Season Downfalls

The Trinity Tigers struggled in the 1989 season, accumulating a losing record of 1-9, and the worst offensive statistics in program history. There were various reasons for the team's limited success. One reason was the coaching staff. 1989 was head coach, Gene Norris’ sixteenth and final season with the team. He was set to become the athletic director of the school. Another was he academic standards of Trinity University. Similar to today, sports were not necessarily the number one priority for many of the students on campus. Academics were, and still are, far more important. This mentality carried over to the football team itself. Many players would skip practice to study, or their minds were elsewhere during practices or games. Moreover, the culture at Trinity was not focused on sports. Many of the students possessed other interests. The liberal arts education attracts people with passions in theatre, art, music, science, etc. These students, frankly, would not care about their underperforming Division III football team. There was also a heavy influence of fraternity and sorority life, giving the football players a distraction from their on-field play. Many seniors went down due to injury, so freshmen with little playing experience were required to contribute prematurely. All of these problems were factors in the Tigers' 1-9 season.