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‘Great cloud of witnesses’ helped propel Harding football to national title
Coach Paul Simmons worried that he had created “too much…
Harding’s national title game vs. Ferris State renews an epic friendship
The NCAA Division II football championship airs Saturday on ESPN2.
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A long time ago, Bill Pink traveled from the dusty flatlands of West Texas all the way to the corn-filled flatlands of central Nebraska. He departed his hometown of Abilene, Texas, to play basketball for what is now York University. He stood 6-foot-5 and weighed 170 pounds.
Maybe.
Bill Pink serves as president of Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich.
“That’s being generous,” Pink said, laughing as he remembered his 1985 weight.
On the York campus, Pink became friends with Jeff Morgan, sophomore point guard. Morgan grew up in Arkansas warmth and warned Pink to prepare for Nebraska’s fierce winters, when wind-chill temperatures plunge below zero.
For days on end.
“Wear plenty of layers,” Morgan told his freshman friend. “Plenty of layers. That’s the key.”
An epic friendship began, a friendship that included many victories for York’s Panthers, a friendship that will be renewed Saturday when unbeaten Ferris State meets unbeaten Harding University in the NCAA Division II football championship in McKinney, Texas. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. Central time, and the game will be televised on ESPN2.
Here’s where the fun begins:
Pink serves as president of Ferris State in Big Rapids, Mich., and Morgan serves as athletic director at Harding in Searcy, Ark.
“It will be awesome,” Morgan said. “He’s going to be rooting hard for Ferris State, and of course I’ll be rooting for Harding. What an incredible atmosphere it’s going to be.”
Don’t worry. A friendship born in 1985 in Nebraska will not be tested.
“We have such tremendous respect for each other,” Morgan said. “I know it will be a fun day, and Bill and I will have some good laughs.”
“It will be awesome. He’s going to be rooting hard for Ferris State, and of course I’ll be rooting for Harding. What an incredible atmosphere it’s going to be.”
‘Passing is a sin’
This game offers a fascinating clash of Division II titans.
Harding’s Bison won the national title after a perfect 15-0 run in 2023 with a run-obsessed offense straight out of 1917. The Bison passed 56 times the entire season. During Harding’s breezy 2023 title win over Colorado School of Mines, an ESPN camera found a student waving a handmade poster that read, “Passing is a sin.”
Morgan laughed.
“I love that,” he said of the poster.
Jeff Morgan coaches basketball and serves as athletic director at Harding.
Harding is coached by alum Paul Simmons, one of the best defensive players in Bison history. He installed a disciplined yet jazzy flexbone offense, and opponents can be almost certain the Bison will run on the next play. Remember, passing is a sin. The Bison run over them anyway.
Simmons, the run master, adores his alma mater.
“It would be impossible to describe the impact Harding had on me as a player and the influence coaches had on my life,” Simmons said. “So much of who I am today is because of that influence, and to be able to come back and lead at the place that shaped who I am, and to make all the old Bison (players) proud, is so special.”
Simmons has won 70 of his last 78 games. He’ll be the target of coaching searches when the season ends. Big money could soon beckon.
Will Simmons stay at Harding?
Harding is coached by alum Paul Simmons, one of the best defensive players in Bison history.
“I’ve never made decisions based on money,” he said. “It’s not who I am, not the way I was raised.”
Morgan is optimistic.
“I’ve known Paul for a long, long time,” Morgan said. “He’s so deeply connected here at Harding. He played here. His family is here. I certainly understand that there are opportunities, but I hope Paul will continue here.”
Unbeaten Ferris State meets unbeaten Harding University in the NCAA Division II football championship in McKinney, Texas.
When the titans clash
Yes, Harding has run over everybody … except, um, Ferris State’s Bulldogs.
Harding’s bid to repeat as national champions was squashed in last season’s playoffs when Ferris State stifled the Bison’s rushing attack in a 41-7 win.
Pink is careful not to predict a repeat.
Podcast: How Bill Pink, a Christian, leads a big, secular state university
“We were the last ones to beat them,” he said, “and it was a pretty convincing score last year up in the cold of Michigan. But I’m expecting a few different wrinkles from Harding this time for us.”
Ferris State has won 77 of its last 83 games and three national titles since 2021. The Bulldogs have been ranked No. 1 all season, and a writer on the official NCAA website predicted a 35-24 Ferris State victory. No doubt, unbeaten Harding is the underdog.
Craig Cheatham served as president of Harding’s class of 1990. A devoted Bison fan, he fully understands the immensity of Harding’s challenge on Saturday.
He’s hopeful anyway, largely because of running back Andrew Miller. He’s emerged as the nation’s premier Division II running back, gaining 1,978 yards this season. Miller is tough, crafty and fast, always a strong combination. And he’s a hometown hero. He grew up in Searcy, not far from Harding’s campus, and played high school football for Harding Academy.
“Andrew Miller turns runs up the middle into 75-yard touchdowns,” Cheatham said. That’s the truth. Against Kutztown Dec. 13, Miller bolted straight up the gut, danced past three defenders and raced 73 yards for a touchdown.
In the stands on Saturday, a college president and a college athletic director will intently watch the biggest Division II game of 2025, but you can be sure Pink and Morgan will return to 1985-86 and the season they labored together at York. At the time, York was a junior college. Pink finished his playing career at Oklahoma Christian, and Morgan finished at West Texas A&M.
Pink worked as the slender and wise basketball center against brawny opponents in the lane. Morgan directed the team as the imaginative point guard and played defense that verged on stalking. They rode in buses across the Midwest on viciously cold nights with ice-covered windows. They led York to one of its best-ever seasons.
Interesting, though, what Pink remembers best from those long-ago days.
Members of the basketball team formed an a cappella gospel group, The Five Tones of Joy. Pink sang bass, and Morgan performed high tenor. They practiced in the stairwell of their dorm, diligently polishing each note. After winter nights of running up and down the court in Nebraska gyms, they spent the spring singing praises to God in Nebraska Churches of Christ. They ended each performance with a soaring take on “Oh, Mary, Don’t You Weep.”
Such good times. Such great memories.
Related: ‘Great cloud of witnesses’ helped propel Harding football to national title
“We sounded pretty good,” Pink said. “It was so fun.”
Maybe, just maybe, these two friends, as close as brothers and on opposing sides for one afternoon only, will sing again in the aftermath of Saturday’s clash of football titans.
Maybe, just maybe, these two friends, as close as brothers and on opposing sides for one afternoon only, will sing again in the aftermath of Saturday’s clash of football titans.
DAVID RAMSEY graduated in 1979 from York University and in 1981 from Abilene Christian University and learned the art of journalism from York’s Tim Brunner and ACU’s Charlie Marler. Ramsey worked as sports columnist in Syracuse, N.Y., and Colorado Springs, Colo. He covered five Olympics and reported from five continents. Reach him at [email protected].
