1977 Football Team - Outstanding Team
On paper, the 1977 football team should never have lost a game. Their starting quarterback Bob Gagliano took every snap for the Vaqs that season and eventually played several years in the NFL. Starting offensive lineman Andy Reid is currently the Head Coach of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and was also the placekicker for Glendale that season.
That team and coaching staff boasted six individuals who have been inducted into the GCC Athletic Hall of Fame including Gagliano, Reid, defensive back Jimmy Evangelatos as well as coaches Jim Sartoris, John Cicuto and Dale Logie. The team boasted tremendous players on both sides of the ball, several of whom transferred and played football at four-year schools.
But more than that, the 1977 football team is not only known as the first Western State Conference championship team from the Sartoris-Cicuto era, but for the philanthropy that they have exhibited as a group to support Glendale College.
“I will always remember the 1977 football team not only because it was the first championship team we had the privilege to coach, but because of the quality of character of the student athletes on that team, “said former head coach Jim Sartoris. “They established the basis for which all teams since that time have been measured against. Their camaraderie, work ethic, belief in themselves, and loyalty to their teammates and coaches were truly inspiring and set the tone for the Vaquero Football program for the future.”
History will show that the 1977 football team finished the season 8-3, including a 44-22 loss to Saddleback College in the Mission Bowl played at Glendale High. They won the WSC title with a 6-1 record but their success was due as much to their closeness as a team on and off the field. Many of those players came from local high schools and playing together at Glendale was just a continuation of the bonds they developed as opponents over the years.
“Remember, back in the 70’s, teams came together with players that competed against each other as archenemies from the local high schools for years... next thing we realized, we’re now together as one at Glendale College,” said Jimmy Evangelatos.“Only through the teachings of our devoted coaches, did we learn how to PLAY AS ONE TEAM, understand and appreciate things like respect, loyalty, drive, integrity, dependability, tenacity, honesty and competition at a level none of us had ever experienced before.”
When those players walked off the field together for the last time in uniform after that bowl game loss in 1977, they became united in another way by choosing to support Glendale College in small ways and large. They donated to the yearly football program supported the college through the annual Foundation Golf Tournament and the recent Football Golf event held for the fourth time this past July.
The biggest assist may have been in 2003 when Evangelatos and Jeff Orlando spearheaded a request by the GCC Foundation to their teammate and former Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach Reid, to support the purchase of a scoreboard for a new field dedicated in 2005 in the name of Jim Sartoris and known as Sartoris Field.
That scoreboard project stimulated another donor opportunity in the scoreboard tile wall, where many alumni and college supporters purchased tiles to support GCC Athletics with that endeavor continuing to this day.
Almost 40 years since that championship season, the 1977 Football team takes its rightful place in the GCC Athletic Hall of Fame to share memories past, present and future about where their paths have taken them in life.
Never has the saying, “Once a Vaq, Always a Vaq” meant so much