Wabash College Athletics

Presented by Coach Stan Parrish

The 1982 football team was not the most talented or athletic team I coached at Wabash. In fact, it was the 1981 team that had the talent and speed — Pete Metzelaars was drafted in the third round of the NFL draft and Daryl Johnson was in Cleveland’s training camp until the final roster cut-down. And on defense, that team held six opponents to a touchdown.
 
But the 1982 team had something special — moxie, determination, and grit. And perhaps no player on that team embodied those traits more than Jeff McLochlin. The defense wasn’t nearly as stout — we barely beat Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan — but we always found a way to win.
 
Jeff possessed speed and awareness; he hit hard and had great hands; and he made everyone around him better. His instinct and his nose for the ball were incredible — he made 297 tackles in three seasons!
 
He really was the first of what would become a great Wabash tradition of terrific linebackers — Jim Kilbane, Jay Herrmann, Eric Schoettle, Nate Boulais, CJ Gum, and others.
 
Jeff started as a freshman and earned three varsity letters as a starting linebacker on teams that went 26-1-1, including the undefeated team in 1982. That year, he led the team with 142 tackles and six interceptions — including a pick-six — for a defense that gave up just 11 points per game, and he was an All-American. He had almost 100 tackles in 1981.
 
But we best remember Jeff for his unbelievable performance in our 14-13 win over Dayton in 1982. Dayton had won a national title in 1980, was runner-up in ’81, and still had scholarship players on its roster.
 
Jeff’s play was incredible — he made 21 tackles and gave us the confidence to know that we could win; that we could hold the Flyers’ offense in check.
 
He was a hard-nosed player; a real Little Giant. And we lost him too soon when a coward sniper shot and killed him while he was teaching Afghanistan’s police forces how to protect their people.
 
It is a tremendous honor for me to return to Wabash, a place where I have so many happy memories, to induct Jeff McLochlin, posthumously, into the Wabash College Athletics Hall of Fame.