Missouri Western athletics started a new tradition last year, and it looks to be one with some staying power.

In 2017, head football coach Matt Williamson ’96 hadn’t been on the job very long when he was pondering what could be Griffon football’s tradition.

Williamson fondly remembered his time as a student athlete at Missouri Western when the team, families and fans gathered under the Victory Tree behind the Baker Family Fitness Center after the win. Unfortunately, the construction of the Griffon Indoor Sports Complex brought the football office and locker room from the fitness center to the GISC, ending the longtime tradition of singing the school fight song under the tree outside the football locker room.

“I was just sitting there in my office one day looking out the window thinking about what we could do differently and I saw that bell hanging under the video scoreboard (new in 2016),” Williamson said. “Ryan Menley and I walked around looking at different ways to enter the stadium and I just kept seeing that bell. I wondered if anyone had rung it and how loud it was. Then I thought, let’s make people hear it!”

With that thought, a tradition was born.

On Sept. 7, 2017, Williamson led his team to the bell after a 45-7 home opener victory over Missouri Southern. Senior safety Jonathan Owens became the first Griffon to officially ring the bell.

What may have seemed like a spontaneous call from a rookie head coach resonated with the Griffon nation. Two weeks later when the team won its second-straight home game, the football team found two lines of the Golden Griffon Marching Band, Griffon Cheer Squad and the Mystics Dance Team forming a tunnel from the field to the bell. Quarterback Dom Marino rang the bell that Saturday and the tradition was set.

“I was just looking for something to bring everyone together after a win like I remembered the old Victory Tree when I played here,” Williamson said. “I didn’t realize it would catch on so quickly and then spread to other teams. It’s really cool and shows just how tight-knit things are here at Missouri Western.”

Soon after the football tradition began, Athletics ordered a bell for the teams that don’t play on Craig Field in Spratt Memorial Stadium. Soon after, Griffon volleyball rang the bell in the Looney Complex following the program’s first-ever MIAA regular season championship. Griffon soccer made a habit of ringing the bell in the stadium on the way to its first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament.

The tradition spread like wildfire and became a calling card for Griffon victories, even a hashtag on social media. The second bell was mounted to a cart for easier transportation and became a part of baseball and softball series sweeps. Baseball head coach Buzz Verduzco became the first to ring the bell at the Spring Sports Complex when he passed Doug Minnis as the all-time wins leader in Griffon baseball history. The first-year cross country and track & field teams even made it a habit to head for the bell as soon as they returned to campus following a win.

“There is nothing better than a tradition that begins naturally and comes from the students. It’s what gives traditions staying power and makes them so special,” said Josh Looney, director of athletics. “What began with our football team ringing the bell quickly evolved into our other sports programs. The next thing you know, faculty and staff are ringing the bell when our teams win on the road, and it is now even part of our spring commencement celebration.”

From now on, every Griffon will not just celebrate a win or an achievement, they’ll gather together to ring the bell.