Stripes of the Tiger
(a documentary film)
BACKGROUND
University of the Pacific was the first chartered university in California history, established on July 10, 1851, in Santa Clara under the name California Wesleyan College. The school moved to San Jose in 1871 and then to Stockton in 1923.
A small, private university, Pacific was the first coeducational campus in California, opened the first conservatory of music on the West Coast, and founded the first medical school on the West Coast. This small school also played the game of football, with its first game played in 1895. From 1895 through 1924, Pacific competed as an independent.
In 1925, Pacific joined the Northern California Athletic Conference. In 1933, Pacific was put on the football map when the legendary Amos Alonzo Stagg became its head football coach. Stagg coached at Pacific from 1933 through 1946 with great success, including victories over his former school, the University of Chicago.
Building on the football tradition that Stagg brought to Pacific, the school competed in the sport at the highest levels for the next 49 years until, abruptly, in 1995, the university’s Board of Regents decided to drop football to save money. In one move, 100 years of history was abandoned.
Sixteen men held the position of head football coach at Pacific from 1921 until the program was dropped in 1995. Stripes of the Tiger traces the football history, legacy and remarkable coaching lineage that was spawned at the University of the Pacific. The documentary also explores the changing landscape of competitive college football and examines the reasons a once-proud program like Pacific’s became extinct.
SYNOPSIS
Stripes of the Tiger is a documentary film that tells the rich story of the football heritage and legacy at the University of the Pacific.
Pacific’s lineage traces back to the glory days of the College of the Pacific, legendary coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, quarterback Eddie LeBaron and the undefeated 1949 team.
As Pacific football progressed through the years, the program produced a staggering number of coaches who went on to the NFL and other prominence in the game. The list of coaches who played or coached at Pacific before moving on to the NFL is remarkable. How did such a small school produce so many influential football coaches? Stripes of the Tiger tells their stories.
National championships. Heisman Trophy winners. Super Bowl championships. Innovative play designs that revolutionized the game. Pioneering student-athletes who broke racial barriers.
Stripes of the Tiger has all of this and more, telling the unique story of University of the Pacific football — a college football program lost to time and economics, yet never forgotten, as its legacy lives on through the players and coaches who passed through Pacific and the generations of football they influenced.
TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience for Stripes of the Tiger is broad because its story extends well beyond University of the Pacific. Football fans, sports history enthusiasts, civil rights and social history audiences, military veterans and those who simply love a great underdog story will all find something compelling in the film.
At its core, Stripes of the Tiger is about more than football. It is about the players and coaches whose lives intersected at a small California university and the remarkable influence they went on to have on the game and on one another.
The documentary also has a natural and deeply personal audience among University of the Pacific alumni, former players, coaches, their families and the greater Pacific community, who share a direct connection to the history, traditions and legacy explored throughout the film.
DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
The distribution strategy for Stripes of the Tiger is to position the documentary for acquisition or licensing by a major streaming platform, sports network or documentary distributor with an established audience for premium sports storytelling.
The project benefits from the involvement of Rob Dorfmann, an experienced producer with a track record in sports documentary programming and relationships within the industry, including work associated with Netflix and ESPN. His experience and understanding of the sports-documentary marketplace provide an important resource as Stripes of the Tiger moves toward completion and distribution.
The completed documentary will be presented to appropriate streaming platforms, sports networks and distributors, with potential outlets including Netflix, ESPN, NFL Films and other platforms seeking compelling sports, history and human-interest programming.
Beyond traditional distribution, the project has a built-in audience through University of the Pacific alumni, former players and coaches, their families and the broader college and professional football communities. The documentary will be supported through direct alumni outreach, social media, earned media, the project’s extensive network of interview participants and UOPFootball.org.
With 91 interviews completed, including prominent players, coaches and football figures, Stripes of the Tiger has also created a substantial archive of Pacific football history that provides opportunities for additional digital content, promotional features and supplemental programming beyond the documentary itself.
CURRENT STATUS — COMPLETION TIMELINE
Stripes of the Tiger has been produced on an extraordinarily lean budget, initially financed privately by producer Brad Lane along with grassroots support from Pacific football alumni and supporters, including a T-shirt fundraising campaign.
The University of the Pacific originally pledged $100,000 toward completion of the documentary through the Football Plaza and Memorial Brick fundraising campaigns. That commitment was subsequently reduced to $50,000, with approximately $36,000 ultimately provided before the available funding expired.
Despite the limited resources, production has continued and 91 interviews have now been completed, creating an extensive and increasingly irreplaceable archive of Pacific football history.
Production remains active, with at least 25 additional interviews currently targeted and potentially as many as 40, as the filmmakers continue documenting former Pacific players and coaches, Pro Football Hall of Famers, and others whose stories are important to the Pacific football legacy.
In addition to completing these remaining interviews, the project requires archival research and licensing, editing, graphics, music, sound design, color correction and final post-production.
With the majority of the project’s interviews now completed, the production is seeking the additional funding and strategic support necessary to finish principal production, complete post-production and prepare Stripes of the Tiger for presentation to distributors and streaming platforms.