Back in March, Azusa Pacific announced the exciting news that leadership on campus had decided to revive the football program.
About four years ago, the school was one of a handful of nationwide institutions that decided to cut their football program. The shuttering of the program, which had played for more than six decades, marked the end of Division II football in the state of California.
The revival came with a twist though. Instead of coming back as a Division II school, the program - in a move all of athletics at the school are following suit with - would be returning as a Division III program. Football plans to take the field in 2026.
After naming AJ Parnell to lead the new era of APU football, the team has tabbed a coaching veteran and offensive innovator with success at every level of college football as their new offensive play caller.
Mark Speckman, an APU alumnus who has over four decades of coaching experience, has accepted the offensive coordinator position with the program.
The innovator of the the Fly offense, Speckman spent the past three seasons at Clarion University (D-II - PA), where his teams were annually one of the top rushing teams in the PSAC.
Prior to his time at Clarion, Speckman spent five seasons calling the offense at UC Davis (FCS), helping to lead the team to a Big Sky title in 2018.
A former Division III head coach at Willamette (D-III - OR) for 14 seasons, Speckman went 82-59 as a small college head coach, winning two conference titles in the Northwest Conference, punshing their ticket to the Division III playoffs three times, and playing in the national title game once.
Other stops for Speckman include Menlo College and in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes.
Born without hands, Speckman also carved out a role as a renowned motivational speaker as well, bringing a story of perseverance to companies across the country, and stretching worldwide including stops speaking at companies like Nike and Boeing.
The full-circle moment is a special one for Speckman, from a student earning his Bachelor's in social science and teaching back in the late 70's, to seeing the sad news that football was being discontinued a few seasons ago, and now being tabbed to help bring football back to the campus of his alma mater nearly five decades after his journey started as a student at APU.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.