Elite Lettermen Club Honored as Grand Marshals in Farewell Year

09/17/2025

Elite Lettermen march in the Jax State Homecoming paradeBy Brett Buckner 

Even icons retire. Though they must eventually join the ranks of us mere mortals, none can resist the chance to bask – one last time - in the contagious joy and excitement their presence incites. That is the bittersweet reality of Jax State’s beloved Elite Letterman Club (ELC).  

After 20 years of leading the Jax State football team onto the field before Homecoming, the ELC is calling it quits … sort of. 

“Oh, we’re not going away. We’ll still be around,” said ELC member Dave Bowles, who graduated in 1981. “We’ll be gathering for every homecoming game. “We’re just gonna tone it back a bit.” 

Known for wearing football pants, old-timey leather football helmets, and painting “GAMECOCKS” – or some version thereof, depending on how many of the men, all retired military, can attend the game – across their bare chests, the ELC have become a Jax State homecoming tradition. They march behind a military vehicle in the annual homecoming parade, before leading the team onto the field before the game, and continue hyping up the crowd during the game. This week’s Homecoming festivities will be the last to feature the ELC in those roles. 

This year, to celebrate 20 years of support, ELC is serving as the grand marshals for the homecoming parade, which will begin on Saturday at 11 a.m. on Public Square E and end in front of the Theron Montgomery Building. 

“It’s such an incredible honor to get this kind of recognition,” said Letterman Gene Wisdom, who graduated in 1981. “There’s no place in the world I’d rather be than with this bunch of hooligans.” 

The Lettermen are Jax State alumni who were members of the ROTC and graduated between 1979 and 1984. “It was a brotherhood that’s lasted all these years,” Bowles said. “That experience forged us by testing us and pushing us, making us the men we are today.” 

The reason that the ELC will no longer lead the team on the field or walk in the homecoming parade is simple. 

“It’s just time,” Bowles said. “We’re all getting older and dealing with health issues, so this just felt right to end it this year.”  

While their role on the field may be coming to an end, the brotherhood remains unbreakable. Their story — and the tradition they created — will be celebrated in more depth following Homecoming.