebraska.

We discussed how they and their teammates helped lay the foundation of Nebraska’s rich football history and how their contributions became fundamental factors that continue to draw young men to Nebraska from coast to coast.

Whether you openly embrace the onslaught of recruiting news or don’t follow such information at all, we welcome Husker fans to take a stroll down memory lane. Once you do, you’ll understand why the University of Nebraska and Green Bay West High School became a perfect match that’s as pertinent and permanent today as it ever was.

If you want to know how Green Bay West High School helped change Nebraska football 4 1/2  decades ago, check out the thoughts from all three Husker starters who reminisced about their positively charged experiences below.

Jerry Tagge (pictured above scoring the historic touchdown against LSU in the 1971 Orange Bowl): “All four of us grew up together playing basketball, baseball, football and track and field together. I even played hockey in high school. George Kelly (a Nebraska assistant coach under Bob Devaney) recruited Jim (Anderson) and Dennis (Gutzman) when Dave and I were juniors. We followed them and when Devaney came the next year to recruit us, it was a no-brainer because we knew how great Nebraska was.

“It was an easy decision really. Everything we did was together. All four of us even worked for the same guy who had a driving range and putt-putt in Green Bay. Jim and Dennis were Dave and my idols because they turned down a couple of Big Ten scholarships to go to Nebraska. We tried to emulate them and be like them and mimicked everything they did, so Nebraska would show the same kind of interest in us.

“We had great teams in everything in Green Bay. Nebraska and Green Bay have the same kind of lifestyle and the same kind of passion for their football team. It was a magical time for all of us in high school and all of a sudden, we’re playing together in college. It was a great deal for everyone except me.

“In high school, it all revolved around me because I was the quarterback. The others started on the freshman team and broke all kinds of records, but I was watching, not playing. Van Brownson was the quarterback and there were three others. I didn’t get on the field, so I quit and went home. My high school basketball coach told me to get a hold of my life, get back to Lincoln and compete, so I did.

“In spring ball, I was alternating with the No. 4 and No. 5 quarterbacks. Then, a bunch of guys ahead of me got hurt and, all of a sudden, I was in the huddle and got a chance. Tom Osborne helped me and I guess I made enough of an impression to get a chance. I could throw the ball pretty well, I could read defenses and I could run. I wasn’t fast, but I was big and could run into a linebacker and make another two or three yards. I was a tough guy and stayed injury free.

"Once you get confidence, you start growing. At Nebraska, I finally became ‘the guy’ like I was in high school. No matter how far back you are, you can’t get depressed and you have to handle disappointment. Sometimes, part of the process is learning from your lack of success. I guess that’s kind of the mystery of sport – how you react to adversity and how you handle setbacks because everyone has them.

“Back in the late ‘60s, it was a wonderful time to grow up in Green Bay. Vince Lombardi was the head coach and I came to Nebraska when Bob Devaney was head coach. Typically, on a high school team, you might get one player who can go on to the next level. We had four because all four of us pushed each other in every sport we played.

"Fortunately, we played different positions. For us, it was all about diversity and unity. We were so diverse in our talents, but you have to find a way to bring all of them together. That’s what happened for all of us because we were all-around athletes who were willing to do anything to get on the field. Looking back, it doesn’t seem like all of that could have happened at the same time, but it did and it was a great experience.”

Jim Anderson (No. 18 above helping Johnny Rodgers break loose for a punt return touchdown in the Game of the Century): “When we graduated, we had the biggest class in Green Bay West history – like 640 seniors. I was the first to commit to Nebraska, then Dennis, and Jerry and Dave followed us the next year. We played everything  from Little League on up. We had quite a history together growing up in Green Bay.

"Going to Nebraska was natural because we came from a similar culture and expected to be successful. Our high school athletic experience was unique. The timing was perfect because we didn't have our high school stadium, so we were forced to play our home games at Lambeau Field. That gave us a leg up and a special kind of confidence.

“Even though Jerry and I were the captains on that 1971 team that won the Game of the Century, we weren’t magical leaders. We were both just quiet guys who grew up expecting to win. Winning helps everything and once you start winning, you don’t want to experience anything else.

“We practiced hard every day and played hard every game. We led by example because we wanted everyone to expect to win just like we expected to win. That two West High guys captained the Team of the Century was more than we could have ever imagined.

“Dave was a great player in his own right and it was special to play together in the defensive backfield.at Nebraska. Dave and I are still close today. My daughter moved to Green Bay, so we get back to Wisconsin four times a year and always try to see Dave and his wife when we're there. Decades later, we’re thankful about ending up in Lincoln and getting the chance to play college football, plus learn how to prepare yourself for the rest of your life. To summarize, I take great pride in the extraordinary niche that our Green Bay West guys played in Nebraska football history."

Dave Mason (No. 25 above in a Big Eight Conference game against Missouri): “I came back to Green Bay to roost nearly 30 years ago. It’s crazy when you think that three guys from the same high school in Green Bay would end up starting on a national championship team. That’s amazing.

“I mean, that team had a combination of people from all over the nation coming together in Lincoln. It had a guy like Jeff Kinney from McCook, Nebraska, and Rich Glover, one of the greatest defensive linemen in the history of college football who came here from New Jersey.

“Nebraska is right in the middle of the United States and it’s a melting pot of people. We had guys from Green Bay, Pennsylvania, Chicago and everywhere else. Michigan State and Northwestern both tried to recruit Jim and Dennis and once they left to go to Nebraska, we wanted to follow them.

“I was lucky. I was probably excess baggage, but once they asked who was catching all the passes Jerry was throwing, they became interested in me. Once Jerry and I visited Lincoln, we saw Jim and Dennis already there

“We looked at each other and said ‘Game Over…Done Deal’. We’re not going anywhere else. We’re going to Nebraska to win some conference and national championships.

“There was no pressure. It was just a natural decision that unfolded. We already had guys in the pipeline. It was a very unique situation. Looking back, I ended up winning the Boucher Award for having the highest GPA on the football team and Jim won the same honor the year before.

“I think that’s significant because even back then, Nebraska was preaching that you had to work hard in the classroom so you would have something to fall back on when football ended. It all starts when you get there, and I think all of us appreciate growing up together and ending up in Lincoln.

"The dreams we had growing up were incredible. Jerry wanted to be like Bart Starr and play at Lambeau Field. The Packers were a dynasty, and Jerry sold concessions so he could be close to the action. The Packers, like Nebraska, were always sold out. It was a tough ticket to get in either place.

"We're thankful to experience something that kids growing up together rarely get to do. Jerry and I were teammates and classmates at West High School in 1968. Six years later, we're two guys who somehow wind up being teammates again at Green Bay, our hometown. Pretty darn cool. To this day, we think there really is no place like Nebraska.”

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I've walked at the gym a few times recently with Mike McGuire, a former Bellevue High star who was at NU a couple of years before transferring to UNO. He was Bill Kosch's roommate in Lincoln and mentioned the rarity of high school teammates on the same national championship team, Kosch and Joe Blahak from Columbus Scotus. Mike and I had forgotten about the Green Bay West connection. Thanks to Jerry Seiler, this is a great memory jogger. Steve Sinclair, Omaha, Nebraska