High and Mighty

Embrace the unique pride of " pulling on the red jersey" and celebrate Western Mountaineer Football!

In High and Mighty, former Mountaineer football player and lifetime fan John Randall tells the remarkable story of intercollegiate football at Western Colorado University from 1922-2022. Through narrative and pictures, Randall delivers a complete chronicle of the program that began when Western State College of Colorado (now Western Colorado University) was established in Gunnison.

Fans will be fascinated as they read about the remote college's early struggles to compete with regional state universities. Celebrate as the Mountaineers' emergence as a small college program with more Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football championships than any other institution in any era.

Randall's roots going back to 1953 provide him with a rare perspective through intimate, first-hand knowledge of the coaches, players, and program leaders. More than a mere chronicle of scores, season records, and statistics, the book brings to life coach personalities and talented players.

Being a big presence in a small town on Colorado's western slope, this program has influenced the college as well as the town of Gunnison. Western Mountaineer football presently faces many of the same challenges it did in 1922. Much can be learned by embracing the past of the Western Nation.