HILLSBORO, Kan. – With Tabor College kicking off their football season on Saturday, it is only appropriate that the first Flashback Friday takes fans on a walk down memory lane on the gridiron. This week's edition will contain a brief history of Hillsboro's College Team. 
 
Football at Tabor officially began in 1967, as the Bluejays prepared for entrance into the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC), but the formation of a gridiron team had been a topic of discussion since the early sixties. Stu Brynn was chosen as the program's first head coach, a role he would hold until after the 1969 campaign. The 1967 Bluejays took on a schedule of future KCAC foes: Southwestern College, McPherson College, St. Mary of the Plains College (located in Dodge City, Kan., closed in 1992), Kansas Wesleyan University, Friends University, Sterling College, Ottawa University, and Bethany College, finishing with a 2-5-1 overall record.
 
Throughout the years, Bluejay Football struggled, until the arrival of Tim McCarty in 1999. McCarty's squad started rolling in his third season at the helm, finishing with a 5-5 overall record during the 2000 campaign and continuing to build with a 6-4 finish in 2002 and a 9-2 finish in 2003, capped off with TC's first trip to the NAIA Football Playoffs. McCarty took another job in the offseason, paving the way for his young Defensive Coordinator, Mike Gardner to take the reins of the program.
 
In each Gardner's first two seasons, the Bluejays returned to the NAIA playoffs, earning their first-ever postseason win against Graceland University in 2005. Following the 2005 campaign, Gardner took a job at Malone University in Ohio but returned in 2010. Since Gardner's return, Tabor has made four additional playoff appearances and won three conference titles. Throughout Gardner's tenure in Hillsboro, the Bluejays have become a household name in the KCAC and in the region.
 
Be sure to stay up to date with all information regarding Bluejay Athletics by following us on X at @gotaborbluejays, on Instagram and Facebook @taborbluejays, and on our official athletic website, taborbluejays.com.
 
Tabor College is a Christ-centered institution located in Hillsboro, Kansas. The Bluejays are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and compete in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC).