A Linfield
connection in Tempe
Text
below edited by Wildcatville to include only Linfield version of Bill Oram’s
sports column in the Nov. 18, 2022, Oregonian. Photos from Linfield and ASU
websites.
I made a phone call to McMinnville on
Thursday. Ad Rutschman picked up the on the fourth ring. “We get a lot of scam
calls,” he said. “I usually don’t pick up if I don’t know the number.”
Rutschman is 91. The coach retired from Linfield in 1991 with a 183-48-3 record
and three small school national championships. He’s been enshrined in three
halls of fame, including the College Football Hall of Fame in 1998.
But even 31 years after retiring, his legacy resonates in
college football. It will be present on Saturday in Tempe when Oregon State
faces Arizona State.
The Sun Devils interim head coach, Shaun Aguano, was a
Linfield running back from 1988-91 before going on to a long career coaching
high school football in Arizona.
“Just a very solid player,” Rutschman recalled.
Joe Smith, the current Linfield coach and a former
teammate of Aguano’s, described him as a bruising running back who loved to
box.
“Shaun just wanted to run right over the top of you,”
Smith said, “and had a tremendous warrior spirit about him. I think that’s a
big part of the reason he’s been such a successful coach everywhere he’s been.”
The Beavers are favored by 7.5 points against Arizona
State. The season has been a struggle for the Sun Devils, who fired Herm
Edwards in September and dumped the mess in the hands of Aguano, a longtime
high school football coach in the state who joined Edwards’ staff in 2019.
While the Sun Devils are just 3-7 on the season, they
earned a signature win over Washington, then ranked 15th in the country, on
Oct. 8.
Rutschman said Aguano is the 20th former Linfield player
or coach to become a head college football coach, an ever-expanding coaching
tree that includes former Oregon State coach Mike Riley.
Linfield players have gone on to coach teams to high
school championships in “six or seven states,” Rutschman said, including the
three Aguano won at Chandler High School in Arizona.
In October, the Arizona Football
Coaches Association sent a letter of support to ASU advocating that Aguano
get the job permanently, saying “he has the backing of every single football
coach in the state of Arizona.”
“One hundred percent that is basically the kind of person
that I saw when he was here at Linfield,” Rutschman said. “Just a quality human
being that was a hard worker.”
“It’s been a lot of fun and to see these guys continue to
have success,” he said.
Rutschman admitted he and Aguano have lost touch over the
decades. He hasn’t wanted to interrupt by reaching out during the season, but
hopes to connect with him soon.
“I did send him Christmas cards, but every year the
Christmas cards came back because I didn’t have the right address, evidently,”
he said.
Neither Rutschman nor Smith will be able to watch Aguano
take on the Beavers. They will be busy with Linfield’s first-round playoff game
against Pomona-Pitzer at Maxwell Field.
Because even at 91, Rutschman is still coaching. “I coach
the kickoff return team,” he said, chuckling.
Smith said he has tried to watch ASU games when he can
this season so he can support his old buddy, but he keeps running into a
relatable obstacle.
“I’ve tried to,” he said. “It’s so hard to find them.
It’s hard sometimes to get that Pac-12 Network.”
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