Inductees

The Missouri State University football program has a history that dates back to 1909.

Over that time, the Bears have had some good teams, conference champions and as of December, a trip to the XBox Bowl, the school’s first-ever NCAA Division I bowl game.

Looking back for more than 100 years, the team with the most success in a two-year span was the 1989 and 1990 teams. Guided by 2017 Missouri Sports Hall of Fame inductee Jesse Branch, the Bears qualified both years for the playoffs of Division I-AA, now known as the Football Championship Subdivision.

The 19 wins in that two-year window are more than any other back-to-back year in school history, and that is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted those two playoff teams with the Class of 2026.

Coming off back-to-back five-win seasons, the Bears posted a 10-3 mark in 1989.

“We had a bunch of guys from different parts of the country,” said DeAndre Smith, the quarterback on the team and one of four players to have their jersey honored at Missouri State. “We had high school guys, we had juco guys, just from all over different places and coming together and really understanding we had a common goal. We wanted to help turn the program around and win a championship.”

It was the first time since 1940 that the Bears had won 10 games in a season, and it was the most wins in a season since 1963. The then-Southwest Missouri State University Bears beat No. 8 Northwestern (La.) State, No. 14 Indiana State and No. 20 Alcorn State.

There were 11 players named to the Gateway Football Conference – now the Missouri Valley Conference – postseason team.

The Bears won their first conference title since 1978 that year and made the playoffs. The first-ever playoff win followed, a 38-35 win against No. 8 Maine. The next week, the Bears lost 55-25 to No. 3-ranked Stephen F. Austin.

In between games, there was a bit of lore for those on that team. Smith was injured on Saturday and had surgery on a torn meniscus the next day. Monday morning, he showed up at 7 a.m. for workouts, bewildering the training staff. He got a practice in and played that Saturday.

“He was a competitor, and I’ll tell you, every dude that blocked for him, we would have jumped in front of a car for that dude,” said offensive tackle Chris Kapilovic, now an assistant coach at Alabama. “We loved him and we knew how tough he was.”

The next year, the Bears went 9-3.

The year started with a 34-21 win over a Division I FBS team in UNLV, which featured future NFL standout Keenan McCardell. The Bears won eight of the next nine, but the No. 2-ranked team lost to Northern Iowa, 20-17, in Cedar Falls. That meant the two teams shared the league title.

“To this day, man, that Northern Iowa game still bothers me,” said Kapilovic. “If we had won that thing, we’d been No. 1 in the country after the game. It still haunts me to this day.”

For the second year in a row, Smith was the Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Branch was the Coach of the Year. A total of 15 Bears earned all-conference accolades, while Smith and offensive guard Chris Reed were Associated Press All-Americans.

The postseason trip ended with a loss to No. 13 Idaho, 41-35. The two losses to FCS teams were by a combined nine points.

The camaraderie built over the years remains between that group. Kapilovic, referred to as Kap by teammates, said there is a group chat of former Bears that features nearly 70 players. Some of the players on that team went into coaching across the country. Smith and Kapilovic were on the same North Carolina staff in 2017. Smith is now the running back for the Indianapolis Colts, and Kapilovic is the offensive line coach for the Crimson Tide.

The friendship built nearly 40 years ago is still strong.

“That’s something that I talk to guys, when I’m bringing guys in here [to Alabama],” said Kapilovic, who played at Scottsdale (Arizona) Community College before going to Springfield for two years. “Some of the relationships that you’re going to make in college, those are going to be your friends for life. They’re going to be guys in your wedding. They’re going to be a part of your life forever. And that’s definitely holds true with our group.”