Eulogy for FSU's forgotten coach, Darrell Mudra, from Garnet & Great Pod

This contribution is from our friend and Osceola subscriber Rich Halten, a radio veteran and host of the Garnet & Great podcast:

It was late 1973 and FSU football was 0-11. Fans were either unhappy or apathetic. The program was in shambles and Larry Jones resigned as coach. What's more, the deck was stacked against whoever replaced him.

Enter Darrell Mudra, fresh off rebuilding programs at Arizona and Western Illinois. Now if he could just work that same magic in Tallahassee ... Sorry, he wasn't the savior FSU was looking for. But Mudra paved the way for the next guy by leaving things better than he found them. Taking baby steps in everything from a strength program to becoming competitive again. In 1975, his second and final year, FSU lost five games by a total of 15 points.

And how about a little respect for coming within 1:27 of beating Alabama on its home field?

Mudra, 93, passed away last week, though the news was lost in headlines about the Seminoles' resurgence. So we thought it right to dust off this rare interview from a decade ago as Mudra talked about nearly upsetting Bama and the challenges he faced in resurrecting FSU's program almost 50 years ago. Back when he had far less to work with than every coach who came after him.

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