By Lauren Wilder
Kinston Free Press

Reprinted with permission

LA GRANGE - Bob Rouse remembers his days as a college football player for the Campbell Fighting Camels, a team that others were afraid to play.

"We were that team," he said.

Indeed, the Camels won three straight North Carolina Junior College football championships from 1946-48. The coach, Earl Smith, is in Campbell's sports hall of fame.

But 81-year-old Rouse, Class of '48, is part of future Campbell football. Members of past teams have helped promote the return of the program to the Buies Creek university after an absence of five decades.

It's easy for him to look back, even to that day in La Grange when football and Coach Smith changed his life.

The year was 1946 when he and fellow La Grange High School graduates joined the then Campbell Junior College Camels. Rouse had just returned home after a hitch in the Navy and was working at a service station.

"We were working at a service station and he (Smith) says why don't you boys come out to Campbell and play ball for me and so we just laughed and kidded around he stayed about 30 minutes and drove off. Well, after he drove off and we got to thinking about it, and said, 'Well you know beats pumping gas. Let's try it,' " said Rouse.

"If it hadn't have been for him (Smith) I probably would not have gone to college" he said.

Rouse continued his education at Wake Forest while Campbell dropped the football program due to the Korean War and the movement of many junior colleges to senior status. After he graduated from Wake, Rouse moved to New York City where he worked at Texaco's corporate office. Rouse retired from Clark Grave Balt in Columbus, Ohio.

Despite a 50-year hiatus, football at Campbell has a 25-year history to build on.

The 2008-09 team will compete at the NCAA Division I-AA non-scholarship level under Coach Dale Steele.

It may appear harder to recruit the best players without athletic scholarships, but that is not the purpose of the program. Football at Campbell is seen as a way to invigorate campus life by attracting undergraduates and alumni.

"Scholarships won't soak up resources. … There are plenty of people that want to play football," Stan Cole, Campbell director of media services, said. Division I-AA provides enhancements to the campus without large financial costs.

"We're just excited to provide an opportunity for a group of young people at a high I-AA Pioneer League level," Steele said.

Rouse still cherishes his opportunity.

"Coach thought we could beat anybody. If you had the desire you could do it. He maintained that philosophy even today. That's the kind of spirit he injected to his players," Rouse said.

June 15, 2006
Contact: Stan Cole or Adam Prendergast

Dale Steele Named Head Football Coach at Campbell University

Dale Steele, a veteran of more than 25 years in the collegiate coaching ranks, was introduced as Campbell University's football coach in a press conference on June 15, 2006 on campus at the Alumni Room of Marshbanks Dining Hall. Joining University President Dr. Jerry M. Wallace for the announcement were Fred Taylor, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Bob Barker, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, and Director of Athletics Stan Williamson.

"We are extremely pleased that Coach Steele will be joining the University as head coach of the Fighting Camels football team, said Dr. Wallace. "He is bringing to Campbell 30 years of much diversified coaching experience. Coach Steele is an extraordinarily talented and experienced individual whose range of skills will serve the University well as he launches Campbell's return to the gridiron.

Steele will be in charge of building the Fighting Camel program for competition in 2008 at the NCAA Division I-AA non-scholarship level. He joins the Campbell athletics staff after spending the last two years as assistant head coach and running backs coach at Elon University.

"It's a dream come true for my family and me and a tremendous opportunity," said Steele. "As a family, we are so excited that we have been given this opportunity to be a part of a special time in the history of Campbell University with the reinstatement of football after a 56-year absence. We are very thankful to Dr. Wallace, Stan Williamson and the Campbell family for selecting us to come to Buies Creek during such an exciting time in the university's history."

A member of NCAA Division I since 1977 and of the Atlantic Sun Conference since 1994, Campbell will compete in football against similar non-scholarship programs on the Division I and non-I levels. Home games will be played at a yet to be constructed on-campus site.

"We are very excited as Dale Steele becomes the head football coach at Campbell University," said Director of Athletics Stan Williamson. "Dale brings a wealth of coaching experience from all levels of intercollegiate football as well as having been a head football coach at the high school level. Dale is very familiar with recruiting in the state of North Carolina where we expect to attract the majority of Campbell's football student-athletes. Dale is a man with strong family values and will be a great role model for our student-athletes. We expect that Coach Steele will lead this program through these building stages into becoming the successful football program we desire and Campbell University deserves."

Fellow Atlantic Sun Conference member Jacksonville University added non-scholarship football in 1998 and competes in the Pioneer Football League along with Davidson, Butler, Dayton, Drake, Morehead State, San Diego and Valparaiso. Other Division I-AA programs with similar non-scholarship philosophies are Duquesne, Iona, Marist, La Salle and St. Peter's.

"The plan is to come in and work as hard as we can, build the program one brick at a time with a solid framework from the bottom up," said Coach Steele. "We want to construct a football program that will adhere to the mission of the university and stand the test of time."

Coach Steele's ties to North Carolina run deep. In addition to his most recent two-year stint at Elon, he spent a decade in Eastern North Carolina working on both the collegiate and prep levels. From the 1989-1994 seasons, he was an assistant coach at East Carolina, where he helped guide the Pirates to a pair of bowl berths under head coaches Bill Lewis and Steve Logan.

At ECU, Steele coached the wide receivers, then took on recruiting coordinator duties from 1991-93. He was named assistant head coach in 1994 when the Pirates made a trip to the Liberty Bowl. ECU also won the 1991 Peach Bowl during his tenure.

Steele then spent four years (1995-98) as head football coach and athletic director at Northern Nash High School in Rocky Mount, N.C. He left that position in 1998 to assume duties as recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach at Baylor University, where his brother Kevin (now the linebackers coach at Florida State) served as head coach. Following a four-year stint at Baylor, Steele moved on to East Tennessee State as assistant head coach and wide receivers coach for one year (2003) before accepting the job at Elon.

"It seems like I've been preparing for this moment for the last 28 years," said Steele of his first head coaching opportunity on the collegiate level. "Everything I'm going to be asked to do in the building of this program, I've been exposed to over the last 28 years. I took this job in order to succeed and build something. It's the right time in my career and Campbell is the right place. I wanted to be a head coach, but wanted to be a head coach when the time is right. I believe that now is the time and I am ready to be a head coach on this level."

Steele began his college coaching career at Ball State in 1977, where he worked with the offensive line while earning his master's degree in physical education. He moved on to Wisconsin in 1978 as tight ends coach and head coach of the Badger junior varsity squad.

He went on to spend two years at Tulane (1980-82) where he worked with tight ends, kickers and served as recruiting coordinator. In 1980, the Green Wave appeared in the Hall of Fame Bowl against Arkansas. After coaching one year at St. Charles High School (1983) in LaPlace, La., Steele moved on to Wichita State (1984-86), where he worked with the outside linebackers and tight ends.

Steele then moved on to Kansas State, where he oversaw tight ends and was offensive special teams coordinator in 1987 and coached wide receivers in 1988 before accepting the job at ECU.

Coach Steele plans to use his many recruiting contacts both in and out of the state to build his roster.

"I anticipate us building with North Carolina as our recruiting base, then moving outward in a direction that fits the demographic of our university - athletically, academically and socially. Later, we want to open up new avenues and draw on students from areas outside of where Campbell has traditionally drawn students. We want to attract youngsters who can associate with the mission statement of the university and are looking to play football at a university that fits what they're all about.

Steele intends to assemble a balanced, aggressive unit on both sides of the ball and on special teams.

"We want to be a fundamentally-sound football team in all areas," said Steele. "Championships are won with defense. We want to have a sound defensive football team that will attack you, while being mentally-tough and aggressive. Offensively, we want to be balanced, fundamentally sound, and aggressive, picking our opportunities to go down the field with it.

"The kicking game is tremendously underrated in college football," Steele continued. "The great teams play well in the kicking game, and we're going to have a real high emphasis, particularly in the early stages of the program, in that area. You can win a lot of games by out-executing your opponent in the kicking game."

The son of a high school coach, Steele participated in wrestling and football at Autauga County High School in Prattville, Ala., where he lettered three years in both sports. He is a 1976 graduate of South Carolina, where he played on both the offensive and defensive line. Steele began his coaching career that same year as an assistant at A.C. Flora High School.

Steele and his wife, the former Pam Kilpatrick, have two daughters Meghan and Kelsey.

What other college football coaches say about Dale Steele:

"Dale is a good fit for Campbell University. The type of character he has, the type of person he is, is a very good fit first and foremost. He has what it takes to navigate the waters in starting the program. He has a lot of experience in different venues. Couple that with the fact that he is extremely organized and detailed, has a knack for recruiting and engaging people, he will be very successful for Campbell University. I have a son who is a freshman playing football in Division II, and Dale is the type person as a coach and as a member of the university faculty itself that you want teaching your child."

-- Kevin Steele
Linebackers Coach / Florida State
Former Head Coach / Baylor

"I have known Coach Dale Steele for years. We coached together at East Carolina University in 1989. Coach Steele was a wide receivers coach and I was the offensive coordinator. I really enjoyed working with him. He is a knowledgeable man and teacher and relates well with the athletes. He is a stickler for details and a guy you can always count on. I am happy for Dale and I wish him the best on his new position. Campbell made a wise decision on the hiring of Coach Steele."

-- Mark Richt
Head Coach / Georgia

The Dale Steele File

Full Name: Philip Dale Steele
Birthdate