GUNNISON, Colo. --- Long-time Western Colorado football coach Dr. Carl "Duke" Iverson who led the Mountaineers to six RMAC titles as head coach and another six as defensive coordinator died on Thursday, Feb. 11, in Oregon. He was 80 years old.
 
Iverson was Western Colorado's head coach from 1988-95 and 1997-2000 and is second on the Mountaineers' all-time wins list thanks to a 79-47-1 record – including a 63-26 mark in RMAC contests. Iverson won RMAC titles for the Mountaineers in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1998 and guided Western to the national playoffs in 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1997.
 
Iverson spent parts of six decades with the Western Colorado football program and was inducted into the Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. He also coached at Black Hills State (1983-84) and Western Oregon (1985-87, 2001-04) and finished his career with a 126-85-3 record – winning eight conference titles in 21 seasons, named the 1991 NAIA National Coach of the Year while at Western and was a two-time RMAC Coach of the Year.
 
Iverson coached several Mountaineers who went on to professional careers in the NFL and Arena Football League – along with several other leagues. He coached 15 student-athletes to 22 All-American honors and had three players win conference player of the year.

We caught up with Coach Iverson in 2018 for the Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame induction of his former player and defensive coordinator Casey Coons.

Here's a clip from that interview. #HayIsInTheBarn pic.twitter.com/OS2QMsxINu

— Western Colorado Mountaineers (@WCUMountaineers) February 12, 2021

 
Iverson first arrived in Gunnison in 1967 for graduate work and teacher certification after earning his doctorate in biological science at the University of Wisconsin. Following a year under Ollie Woods as the defensive end and tight end coach, Iverson went to Northern State in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where he was part of a staff that won five conference championships.
 
Following a stop at Flathead High School in Kalispell, Montana, Iverson returned to Western in 1974 as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach for Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame inductee Bill Noxon. Six RMAC championships and a pair of national playoff appearances later, Iverson went to Brigham Young University as the wide receiver coach and recruiting coordinator. He'd then coach at Western Oregon from 1985-87, leading the program to a 20-8 record and a NAIA national appearance.
 
Iverson returned to Western Colorado as head coach in 1988 to take over a Mountaineer program that had suffered six straight losing seasons. He dedicated himself to a long rebuild and it paid off in his fourth season in 1991. After a season-opening loss at Northern Colorado, the Mountaineers won 10 consecutive games – all but one by double figures – to reach the NAIA national semifinals before falling to Central State, 20-13, in Wilberforce, Ohio.
 
It was the start of a dominant run by the Mountaineers as Iverson led Western to RMAC titles in five of the next seven years after 1991's title run – including three NCAA Division II national playoff appearances (Western returned to the NCAA in 1992).
 
From the Pacific Northwest, Iverson returned to the region in 2001 to again coach at Western Oregon from 2001-04 where he retired as a head coach. But it didn't mean he was ready to be done with football as he returned to Western to be the offensive coordinator for head coach Pat Stewart. Iverson stayed involved with Western Colorado football until the end as he was a board member for the Mountaineer Football Alumni Association.