Harper Hawks Football: A Second Chance

March CARLI Member Archives Collection Highlight: Harper College

Today, digital access to the deep history of college sports is pretty much a given. Live games are streamed, old games are only a click away, and the end of the season is filled with highlights and interviews to experience game moments again and again. For modern players and fans alike, the NCAA offers a treasure trove of content in addition to the University Athletics statistics, rosters, and bios.

But what if an injury sidelines your chance to go pro? What if the scholarship doesn’t come through, and you don’t end up in the Big 10? Enter: Community College Football and the Harper College Archives.

These are exactly the types of stories that Harper Hawks football alumni will share with you. These young men thought their shot at college was over. They thought their chance to play the game they loved was done. But then they came to a small community college in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and rediscovered the game, and a path towards their future awaiting them. Some went on to play in the NFL while others earned degrees in unexpected disciplines and have gone on to have successful careers in business and engineering. A few ended up coaching football themselves. But all of them became bonded together in the brotherhood of the game and their memories from Harper College.

The profound personal nature of this digitization project which has uncovered nearly 500 films and videotapes of the 1973-2011 football teams is made all the more special. In preparation for construction of Harper’s M Building in 2023, the Athletics Department found a true trove of midwestern community college gold. Through a Resources for Educational Foundation grant, the videotapes were digitized in 2024. The 8mm film reels followed in 2025-2026 and are incrementally being processed for web release, with a passionate football alumni and a wider community eagerly waiting on the sidelines.

Football has not always been a word spoken with support on campus. The program took an early fumble in June 1973 when the athletic fieldhouse burned down, destroying all uniform and training equipment inside. The coaches carried on from the trunks of their cars. Hawks Football survived a near cancellation in 1997, thanks to a prominent show of support and a last-minute change of heart from the College Board. The bitter ending of the program in January 2012 was deeply felt by the local community and students who now found themselves without a place to play. Elsewhere in the region, peer community college football teams had similarly disbanded, leaving Harper with little local opponents. Today, the College of DuPage is the last survivor of community college football in Illinois[DW1.1].

The Harper College Football program produced the winningest coach in community college history in John Eliasik, who spent 39 years as Harper’s head coach. Multiple students went on to play in the NFL. Harper won three National Junior College Athletic Association (Non-Scholarship) Championships in 2003, 2004, and 2008. This year, former Harper Football players will return to campus for the first time to be honored and for them to “remember together.” The nearly inaccessible game footage that the Harpers Archives has brought back to life will undoubtedly bring smiles to the faces of Harper Football alumni as they celebrate this vivid era of community college football. We invite other institutions to view and celebrate their football heritage as well. Web access versions of the films can be viewed here: Digitized Football Film and Video Collection.

Selected Images

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