USC Trojans football players pose for a photo Dec. 24, 2023, during an open ship tour aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln prior to the 2023 Holiday Bowl. Abraham Lincoln is currently moored pierside at Naval Air Station North Island. (Victoria Armstrong/U.S. Navy)
SAN DIEGO (Tribune News Service) — DirecTV Holiday Bowl President Dennis DuBard toured the USS Abraham Lincoln on Sunday afternoon with players and coaches from the Louisville and USC football teams.
As a port city, San Diego affords an experience few other postseason games can match. The ship tour annually is among the highlights of bowl week for the teams.
This year’s tour represented a full-circle moment for DuBard.
In 2002, he was commanding officer of the USS Peleliu, a Marine helicopter carrier then stationed in San Diego. The ship that year hosted players and coaches from Kansas State and Arizona State.
“We were pretty excited,” DuBard recalled this weekend. “A lot of the crew were very, very excited.”
Each year, two members of the crew are selected to be honorary captains. The two from the Peleliu included one person who had attended Kansas State and one who had actually played football for ASU.
“He got hurt and decided to join the Navy,” DuBard said.
DuBard said the tour provides meaningful moments for both football players and crew members.
He will never forget watching the Kansas State and ASU players as they approached the ship.
“We were all the way at the end of the pier, so they had to walk a long way to get there,” DuBard said. “I’m on the elevator looking down, waiting for them to come aboard.
Louisville Cardinals football players pose for a photo Dec. 24, 2023, during an open ship tour aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln prior to the 2023 Holiday Bowl. Abraham Lincoln is currently moored pierside at Naval Air Station North Island. (Alonzo Martin-Frazier/U.S. Navy)
“I can see their faces and most of them have that deer-in-the-headlight look. The sheer size of the ship, in some cases, if you’ve never been around it, it’s a little overwhelming. So they were very, very excited.”
Another moment that has stayed with him more than two decades later was watching huge linemen trying to squeeze inside a Marine tank.
“We had been doing some workups, so we still had some Marine gear on board,” DuBard said. “There were some linemen that were trying to crawl into the little driver’s hole to get in. These were 300-pound guys. It was hilarious. Their teammates were laughing. ...”
“You’ll never get in there.”
“Yes, I will.”
DuBard said, “we wanted to make it special for them to see what kids their own age were doing. These guys were playing football, and these kids went in the Navy. They speak the same lingo. It was a good experience for both.”
Commanding Officer Capt. Pete Riebe explains how flight operations are conducted during an open ship tour aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln prior to the 2023 Holiday Bowl, Dec. 24, 2023. (Alonzo Martin-Frazier/U.S. Navy)
The Louisville and USC players touring the Abraham Lincoln, which is stationed at NAS North Island, were able to walk on an aircraft carrier that is more than 3 1/2 times the length of a football field.
The players also could learn some history about a ship that has served in some of the nation’s most important missions since it was launched 35 years ago.
It was deployed 290 days, longer than any nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in history, in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks. The Abraham Lincoln broke its own record in 2020 when it was deployed 295 days.
Sunday’s visit brought back additional memories for DuBard. Part of his career spent aboard the Abraham Lincoln as ship navigator. He was intent on sitting again in his chair on the bridge.
DuBard grew up in Texas, attended at Texas A&M and noted that “every male in the state of Texas is a big football fan.”
Not long after he retired in 2007, DuBard was at an event where he bumped into a Holiday Bowl staff member.
“Next thing you know, I got an application, had an interview and 14 years later I’m the president,” he said. “I was with the Navy for 30 years, moved about every two years, so I never really got involved in the community. So one of the things when I retired is I wanted to give back to the community that had helped me.
“I enjoy football, and they do a lot of things in the community. It’s perfect.”
USC Trojans football team players touch an F/A-18E Super Hornet on Dec. 24, 2023, during an open ship tour aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) prior to the 2023 Holiday Bowl. (Alonzo Martin-Frazier/U.S. Navy)
The volunteers who rise through the Holiday Bowl organization to become president are often business and civic leaders.
DuBard brings an entirely different perspective to the position, however.
“He’s an incredible leader,” Holiday Bowl executive director Mark Neville said. “With his background and his career, it shines through. The way he runs the board meetings and motivates. He’s strong. Very strong.
“I’ve learned a lot from him. We’ve been experiencing a lot of challenges. It’s a different leadership style he has that’s incredibly effective.
“I really appreciate and respect his counsel.”
Recent challenges have included game cancellations related to the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing difficulty finding sponsors amid an economic downturn.
There’s also now star players opting out of games to prepare for the NFL Draft or enter the NCAA transfer portal.
On the horizon, there’s an expanded playoff that could further marginalize the bowl system.
Crisis management was a day-to-day part of DuBard’s life for decades, so his input is welcomed and encouraged.
DuBard said he is “thinking long-term strategy. Where do we go from here?”
He speaks excitedly about being part of a group whose members are widely recognized for their bright-color coats.
“This red jacket,” DuBard said. “It’s probably the ugliest jacket on the planet, but I feel something when I put this jacket on. It means something to me and a lot of the Redcoats.
“They thoroughly enjoy doing this, and there’s a sense of pride putting this jacket on.”
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Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Apprentice Jose Andrade, right, from Modesto, Calif., gives a weapons demonstration Dec. 24, 2023, during an open ship tour aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) prior to the 2023 Holiday Bowl. (Victoria Armstrong/U.S. Navy)
