According to TSN football analysts this “awesome” UBC team is the greatest in CIAU history. It went undefeated in Canadian competition (12-0), often dominating by more than 40 points, winning the Canadian championship with a 39-14 victory. This team had five first rounders selected in the CFL draft, 14 players placed on the league All-Star team and 12 of its players play professionally in the CFL.
Don Adamic, Bruce Barnett, Mark Beecroft, Jack Beetstra, Brant Bengen, James Bird, Kent Bowling, Brian Branting, Kevin Burt, Pat Cantner, Dwayne Derban, Laurent DesLauriers, Pierre DesLauriers, Roger DesLauriers, Jerry Dobrovolny, Trent Edwards, Bill Ellis, Mike Emery, Marc Felgenhauer, Rob Fleming, Brad Fraser, Jay Gard, Bernie Glier, Chris Grdina, Steve Harrison, Bob Hoglund, Peter Jeffrey, Rob Johnson, Greg Kitchen, Doug Kushan, Carey Lapa, Kirk Layton, Peter Leclaire, Grant Magusin, Kevin Martens, Scott Mehlenbacher, Mike Monaghan, Tom Mulhern, Ken Munro, Stew Noble, Ron Orser, Dave Pacholko, Sheldon Petri, George Piva, Jason Riley, Darin Ringenbach, Rob Ros, Paul Shaffer, Dave (Singh) Sidoo, Glenn Steele, K.C. Steele, Pieter Vanden Bos, Brian Whittaker, Roger Zan, Paul Zanni, Frank Smith (head coach), Bob Laycoe (assistant coach), Chris Beaton (assistant coach), Jack Schriber (assistant coach), Mike Canic (assistant coach), Jim Canil (assistant coach)
The Thunderbird football team this '82 WIFL season "is definitely the team to beat", according to Manitoba coach Dennis Hrycaiko, after his team was trounced 37-6 by the 'Birds early in the season. UBC was almost toying with its opposition as they jumped to an early lead in the West, victorious in every game. Record breaking performances by kick returner Laurent DesLauriers and running back Glenn Steele, along with the outstanding play of the linebacking corps led by Mike Emery, were highlights that had made life very difficult for the prairie schools.
According to the Ubyssey, the buzzword "awesome" appeared to be tailor-made for the T-Bird football team. Undefeated after four games, the 'Birds had Steele, now the Canadian leader in rushing, kicker Ken Munro on a record setting scoring pace and a defense that had not allowed a touchdown in three consecutive games. Jason Riley himself recorded six sacks during the last game against Saskatchewan.
UBC won its fifth game, a 45-4 shellacking of Calgary. This time Kent Bowling ran for more than 200 yards and the defense again did not allow a touchdown. Calgary coach Mike Lashuk was impressed, stating "they simply controlled every aspect of the game. When you've got someone like Bowling playing a backup role, it shows the strength of the entire team."
UBC finished the regular WIFL season with a record setting 60-19 thrashing of Saskatchewan, becoming the first UBC football team in 43 years to record an undefeated Western Conference season. They did suffer one setback during the season however, that a non-conference contest loss to Eastern Washington, a Division 1AA school in the NCAA.
The 'Birds headed into their league playoff final ranked number one in the nation, averaging 37 points per game with an average of just over 10 points against. They placed 14 players on the WIFL All-Star team, 6 on the All-Canadian team with coach Frank Smith chosen as the WIFL Coach of the Year.
UBC continued to dominate - the score in the WIFL final: UBC 57, Manitoba 3. "I'll be very surprised to see UBC lose to anybody" admitted losing coach Hrycaiko as the 'Birds headed for the Canadian semi-final. "They are a complete team in every sense of the word. Whoever they play in the Canadian semi-final is going to have their hands full ". The offense, led by Steele, the defense and special teams led by DesLauriers and Dave Singh (all three future pros), seemed invincible.
Led by the incredible performance of Glenn Steele who ran for 277 yards and 4 touchdowns, UBC whipped St. Francis Xavier 54 - 1 in the Canadian semi-final. "They did it again " offered the St. Francis coach, "for the second week in a row they played error-free football ". The 'Birds amassed a UBC record 454 yards rushing in this game which probably would have been more had Steele not been replaced for the second half. The offensive line, led by Pieter Vanden Bos and Jerry Dobrovolny, was singled out for praise by both Steele and CFL scouts, as was defensive MVP Bruce Barnett. After setting an Atlantic Bowl record for points scored, UBC set its sights on the final in Toronto against "a pretty good club", according to coach Smith - the University of Western Ontario.
"UBC Easy Champions" exclaimed the Ubyssey as the Thunderbirds won the Vanier Cup national championship for the first time with a 39-14 victory over Western Ontario. Both coaches agreed it was UBC's outstanding offensive line that was the key to success, along with running back Steele's ability to run for a Vanier Cup record 236 yards. These factors contributed to UBC's setting a Vanier Cup record for total offense, 570 yards. Defensively, the 'Birds were led by Mike Emery and Steve Harrison, voted the two top defensive players of the game.
As big a win as was the Vanier, the powerful 'Birds had one last challenge before them - to defeat Simon Fraser University at the Shrum Bowl. UBC was putting its unblemished Canadian record of 11-0 and its national championship on the line against the Burnaby, BC, school in order to "complete unfinished business in Vancouver", in the words of coach Smith.
UBC was able to take care of that business as they defeated SFU 19-8 on an extremely wet turf at Empire Stadium. Once again it was Glenn Steele leading the offense with 239 yards rushing and one touchdown - a successful completion to a hectic 13 game schedule.
The 1982 Thunderbirds experienced a historic season – WIFL champions, Vanier Cup champions, Shrum Bowl champions and Sport BC’s 1982 Amateur Team of the Year. From that team an unprecedented 10 players were drafted by the CFL, including a record five first rounders. A total of 12 players from the '82 'Birds eventually played pro football in the CFL and in 2012 the team was inducted into the BC Football Hall of Fame.
During the 1997 Vanier Cup game telecast on TSN, commentators Rod Smith and Jamie Bone agreed that in their opinion this ’82 UBC team was the best football team in CIAU history.
With the improvement of UBC's football teams, culminating in this '82 squad considered to be the best in UBC grid history, the football program at UBC was now being heralded both provincially and nationally.
According to Frank Smith, his team's success was a product of its tremendous sense of togetherness, caring and family, its excellent over-all ability and the fact that it executed so very well.
Researched and written by Fred Hume, UBC Athletics Historian
