Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State Athletics Remembers “Mr. Enthusiasm”, Mike Lude
3/18/2024 11:06:00 AM | Football
Lude served as the Rams head football coach from 1962-69.
On Thursday, March 14, Milo R. "Mike" Lude, the 12th head football coach in program history, passed away at the age of 101. While Lude was known and respected throughout the NCAA as the University of Washington's longest serving athletic director, his eight football seasons at Colorado State were during a massive overhaul of the program, which he was a main staple in transforming.
Born in 1922, and a veteran of the US Marines during WWII, Lude completed his college baseball and football career at Hillsdale College before taking on assistant coaching duties at the University of Maine and developing the Winged-T formation at Delaware.
In 1962, Lude inherited a Colorado State football program in shambles amid the worst losing streak in the nation at that time. The dilapidated Colorado Field and a lack of scholarships were only a few of the challenges Lude faced that season. Lude stated in a 2010 interview he had to, "Put in a special request for pens when he needed them and justify why he needed both red and blue," as just one example of the budgetary challenges. His papers from his coaching days at CSU, donated by Lude and now preserved in the athletic archives, laid out year-after-year his budget and what the school needed in order to compete to be accepted into an athletic conference.
When Lude arrived, CSU had lost its affiliation with any football conference and was forced to compete as an independent. With the University of Denver dropping football after the 1960 season, and CSU in dire need of athletic facilities, Lude not only had to rebuild the team, but he was also faced with helping build a football stadium to prevent administrators from dropping football at CSU.
The 1962 Rams didn't win a game, but Lude, nicknamed "Mr. Enthusiasm" because of his positive attitude, brought forth a new and positive outlook to the football program. When he arrived in Fort Collins, he contacted every media outlet in Denver, developed a weekly coaches television show produced to enlighten more people about CSU football and a regular radio show to talk about football. Members of the media saw how positive he was and coined his nickname that he always enjoyed.
Players spoke very highly of their coach. Jaime Roles and Oscar Reed said at alumni tailgates in the early 2010s how amazing Lude's positivity was on them and his lack of swearing was something they were even shocked about in the 1960s. Lude was a devout Christian man who believed in keeping it clean, even using the term "cheese and bonnets" rather than cursing according to one former player.
Although Lude only saw one winning season at CSU during the decade of the 1960s, it was one of the most enjoyable seasons in school history. In 1966, CSU was in the midst of rebuilding athletics, the new gymnasium and practice fields on the west campus opened earlier that year were a boon for recruiting. That fall, approval was given for a new football stadium to be built on the foothills campus, something Lude, along with athletic director and basketball coach Jim Williams had been working on for years.
The 1966 football season not only saw the Rams win again, but also brought about one of the most famous Border War games in the more than 125-year history of the rivalry. Wyoming came to old Colorado Field undefeated and sitting at #10 in the nation while the Rams continued to win when they were not supposed to win. Using a play known as the "Bounce Pass", CSU shocked the Cowboys not only on the trick play, but also with a tenacious defense that shut Wyoming down for their only loss of the season. In Lude's papers were several telegrams and letters from Wyoming fans calling his trick play illegal. The legal lateral thrown by Bob Wolfe that bounced on the ground before Larry Jackson picked it up and threw a legal forward pass to Tom Pack for a touchdown may not have been the game winner, but it made the score possible for Al Lavan's game-winning field goal.
The Rams ended the 1966 season at 7-3, the most wins in a season since Bob Davis' 1955 championship team. There had even been talk of CSU being invited to the Bluebonnet Bowl, but a loss in the last game of the season put an end to that discussion.
In 1968, Mike Lude became the first CSU head football coach to field his team at a new football stadium built by the school since Harry Hughes in 1912. It also marked the first year Rams football had competed in a conference since 1961, being accepted to the Western Athletic Conference earlier that year. Lude was proud of his accomplishment to be up close and personal with the construction of Hughes Stadium, and he was also very close to his players and assistant coaches.
After the 1969 season, Lude was let go by athletic director Perry Moore and went on to be the athletic director at Kent State and then settled at Washington where he built nationally-known athletic programs.
Although he was fired by CSU, Lude always returned to the school at reunion dinners and alumni tailgates year-after-year. He loved to reminisce and enjoyed hearing what his former players and assistant coaches had to say. He kept up with his players, emailing them often right up to his final years.
In 2016, Lude was invited as the special guest honoring the 1960s era at Hughes Stadium when the lights were turned off after the final game. After the Rams beat the Lobos, he ceremoniously flipped a switch and was the first person to turn off a bank of lights, as the flag for the 1960s was lowered in the east stands.
Mike Lude was an amazingly energetic, and caring man who returned to CSU and made new friends young and old. He touched the hearts of many people, from Fort Collins to Seattle to Delaware. His enthusiasm will be missed among those who knew him well. Colorado State has lost a great person, but all who knew him, met him, or were inspired by him are proud he was a Ram.
Born in 1922, and a veteran of the US Marines during WWII, Lude completed his college baseball and football career at Hillsdale College before taking on assistant coaching duties at the University of Maine and developing the Winged-T formation at Delaware.
In 1962, Lude inherited a Colorado State football program in shambles amid the worst losing streak in the nation at that time. The dilapidated Colorado Field and a lack of scholarships were only a few of the challenges Lude faced that season. Lude stated in a 2010 interview he had to, "Put in a special request for pens when he needed them and justify why he needed both red and blue," as just one example of the budgetary challenges. His papers from his coaching days at CSU, donated by Lude and now preserved in the athletic archives, laid out year-after-year his budget and what the school needed in order to compete to be accepted into an athletic conference.
When Lude arrived, CSU had lost its affiliation with any football conference and was forced to compete as an independent. With the University of Denver dropping football after the 1960 season, and CSU in dire need of athletic facilities, Lude not only had to rebuild the team, but he was also faced with helping build a football stadium to prevent administrators from dropping football at CSU.
The 1962 Rams didn't win a game, but Lude, nicknamed "Mr. Enthusiasm" because of his positive attitude, brought forth a new and positive outlook to the football program. When he arrived in Fort Collins, he contacted every media outlet in Denver, developed a weekly coaches television show produced to enlighten more people about CSU football and a regular radio show to talk about football. Members of the media saw how positive he was and coined his nickname that he always enjoyed.
Players spoke very highly of their coach. Jaime Roles and Oscar Reed said at alumni tailgates in the early 2010s how amazing Lude's positivity was on them and his lack of swearing was something they were even shocked about in the 1960s. Lude was a devout Christian man who believed in keeping it clean, even using the term "cheese and bonnets" rather than cursing according to one former player.
Although Lude only saw one winning season at CSU during the decade of the 1960s, it was one of the most enjoyable seasons in school history. In 1966, CSU was in the midst of rebuilding athletics, the new gymnasium and practice fields on the west campus opened earlier that year were a boon for recruiting. That fall, approval was given for a new football stadium to be built on the foothills campus, something Lude, along with athletic director and basketball coach Jim Williams had been working on for years.
The 1966 football season not only saw the Rams win again, but also brought about one of the most famous Border War games in the more than 125-year history of the rivalry. Wyoming came to old Colorado Field undefeated and sitting at #10 in the nation while the Rams continued to win when they were not supposed to win. Using a play known as the "Bounce Pass", CSU shocked the Cowboys not only on the trick play, but also with a tenacious defense that shut Wyoming down for their only loss of the season. In Lude's papers were several telegrams and letters from Wyoming fans calling his trick play illegal. The legal lateral thrown by Bob Wolfe that bounced on the ground before Larry Jackson picked it up and threw a legal forward pass to Tom Pack for a touchdown may not have been the game winner, but it made the score possible for Al Lavan's game-winning field goal.
The Rams ended the 1966 season at 7-3, the most wins in a season since Bob Davis' 1955 championship team. There had even been talk of CSU being invited to the Bluebonnet Bowl, but a loss in the last game of the season put an end to that discussion.
In 1968, Mike Lude became the first CSU head football coach to field his team at a new football stadium built by the school since Harry Hughes in 1912. It also marked the first year Rams football had competed in a conference since 1961, being accepted to the Western Athletic Conference earlier that year. Lude was proud of his accomplishment to be up close and personal with the construction of Hughes Stadium, and he was also very close to his players and assistant coaches.
After the 1969 season, Lude was let go by athletic director Perry Moore and went on to be the athletic director at Kent State and then settled at Washington where he built nationally-known athletic programs.
Although he was fired by CSU, Lude always returned to the school at reunion dinners and alumni tailgates year-after-year. He loved to reminisce and enjoyed hearing what his former players and assistant coaches had to say. He kept up with his players, emailing them often right up to his final years.
In 2016, Lude was invited as the special guest honoring the 1960s era at Hughes Stadium when the lights were turned off after the final game. After the Rams beat the Lobos, he ceremoniously flipped a switch and was the first person to turn off a bank of lights, as the flag for the 1960s was lowered in the east stands.
Mike Lude was an amazingly energetic, and caring man who returned to CSU and made new friends young and old. He touched the hearts of many people, from Fort Collins to Seattle to Delaware. His enthusiasm will be missed among those who knew him well. Colorado State has lost a great person, but all who knew him, met him, or were inspired by him are proud he was a Ram.
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