Vic Backlund won 11 letters in football, basketball and baseball prior to graduating in 1958. He is believed to be the only athlete in school history to earn first-team All-Northwest Conference honors in three sports. He also won All-American honors his final year on the gridiron and played professional baseball for two years after being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. After a stint in the service, he returned to Willamette to obtain his master's degree. Backlund then began teaching and coaching at North Salem High School, until he moved to the new McNary High School in 1965. Up until his induction in 1991, nine of Backlund's 21 McNary baseball teams qualified for the state tournament. His 1989 team won the Oregon Class AAA title and he was named Coach of the Year by the Oregonian.