Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1210671
and we recruited him as a walk-on. He was only there for a year and I don't think he ever got on the field." That's because Bruno won the job and eventually became one of the stars, on and off the field, of the 1987 Fiesta Bowl. Sutton showed up in 1988 and was on the roster for two years. He was a 6-foot- 1, 196-pounder who had played at the A.M. Meyer Secondary School in his hometown. Spider Caldwell, head man- ager of the 1986 team, remembers him from his time on Penn State's scout team. "He was a nice kid who worked hard, giv- ing us a good look at the opposition," Caldwell recalled. In Sutton's last year on the roster, Penn State recruited Frank Yeboah-Kodie of Montreal as a cornerback and kickoff re- turner. Barres said former Pittsburgh Steelers assistant coach Dick Walker had been coaching the CFL's Montreal Alou- ettes and called Penn State assistant coach Ron Dickerson about Frank and his younger brother Phil. The Yeboah-Kodies were immigrants from Ghana who had moved to Montreal when Frank was 7 years old. Frank had at- tended Rosemont High, where he was Montreal's Player of the Year in 1986 be- fore transferring within the city to Vanier College Prep School. Phil later followed him to Vanier. Injuries derailed Frank at Penn State, sidelining him in his fresh- man and sophomore years. He never was more than a backup cornerback, but he lettered in 1993. Phil became a first-rate inside line- backer. He started every game in his red- shirt sophomore season of 1992 and led the team in tackles with 73. In 1993, he was beaten out by senior Brian Mon- aghan, starting just two games and seeing action mostly as a reserve. He regained his starting role in his last season and fin- ished third on the team with 70 tackles. Denver chose him in the fifth round of the 1995 NFL Draft, but in three years he John Hufnagel spent so much of his professional life in Canada that many younger Penn State fans might think he's a Canadian native, instead of a kid from the Pittsburgh suburb of McKees Rocks. Hufnagel followed Hall of Fame tight end Ted Kwalick and quarterback Chuck Burkhart from Mon- tour High School to Penn State. A few years later, quarter- back Chuck Fusina, who went to another McKees Rocks high school, Sto-Rox, al- most won the Heis- man Trophy as he guided the Nittany Lions to their first No. 1 ranking in 1978. Hufnagel was a first-team All- American in 1972 and finished sixth in the Heisman voting. That season, he led the Nittany Lions to a 10-2 record with a 14-0 loss to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl that was later forfeited to Penn State because the Sooners used two ineligible freshman players. The 6-foot-1, 194-pound Hufnagel may have been the best all-around quar- terback of the Paterno era because of his superb running and passing skills and a capacity for quick thinking. When Hufnagel graduated, he was Penn State's all-time passing leader in several categories, including career and single-season yardage and touch- downs. He completed 225 of 408 at- tempts for 3,545 yards and 26 TDs from 1970-72. Those totals included 2,039 yards and 15 TDs in 1972. He still ranks 13th in career passing yardage, 20th in single-season yardage, 10th in career completion percentage (55.1) and third in single-season completion percentage (63.2). The Denver Broncos drafted Huf- nagel in the 14th round, but after three years as a little-used reserve, he moved north to the Canadian Football League, where he became a star player, an outstanding coach, an astute front office executive and a CFL icon. Start- ing in 1976, Hufnagel played for 12 years with three teams: Calgary (1976- 79), Saskatchewan (1980-83, 1987) and Winnipeg (1983-86). Although he is not among the CFL's all-time pass- ing leaders, his career completion per- centage is similar to the one he compiled at Penn State, 55.9. He threw for 21,594 yards, with 127 touchdowns and 131 interceptions. Hufnagel was not planning to get into coaching. He tore his Achilles tendon in his final year at Saskatchewan as a player-assistant coach and was investing and purchas- ing properties as a real estate agent in Calgary when the Stampeders wooed him into becoming offensive coordi- nator. He worked his way through the assistant chain in the CFL, NFL and Arena League until becoming the head coach at Calgary in 2008. Hufnagel's Stampeders won two Grey Cups, the CFL equal of the NFL's Super Bowl, before he became president and gen- eral manager of the team in 2016. Under Hufnagel's management, Cal- gary reached the Grey Cup title game three more times, winning again in 2018. A few days prior to the 2019 Grey Cup, Hufnagel received the CFL's highest honor, the Hugh Campbell Distinguished Leadership Award, for his achievements, leadership and con- tributions. Since 2008, Calgary has posted a record of 159-60-2. Not bad for that kid out of McKees Rocks and Penn State. –L.P. HUFNAGEL Hufnagel finds CFL success as player, coach, executive T H E C L A S S O F 2 0 2 0 >>