Kamray Runnels and UMHB expect to win, and program has done so, going 151-19 in the past 12-plus seasons. Photo by Cory Chuchna, d3photography.com

The Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders are a powerhouse.

Shoot, they haven’t won fewer than eight games in 14 seasons. They have won 11 American Southwest Conference championships in the last 13 years, have been in the national semifinals five times and the national championship game once, and have amassed numerous selections of D3football.com All-Americans, Academic All-Americans and all-conference players.

If you’re a cynic, you could attribute some of those accomplishments to fortunate circumstances, lack of quality opponents, maybe even luck in certain cases. But for the most part, the winning, the success and the position as one of the best Division III football programs in the country are results of an institutional standard that simply doesn’t accept losing.

It’s a little freaky.

As senior wide receiver Kamray Runnels said, “When we lost these past two semifinals games, it’s just surprising because you just, it’s like not in our immune system that we lose. It’s not normal to see an L on our record. So we’re accustomed to winning and that’s what we preach in practice and on game days — that we’re going to win no matter what.”

Coach Pete Fredenburg, a founder and general architect of the football program at Hardin-Baylor, preaches those expectations and has instilled them in his players and in the program.

“There’s an awful lot of expectations, high expectations here that permeates throughout our program and the university. It’s something that we helped establish and now our guys, [we] just kind of expect our guys to come in and play at a high level,” Fredenburg said.

Expectation is a big reason the program started in the first place. Grant Teaff, the head football coach at Baylor University for 20 years, in conjunction with the school (Mary Hardin-Baylor) conceived of a great, Division III football program in central Texas that would act like a top-flight Division I program and play (as close as possible) like one, too.

Having coached under Teaff as a the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Baylor for 13 years, making stops along the way at LSU and Louisiana Tech, Fredenburg was an obvious choice for Mary Hardin-Baylor and its new football program.

It was evident from the outset, what the school was interested in and that Fredenburg shared that view.

“The university really made a concerted effort to have a really outstanding football program. When we got involved with this job, I came down and visited and it excited me.”

The investment by the school in the program, the expectations and Fredenburg’s treatment of the players as if they were at LSU or Baylor are what continue to draw players from the talent-rich areas of Dallas and Houston to UMHB.

“Our facilities and stadium — he treats us like D-I athletes,” Runnels said, referring to Fredenburg. “Even on the road games — hotels or food — we always get to eat the best. So we’re getting a great college football experience, what most people generally wouldn’t think you could get out of D-III football.”

Nice facilities, indeed. d3photography.com file photo by Andrew Zavoina

Yet, even with the nice facilities and the winning tradition, Fredenburg and the program have to get young men, some of them still adolescents, to perform at a high level and accept the expectations as a reality not just a motivational phrase. It takes a lot of skill and understanding to prevent players at any level, but especially young men at the college level from getting complacent. All of the accolades and shiny trophies aren’t as impressive as Fredenburg and the Crusaders’ sustained success.

The keys, he said, have amounted to “ … having a coaching staff that has stayed together a long time — the continuity of our coaches — and then, obviously, having a great university that guys are attracted to to go to school.”

But it’s more than that. It really starts with Fredenburg’s approach to player development. He sincerely cares for his players and, at the same time, wants to squeeze every ounce of talent and goodness out of them, like one would an orange. He also is motivated and re-motivated every year by personal development in the young men he pushes to the limit.

“I just think it’s important that these guys learn to give the most of themselves, give for each other, and to develop those intangible qualities that are so important, to develop the team chemistry. You know, that’s kind of what motivates me — is seeing guys ... finish their college education, get married, have children, you know, grow up and be great daddies and great husbands. That motivates me.”

Runnels echoed that sense of personal development and the focus of creating better people as opposed to just better football players.

“He’s a great coach [because] he’s always honest with you, whether it’s good or bad, and [he gives] constructive criticism. And you need that as young men to grow up in life.”

To stave off complacency, the bane of all athletic and professional success, one must learn to enjoy the process. Writers can’t fast forward to the cover art, businessmen and women can’t sacrifice daily administration for earnings reports, and teams, especially football teams, cannot forgo the small rigors of practice and improvement without risking failure.

“I say all the time that ‘we’re in a process.’ ”

Runnels also reiterated the theme of “a process” and showed how much his coach’s technique and philosophy have worked.

“Every rep counts. That’s what they teach us, every rep from August/fall camp to December football, it’s going to matter when it comes to the postseason.”

Despite the acceptance of the process, Fredenburg and his team have the single goal of winning a national championship. Which is the other part of the success equation — wanting something so badly it motivates all of the work you do.

The single goal of winning a national championship is foremost in Fredenburg’s mind. As an honest Texan would, he answered the question of whether or not he would feel like he failed if he didn’t win a national championship in as forthright a manner as one can.

“Ah, probably, yeah.”

Runnels, hard-pressed to come up with another goal besides winning a national championship, said, “ … it would always be winning the national championship.”

What Fredenburg knows is that once winning gets inside of a player or a coach, there is nothing else that compares. So as long as he keeps developing his players to be successful men and athletes and as long as that method keeps churning out wins, he will have a program that is “immune” to losing.

Sophomore defensive end Teidrick Smith, who has anchored a defense that has given up 7 points twice and 0 points once this season, exemplified the Mary Hardin-Baylor mentality best when he said, “I love winning. I hate losing.”

Scoring in barrages

East Texas Baptist is 3-1 and has been a part of some scoring barrages in its four games, both on offense and defense. Which begs the question — can the Tigers be a contender in the American Southwest Conference?

The Tigers lost the first game of the season to Texas A&M-Commerce (a Division II school, mind you), 98-20. The Lions racked up 986 yards in total offense while the Tigers accumulated a decent number, but nowhere near 986, with 401 yards.

It’s understandable for a Division III team to be beaten and beaten handily by a team from a higher division, but the Tigers have also given up 34 points to Southwestern, a lesser opponent by far.

With their ability to score points — 43, 58, and 68 in their three wins — and a tendency to give up points, the games against Texas Lutheran, in two weeks, and Mary Hardin-Baylor, next month, should be doozies.

Looking ahead

The game that is of interest to me is that of Southwestern vs. Austin College. A game featuring in-conference opponents who currently stand at 1-2 (Southwestern) and 2-2 (Austin) may not seem all that intriguing, but there are some possibilities for some SCAC shakeup.

Given that the Kangaroos have two very beatable opponents in the next two weeks — Southwestern and Southwestern Assemblies — and current SCAC-leading Texas Lutheran has two formidable opponents in Howard Payne and East Texas Baptist, there is a possibility, if the Roos play their three phases right, that Austin could rise in the standings and start to make the Bulldogs a little nervous.

Regardless of the outcomes over the next two weeks or the next month, we should see a good game on Nov. 8 when Austin hosts Texas Lutheran, and the upcoming-and-coming tries to take down the big dog.