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MARSHALL SPORTS
Chapman: 1999 like yesterday
Doug Chapman, member of the undefeated 1999 football team, attends the Marshall Green-White game April 25 at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
Purchase this photoHUNTINGTON -- He doesn't appear a fraction older than the running back leading Marshall University football to its 1999 Motor City Bowl victory.
Still fit and disciplined a decade later, Doug Chapman offers credibility when speaking of the current Thundering Herd team. The former tailback, now a college football and NFL television analyst, joined members of the '99 squad for last week's reunion, coinciding with the 2009 team's Green-White Game.
Chapman capped his Thundering Herd career with a brilliant 87-yard touchdown run in his team's Motor City Bowl win over No. 25 BYU. He ranks second all-time with 4,016 rushing yards at Marshall and like many former teammates, urged current players to put in the work to return to championship form.
"When we came in here we were not all highly touted recruits," Chapman said. "We made ourselves into great football players and we earned everything we got and got ourselves to the NFL and have been successful beyond playing pro sports.
"It's never too late to start and we're trying to teach that to these guys. Today should be your Day One. You should start today to get things started and I think bringing the former guys back brings validity to it."
Chapman's graduation to a five-year National Football League tailback veteran was unlikely at best. Yes, the Chesterfield, Va., native was offered scholarships by Virginia, Virginia Tech, James Madison and Richmond along with Marshall, but each recruited Chapman as a defensive back.
Former Marshall assistant coach Mickey Matthews offered a crack into the offensive door, and Chapman responded with a pair of 1,000-yard seasons during his 1996-99 career.
The Thundering Herd more than was stacked at tailback. All-time leading rusher Chris Parker headed a pack in '95 that included Erik Thomas and future NFL veteran Olandis Gary. Chapman figured his finest playing opportunity rested at safety, but Parker graduated and Gary transferred to Georgia.
Opportunity then was pounced.
"We all have our stories of how we got here," Chapman said. "They just did a great job of recruiting and getting the right guys. Not just players, but character guys at the right place and we had a great run for four years and it was a lot of fun."
But what made 1999 especially special? A veteran team, led by current Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington, made its debut with a road victory over Clemson and closed by punishing BYU, ranking No. 10 nationally.
"One word I would say is trust," Chapman said. "I knew when our defense was out on the field, they would stop them. And when we went out there we were going to get the first down and make the play and keep them off the field long enough to keep them fresh.
"And I knew Chad was going to make the right read and I knew the O-line was going to get their blocks and I knew the defense was going to stop them. We had trust and we believed in each other and I think it's that cohesiveness that makes you a better football team."
Asked to further reflect on his Thundering Herd career, Chapman was queried about two specific 1999 matchups -- the 13-10 win at Clemson and overcoming a 23-0 halftime deficit to defeat Western Michigan in the Mid-American Conference title game.
"The last drive against Clemson, the first thing I think of is 'hot' and 'loud,'" he said.
And holding? Marshall's dramatic game-winning drive was continually interrupted by holding penalties.
"Yes," Chapman agreed, laughing. "Hot, loud and holding. That sums up the whole drive. We kept getting penalty after penalty after penalty. We were backed up, but never throughout the whole thing, even when we got a play in and got it called back, did we think we couldn't do it.
"We were like, 'Fine. OK, they called it back. Let's do it again.' And that's how our mentality has been since day one. Not thinking -- knowing we could beat anyone."
Conversely, Marshall stared down Western Michigan as a considerable home favorite, but was shut down throughout a shocking first half. Chapman's candor concerning that comeback is telling of a team spurred by swagger. The locker room policed itself, coupled with urgings from then-head coach Bobby Pruett.
"Against Western Michigan, of course we didn't tell coach Pruett this then, but Chad and I laugh about it now. Chad and I were in the locker room kind of smiling about it, because we hadn't played football yet.
"We were like, 'Let's get everybody calmed down. Everybody relax. Let's just go out there and play football. We've messed around for a whole half.'
"If we lose this game, we're done. We pulled all of the seniors together and we didn't have to give a big pep talk. Coach Pruett cussed us out real good and left us alone.
"We didn't have to give the big rah, rah (speech). It was just Chad and I and the defensive captains who stood up and said, 'Let's go play football.' We came out in the second half and got the job done."
Chapman remains in the game and maintains ties locally, occasionally working with former Marshall head coach Jim Donnan in conjunction with Huntington native and ESPN official Dan Shoemaker and as an NFL analyst for an Atlanta-based television affiliate.
"It never leaves," Chapman said. "I played five years in the NFL and people ask me if I miss it. If I had played five, 15 or 50 years, the day you walk away from it you miss it. And you want to do things to keep you close to it.
"You don't lose a competitive edge. A 90-year-old man in a wheelchair still has that competitive edge. And when you get out here and your blood starts boiling, you can't help but get excited. It's always in you."
Donning his analyst cap, Chapman then opined on the 2009 Herd following a spring practice.
"They have to come together," he said. "They have to get some leaders on both sides of the ball along with strong quarterback play. A receiver has to step up, and defensively, they just need to make plays, stop people and set the tone early, help the offense come along and they'll be fine."
