Swanson Passed Love of Huskers Through Generations

The story lives on through generations, from granddaughters, through their parents, through aunts and uncles, down through in-laws, cousins and great-grandsons.

It originates through a man who will have his Nebraska football jersey retired on Saturday, a proud former Cornhusker named Clarence Swanson who played two years before Memorial Stadium existed.

Swanson, from Wakefield, Nebraska, served as the only captain on the 1921 Nebraska team.

So forgive Tom Ruud and his family of in-laws if details may be somewhat fuzzy.

They matter not, really.

The gist of this story, only publicly confirmed in recent years, is significant in Nebraska football lore.

Swanson, who later served as a University of Nebraska board of regent, played a centric role in hiring one Bob Devaney as football coach in 1962.

For years, rumors existed of a regent who “stood up to the University of Nebraska’s chancellor 50 years ago, made an emphatic point and influenced a pivotal decision,” wrote Randy York for Huskers.com in 2012.

Through a story York wrote on the death of former Nebraska athletic director Tippy Dye, he learned that not only was the rumor true, but also the name of the mystery regent.

Kathryn “Tish” Druliner emailed to confirm that her father, Swanson, was that man who convinced Chancellor Dr. Clifford Hardin that hiring a coach from Wichita State who had previously worked under Dye would be a bad decision.

That coach, Hank Foldberg, took the Texas A&M job, anyway, and three other candidates to replace the fired Bill Jennings had already fallen through. At one point, Utah's Ray Nagel and Utah State's John Ralston were in the discussion, too.

Swanson, though, lobbied hard for the Wyoming coach who also came highly recommended by Michigan State coach Duffy Daugherty.

“I got the story told through people that knew both of them, and obviously Clarence was very excited to get this Irish coach from Wyoming in here that could help turn the program around,” Ruud told me in a phone interview this week.  “Obviously, Bob was the right choice, and we’re all very happy because of it.”

Ruud, a first-team All-America linebacker and first-round NFL draft choice, married the late Jaime (Swanson) Ruud, niece of Kathryn Druliner, and granddaughter of Clarence Swanson. The Ruuds had two sons, Barrett and Bo, names more familiar to this generation of Nebraska fans.

Barrett Ruud, a third-team All-America linebacker and second-round NFL draft choice, was Nebraska's defensive captain in 2004. His brother, Bo Ruud, a first-team All-Big 12 linebacker and three-year Husker starter, was a Nebraska captain three years later.

Their uncle, Bob Martin, was a Nebraska captain in 1975 after earning first-team All-America honors as a defensive end. Bob Martin’s son and Barrett and Bo Ruud’s cousin, Jay Martin, was a 2012 Big Ten All-Academic tight end at Nebraska.

Another Barrett and Bo uncle, John Ruud, lettered two years at linebacker and often shows up on Nebraska's high-definition scoreboards because of his jarring hit of Kelly Phelps on a fourth-quarter kickoff that set the tone for the Huskers' 17-14 upset of No. 1 Oklahoma in 1978.

“When Bob flew into town, Clarence was part of the entourage that showed him around, and for some reason they seemed to hit it off pretty good,” Tom Ruud said. “I think they probably had a couple of cold beverages and talked about the things that were important to each of them.”

Swanson died at age 72 on Dec. 3, 1970, just a month short of being able to see Nebraska win its first of two national championships under Devaney. Still, over the previous eight seasons, Swanson witnessed his hand in a coaching hire bear remarkable results.

“Obviously Nebraska had some real nice success in the 60s and turned things around to where they were winning some conference championships and were very successful for a number of years while he was still here,” said Tom Ruud, who never met or knew Swanson.

“The love of Nebraska football was obviously passed down through the generations. Having his granddaughters have kids that followed in his footsteps and represented the university very well. As a father and grandfather, I think he would have really enjoyed to see the success of Devaney and Tom Osborne and the other coaches.”

Swanson is among eight members of the College Football Hall of Fame who the Nebraska Athletics Department will posthumously honor Saturday night by adding them to a prestigious group of former Cornhuskers with retired jerseys. The others are Guy Chamberlin, Ed Weir, George Sauer, Sam Francis, Forrest Behm, Bobby Reynolds and Wayne Meylan.

The group of eight Hall of Fame players will have their names added to the display on the façade of the North Stadium and will be honored at the season opener against Arkansas State. The uniform numbers of those retired jerseys will continue to be used, but the eight names will join 17 other former Huskers with their jerseys retired.

One of the best players in the early years of Nebraska football, Swanson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1973. Swanson earned All-America and All-Missouri Valley Conference honors for the Cornhuskers in 1921. In his final season, Swanson was a captain and helped Nebraska to a 7-1 record and a MVC title.

Representing the Clarence Swanson family for pregame ceremonies Saturday will be granddaughter Lisa DeBuse and her husband Chip; granddaughter Sheri Martin and husband Bob, a Nebraska football letterwinner in 1973-74-75; Tom Ruud, a Husker football letterwinner in 1972-73-74; and three Swanson great-grandchildren who earned Nebraska athletics varsity letters, Bo Ruud, Anne Martin and Jay Martin.

Barrett Ruud is unable to attend Saturday, but with good reason. He’s beginning his first season as a member of the Central Florida staff, led by former Husker quarterback Scott Frost, in his second season as head coach. Ruud, who played linebacker with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2005-10, serves as quality control administrator.

Let Tom Ruud explain the connections that led Barrett to UCF:

“Scott played at Tampa before Barrett got there, and then he coached at Kansas State, and Raheem Morris was there, who in turn became the head coach at Tampa and a very good, close friend of Barrett’s,” Tom Ruud said.

“They both got together in the offseason and played some golf, and you know there’s a lot of camaraderie with past Nebraska players, especially when you played on the same pro team and lived the same life. You can understand what the other one’s going through, and of course Scott playing and coaching both sides of the ball, he’s got a unique view on everything, and I think Barrett has an awfully good understanding of the game from both sides.”

Of course, this could be the first step toward a coaching career for Barrett, who earned his bachelor’s degree in business management in 2005.

“I think he’s been interested in coaching for a long time,” Tom Ruud said, “and after he got done playing, he really missed that end of things and thought it would be something to enjoy for the next couple of decades.”

 

Meylan youngest of eight honorees

Wayne Meylan Jr. was only 13 years old when his father perished in a plane crash in Michigan in 1987. To this day, Meylan Jr. most identifies with his father, Wayne Meylan Sr., through images of him in a Nebraska uniform.

“It’s almost like you’re frozen in time,” Meylan Jr. told me in a phone interview. “You look at this image of a 20-something year-old kid, and that’s kind of what you remember most, because that’s the most visible image of him that I see on a regular basis.”

Of the eight deceased players to be honored Saturday, Meylan was the most recent to play for the Cornhuskers. He played middle guard for three years, helping the Nebraska to a 25-7 record from 1965-67.

Meylan was a consensus All-American in 1966 and 1967 and was the Big Eight Conference Player of the Year in both seasons, helping Devaney’s team to a conference title in 1966. Meylan made 119 tackles as a senior, a single-season record at the time. He played three seasons in the NFL following the completion of his Nebraska career.

“He was a humble man,” Meylan Jr. said, “but I think in his own, quiet way he’d be very happy, very satisfied that the University is paying tribute to him.”

Helping keep the memory of his father alive, Meylan Jr. said, is fans frequently sharing stories with him.

“I can’t go a week without running into somebody who knew him or knew a story of him,” Meylan Jr. said. “For someone who only spent 41 years on this earth here, he left an impression on a lot of people. That still lives on today through stories, from, ‘The first game I went to as a kid, I saw your dad block a punt and score a touchdown,’ to, ‘Your dad saved me in a bar fight one night.’

“I’ve kind of heard everything.”

Including from Osborne. Meylan and his family were heading on vacation when he ran into the former Nebraska football coach.

“I went up to him and started chit-chatting, and one of the first things he said was, ‘I miss your dad,’ ” Meylan said. “But during that conversation, the one thing that gives me a lot of comfort is 41 years he spent here, he lived a lifetime in those 41 years. He was a big character. He was quite a guy.”

Meylan Jr.'s mother, Audrey, is flying from Austin, Texas, to attend Saturday’s game. His sister, Britt Meylan Barnstone, and his uncle, Ed Meylan, will also attend.

 Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.