AUBURN, Ala. – Nicknamed “Captain Crunch” for his rugged tackling, former Auburn linebacker Mike Kolen passed away Wednesday at the age of 76.
A 1985 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Kolen led Auburn in tackles in 16 of the 25 games he started from 1967-69, earning All-SEC honors as a junior and senior.
Selected by Miami in the 12th round of the 1970 NFL Draft, Kolen played eight seasons for the Dolphins, winning back-to-back Super Bowls in 1972 and 1973.
For decades, Kolen returned to his alma mater each spring to present the Mike Kolen Award at A-Day to Auburn’s leading tackler from the previous season.
“It’s been a real thrill for me,” Kolen said in 2016. “You’re congratulating a player from the previous year who had a great impact on Auburn’s defensive side of the ball, being the leading tackler. Being there at Auburn, being out on the field, kind of reminds you of some old memories. It’s just a really next experience, and something I’ve thoroughly enjoyed over the years.”
Kolen arrived at Auburn in 1966 after starring at Birmingham’s Berry High School.
In his 2016 book, The Greatest Team: A Playbook for Champions, Kolen wrote about his admiration for Coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan.
“I liked everything about him. He was super organized and would have been a great CEO in business. His expectations were high,” Kolen wrote. “It was an outstanding opportunity for a young man like me to be exposed to such a quality and disciplined program.”
The title of Kolen’s book refers to the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the NFL’s only unbeaten Super Bowl champion.
Kolen arrived in Miami in 1970, the same season the Dolphins hired Don Shula as head coach.
Like all teams, Shula’s Dolphins focused on the fundamentals. While tangibles were important, Kolen said intangibles were even more so.
“I’m totally convinced that a big part of our success was TEAM as an acronym,” Kolen said, elaborating on the meaning behind the letters in a 2016 interview with AuburnTIgers.com.
T: “Trust is really the foundation of any collaborative effort or any championship endeavor. The importance of trusting each other and having each other’s back. And being committed to being trustworthy to your teammates is so vital, not only on the football field, but in the business world.”
E: “Enthusiasm is really the fuel behind any championship endeavor. We had a lot of enthusiasm on our team down in Miami, and especially when we had our perfect season, 17-0, and we won the next Super Bowl as well. But you can’t be a champion, and you can’t have a championship organization without enthusiasm right in the center of it.”
A: “Attitude is so vital in terms of the perspective you’re going to have. A never-give-up attitude. One that is contagious, in regard to thinking and playing like a winner in every situation. It’s a challenge. I also stress in the book a little bit about humility being a vital part of an attitude.”
M: “Motivation is overcoming initial inertia and all of us have some of that experience at times. In a team environment, I’ve found out that the greatest motivation is love and respect for your teammates, for your coaches, for your leadership in an organization and really being motivated by that.”
After his professional football career, Kolen enjoyed success in real estate, fitness center ownership and financial services.
Lessons learned at Auburn, in lecture halls and practice fields, benefited Kolen for a lifetime, he said.
“Coach Jordan had such a solid program for so many years,” he said. “Paul Davis, his defensive coordinator during the years I was there, was an experienced head coach at Mississippi State before he came over to Auburn. We had two great coaches who we could draw from and look up to who were truly champions.
“They knew what they were doing and they were enthused about it. Totally committed to it. And I think as a result of playing under such quality coaches it did prepare me for eight years of professional football.”
A man of deep faith, Kolen in 1969 became the first recipient of the National Christian Athlete of the year Award.
“Mike Kolen is one of the finest men I’ve ever known,” said former Auburn athletics director and sports information director David Housel. “Being a football player was secondary to Mike Kolen. He’s one of the greatest football players Auburn ever had, but he was much more. A rock, a beacon.
“When I think of Mike Kolen, I think of toughness, competitiveness, and a quality of goodness. He was a great football player but he was a better man.”
Kolen displayed that competitiveness at Legion Field before and during the 1969 Iron Bowl. A team captain, Kolen determined to help his team end Alabama’s five-game rivalry win streak.
“His teammates never heard him cuss,” recalled Housel. “That day at Legion Field, they were about to leave the dressing room he said, ‘All right, guys. Let’s go out there and beat the hell out of them.’
“The players say that really got them fired up because when Mike Kolen was fired up enough to say that, they knew he was serious. It gave all of them a spark.”
Auburn won 49-26.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
