Linfield football’s uniforms haven’t been altered since the 1950s. Its stadium and locker room haven’t moved.

And with those constants has come another — 58 straight winning seasons.

The Wildcats have finished above .500 in every season since 1956, the longest streak of its kind in college football and 16 years longer than the next best. With a consistent coaching staff and commitment to tradition, Linfield has separated itself from other Division III programs in the Pacific Northwest.

Linfield has had five different head coaches since 1948, all of whom had previous ties to the program. Coaches tell first-year players about living in the dorms and playing at Linfield. The school is located in McMinnville, Oregon, which has a population less than 35,000.

Eleven of the 12 coaches on Wildcats’ 12 current staff played at Linfield and experienced the same alumni and community support as the players they’re teaching.

“The streak is something that has connected so many generations of football players at Linfield,” Ryan Carlson, a Linfield defensive end from 1994–98 and the team’s volunteer videographer said. “No matter how old you are or how young the current players are, that’s something that the people are all connected by.”

No team wants to be the one to end the streak, but the Wildcats turn their focus away from the pressure. Every year the senior class chooses new goals for the season — which sometimes include non-football related objectives like community involvement — and always include winning a national title.

Despite having a winning record every year for the past 58 seasons, Linfield has won just four national championships — in 1982, 1984, 1986 as part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and 2004, its lone title in the NCAA. In each of the past three seasons, Linfield has gone undefeated in the regular season and won the Northwest Conference. But the Wildcats lost in the round of 16 of the NCAA tournament in 2011 and in the quarterfinals in 2012 and 2013.

“It’s tough knowing we’re a successful program and each year I feel like we have the team to push all the way,” senior linebacker Westly Meng said. “It’s just if we’re going to finish. And that’s a question every year, every game that’s the thing.”

This year, Meng said, the team’s goals include finishing every workout and finishing every game. Players and coaches on Linfield feel that if they accomplish these goals, the streak will take care of itself.

Tyler Robitaille played for Linfield from 2010–13 and is now the team’s secondary coach. He said the streak isn’t talked about much internally.

“We’re prideful of it, but that’s the last thing we’re thinking about every time we enter a season,” Robitaille said. “But it’s definitely a reflection both of how Linfield recruits and how Linfield approaches every season and the expectation that we’re going to win.

“We’re going to reach the national championship and the streak will just continue if we do so.”

Linfield’s roster is filled with players who could have chosen to play Division-I or Division-II football, but opted for the Wildcats’ rich tradition.

Many alumni are still attached to the program and support the team on game days. Oftentimes, former players will interact with current players and discuss the program’s history.

“It’s pretty cool when a 75, 80-year-old man comes up to you and knows your name and shakes your hand,” former quarterback and current quarterbacks coach Aaron Boehme said, “and you have no idea who they are, but they’re just an old-school graduate from back in the day and they’ve followed the team for years and years and years.”

When Linfield finishes practice, the last thing the team always says is “family.” And as the Wildcats start their question for season No. 59, they’ll be striving for more than just a record.

Said Robitaille: “It’s a pretty special place in the Northwest.”

Published on September 2, 2014 at 12:02 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds