McKINNEY, Texas — Gregg Brandon started the quarterback club with nine fans alongside him in the Marv Kay end zone.

Less than a decade later, the same fan club he created in 2015 to raise money for the program has grown to thousands of people from Colorado School of Mines alumni to longtime fans to parents of students who are just out to support.

At least for the last two seasons, their annual reunion has become a trip to McKinney, Texas, for the Division II national title game. Former player Kyle Goracke has helped turn the event into a parking-lot-size tailgate, stocked full of drinks, catered trays of barbecue and a trailer from Tailgate USA with televisions hooked to satellites.

Players who have been distanced for over a decade have been able to reconnect and bring a spirit behind the Orediggers that they once had on the field. All of it with the quarterback club’s signature shot of Fireball in hand.

The best part: it’s a turn-key system. Goracke made a call right after the Orediggers’ semifinal win and showed up Saturday with the screens, drinks and fun waiting — and a few fans.

“I played and a lot of the people here are former teammates and friends,” Goracke said. “We like to cut loose — Mines is a tough place to play and go to school, it’s such a grind. We’ve started to talk about this just being a yearly thing, and that’s fantastic.”

Goracke lives in Fort Worth, and a large part of the Orediggers’ base is in Texas now. For those who can’t make it to games during the year, a national title chance is their opportunity to make up for the lost time.

He, and many others at the event, were part of Mines’ early climb.

Goracke’s last year playing was in 2010 and the Orediggers lost in the first round of the playoffs to Grand Valley State. Four years later, Mines lost again in the first round to Ohio Dominican. In the last three years, it climbed to the semifinals and back-to-back trips to the final.

Brandon’s goal of winning a title was laughed at when he started the quarterback club — the initial idea stuck when players were wearing Broncos and Texans sweatpants instead of representing their school. Now he’s able to smile with drink in hand at the tailgate.

And the players have plenty of cold-weather gear to spare.

“We started from scratch,” Brandon said. “They told me you couldn’t get good enough players at an academic school; they’re going to be studying all the time. That fueled me even more. We figured out how to recruit and look how far the program has come.”

Speeches were delivered throughout the event, and Brandon was able to give a toast too.

Once the buses come in, the group migrates to the opening gates of McKinney ISD Stadium to welcome them with signs, cheers and encouraging words before the game.

Though the result was once again a somber one, Mines benefitted from a chance to reunite, if only for four quarters of football and the few hours before it.

“They just keep pushing the program forward,” Goracke said. “With the coaching changes and everything else, it’s incredible. It’s so difficult to repeat and get here again.

”It’s a pretty cool thing that we have been able to put together.”