+xFirst 0-6 start since 1983 when the Bulldogs started 0-8 and finished 1-10. The last time Drake finished with 2 or less wins in back to back full seasons was the 1958 and 1959 seasons. The 1959 season was Warren Gaer's last. He took Drake to the Sun Bowl the year prior to those 2-win seasons in 1957.
Although I wasn't alive in rhe 1950s, I'll give coach Gaer a partial mulligan for those years. I believe Drake deemphasized football about 1959, opting for the college division. During those years, Drake had small rosters and (eventually) less challenging schedules. Overnight, it got harder to recruit players It was a similar situation with Chuck Shelton in 82 & 83, after the NCAA forced Drake into I-AA over attendance issues. Drake was a I-AA team playing in a I-A conference.
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