POCATELLO, Idaho - As part of Idaho State University's Homecoming 2010 celebration, a group of special Bengal Football alumni came back to Pocatello to be honored for their time spent in Idaho State jerseys.
In 1963 the Idaho State football team made the move from the Rocky Mountain Conference, where they had won five conference titles, to the Big Sky Conference, the conference the Bengals play in today. In that same year, the team made history by winning the school's first Big Sky Conference Championship.
The team had a record of 5-3; the championship was clinched with a late-winner against Weber State University, still a rival for Idaho State today. They trailed 26-8 before scoring 28 points; twenty of those points were scored in the fourth quarter. Their final game against Wichita was cancelled due to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
That 1963 team returned to Idaho State to be honored at the Homecoming football game against Northern Arizona University. The team has inspired countless student-athletes to come and contribute to the Idaho State football team including Don Neves. Neves was a freshman at Boise Junior College, now Boise State University, in 1963 before he saw the team play during the Spring.
"I knew it was a top of the line program and it was where I wanted to go to school," said Neves.
Neves, who had the opportunity to play with many players from the championship team in 1964, says the group was very competitive and team-oriented. He said they worked to incorporate new members of the team. The team brought in 16 recruits from junior college at the beginning of the 1963 season. He credits some of their success to way the team came together, something he says doesn't always happen.
The Big Sky Conference had only four teams in it during the 1963 season, University of Montana, Montana State University, and Weber State University.
"They really only had to beat three teams," said Neves, "but they were a lot better than that."
He claims they were successful because of their speed, brawn, a lot of persistence and some pretty good coaching from head coach, Babe Caccia. Caccia coached the Bengals from 1952 until 1965 and had a record-breaking 79 wins during his tenure. Neves described him as hard-nosed but kind. He had the same values as the kids he recruited; he was very team-oriented and had a great work-ethic.
"He touched all our lives," said an emotional Neves.
Neves, a retired high school administrator, claims that, at one point, nearly 75 percent of high school football coaches in Idaho were coached by Caccia. Coming from Hawaii, Neves also said Caccia was the reason he stayed in Idaho.
"He was a phenomenal person," said Neves.
Neves has also found time to speak to this 2010 Idaho State team.
"I bought a locker in the locker room and the saying on the locker is, `If you work hard, you will not only be hard; you will be hard to beat," said Neves.
He told the team he had built his whole life around that saying, and they needed to keep trying because it is going to work out for them, too.
