Chuck Broyles
Inducted 2013
Charles “Chuck” Broyles
Born: February 5, 1947 (Bremerton, WA)
Graduated: Mulberry (Ks) H.S., 1965
Pittsburg State University, 1970
Posting a college football coaching career record of 198-47-2, Chuck Broyles, Pittsburg State University’s football coach of 20 years from 1990-2009, retired as one of the most successful college football coaches in the nation – at any level. His winning percentage of .806 ranked as the third highest winning percentage in NCAA Division II history at the time of his retirement.
Broyles’s presence at the helm of the storied Gorilla football program maintained Pitt State’s place among the elite college football teams in America.
After graduating from Mulberry High School, where he was a stand-out eight-man player, Broyles played just down the road for the Gorillas in Pittsburg. He was a natural leader, as evidenced by him being named a captain of the team in 1968, and he went on to garner honorable mention NAIA All-American status during his senior campaign.
Although he was a great football player, Broyles really made his mark as a coach. He began his coaching career as a student assistant at Pitt State in 1969. He went on to serve as both an assistant and head coach early in his coaching career, including stints at Bishop Carroll High School in Wichita, Stockton (MO) High School, Missouri S&T, and Miami (OK) High School, before coming back to Pitt State in 1988 as the defensive coordinator under head coach Dennis Franchione.
Broyles served as defensive coordinator for just two seasons before becoming the head coach in 1990. For the next twenty years, Broyles led his teams to the playoffs an astounding fifteen times, winning the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title nine times, and competing in four NCAA Division II national championship games. The Gorillas were 19-14 in NCAA II playoff games under Broyles.
Broyles amassed double-digit win totals in eleven seasons, including the 1991 season when he guided the Gorillas to the school’s first national championship with a record of 13-1-1. His teams of 1992 and 2004 both finished 14-1 losing only in the Championship game both times.
He also served as the Pittsburg State University Athletics Director from 1996 until his retirement. During that time period, Broyles led the charge to improve athletic facilities and increasing Pitt State’s annual scholarship and fund drive.
Equal to the amazing number of victories he piled up at the helm of Pittsburg State is the number of outstanding athletes he coached. In total, Broyles coached 75 NCAA Division II All-Americans including the 1991 and 1992 Harlon Hill Trophy winners Ronnie West and Ronald Moore, both fellow inductees in the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame.
Chuck Broyles was recognized with national Coach of the Year honors three times during his career: 1991, 2004, 2008. He retired as the winningest coach in MIAA and PSU history.