If tests were possible, they would show a quarterback strain in Lou Rillos’ family history chart.
The tracings would begin with Lou playing quarterback at the University of Denver. The lineage goes to son Joe Rillos, a quarterback at Golden High School before going to Colorado College.
Grandsons Brion Stapp (Longmont High School) played quarterback at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass., and Clint Stapp (Niwot) played the position at the University of Montana.
“It seems to run in the family,” Lou Rillos said from his home in Golden, looking back all the way to 1947 when he played at DU.
Only son Kipp Rillos and grandson Matt Rillos broke the pattern. Kipp played linebacker, while Matt played running back and won the prestigious Steinmark Award at Golden as well as The Denver Post’s Gold Helmet Award coming out of high school. Matt went on to the Air Force Academy.
“There aren’t a lot of people around anymore who remember that DU had a football program,” Rillos said. “A group of us get together every month for lunch, but otherwise I don’t hear much talk about DU football.”
DU’s last football team was in 1960. By then, Rillos was the football coach at Golden High School.
But he remembers a sense of loss when his alma mater announced it was dropping the football program.
“I hated to see it,” Rillos said. “It still bothers me, because I think a football program would have helped the school develop even more than it already has.”
There aren’t many reminders of DU’s football past. The towering west stands at Hilltop Stadium north of Evans Avenue and west of University Boulevard gave way to the wrecking ball.
But memories haven’t been destroyed. Rillos came out of Carlsbad, N.M., and played for the Pioneers in the days of coach Johnny Baker and fellow quarterbacks Sam Etcheverry, Jim Bowen and Rusty Fairly. Colorado A&M (now Colorado State) in Fort Collins was the archrival with Dale Dodrill, Fum McGraw, Jack Christiansen and Jim David in the lineup.
“We didn’t win many games against Colorado A&M in those days, but we had some great games,” Rillos said.
In Carlsbad, Rillos played three sports. His teams won state championships in football and basketball, and he won a state title in track and field throwing the javelin.
After graduation from DU in 1951, Rillos hit the coaching trail. His first stop was Castle Rock, and then on to Walsenburg. In 1957, he took the football coaching job at Golden.
It was a time that the growth in Denver’s suburban areas was showing up on the high school sports fields. Two years after taking the job, Rillos had the Demons in the Class AAA state championship game to face Greeley Central.
Golden was in a league with Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and Arvada, but there was some land separation from the metropolitan area.
“Golden was like a separate community,” Rillos said. “The people who lived there took pride in that. That team was a unique group of players. They grew up together, and they were very unselfish.”
The 1959 Demons gained attention when they traveled to Trinidad in the state semifinals and won. Coach Dutch Nogel’s Trinidad teams were noted for their toughness.
“We beat Trinidad, but it wasn’t easy,” Rillos said. “Dutch had a good team, and Trinidad was a unique program with good high school players.”
The following week, Golden lost to Greeley Central and Ted Somerville, but it was a big step for one of the smallest top-division schools in the state.
John Swanson, an end on the 1959 team who went on to CSU, knows Rillos as a coach who cares.
“He was a great mentor and coach,” Swanson said. “He has been with me and supported me through some health problems. I can’t say enough about him.”
The stalwarts of the 1959 team were John Hampton at quarterback, Manuel Archuleta, Tom Schoech and Kirk Osborn at running back and Steve Osborn, Kirk’s twin brother, on the offensive line.
Rillos left coaching in 1963 and went into administration. His hopes of adding a weight training program at Golden weren’t possible financially. When he visits the high school today, he can point to an up-to-date weight training room and program.
“You ought to see it,” Rillos said. “Coaching was a real joy for me. I couldn’t have picked a better thing to do in my life.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
