With a long history that includes a National Championship in 1984, BYU's football program is one of the finest in the country. The 1984 Cougars were led to an unbeaten season by NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young. However, BYU's football players have not always been devout Mormons. In fact, only about half of them are today. When the university began offering college football in 1892, most players were non-Mormon farmers or miners who played for the school during the off-season. By the time World War II ended, most BYU athletes were attending church with over 90% of them being active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After the war, many former servicemen returned home to find work and many students decided to continue their education. This caused attendance at basketball games to drop off which prompted the school to hire its first coach, Newell Stegall, who had coached baseball at Utah State University before coming to BYU. Under Stegall, who was a former American Legion player and manager, football attendance increased from 250 per game to 800 per game. He also developed a more aggressive offense that included a forward pass that was legalized by the NCAA in 1973. However, Stegall was fired after just two seasons and no bowl games were ever played under his direction.