The Wichita State Shockers or Shockers are the athletic teams that represent Wichita State University, located in Wichita, Kansas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the American Athletic Conference (AAC).
One of the athletic programs is the Wichita State Shockers Football. The Wichita State Shockers Football is an American football team featured in the Apple TV+ series, Ted Lasso. The show depicts the Shockers winning a national championship at the NCAA Division II level under the titular character.
The Shockers is also known as breaking the color barrier in college football coaching when in 1979 Willie Jeffries became Wichita State’s head coach and the first African-American head coach of a Division I-A football program.
Scott Van Pelt reports that recently Coach Ted Lasso leading the Division II Wichita State Shockers to their first ever National title in American football. Ted took the Shockers from a garbage program all the way to the promise land of national title in his first season as the head coach.
The victory for the team lead to Ted being approached by Rebecca Welton to be head coach for struggling Premier League UK football team, AFC Richmond. But one of the reasons why Rebecca wants Ted to be the manager of Richmond is because she saw a viral video of him celebrating victory by dancing in the middle of locker room surrounded by the Shockers football players who are encouraging him and being happy for winning the title.
Notes[]
- There are several differences between the real life Wichita State University football program and the one depicted in the show.
- Wichita State does not actually field a football team, with the program being discontinued in 1986 due to the financial strain of college football on the university. There have been five unsuccessful attempts to revive the program, with the most recent being in 2012.
- Wichita State is a member of the NCAA Division I American Athletic Conference. This means that if they did have a football program, the conference agreements in place would make playing in Division II practically impossible for the Shockers.
- While Wichita State won their conference 14 times, they have actually never won a national title in football.