List of Boston University Terriers head football coaches

The Boston University Terriers college football represented Boston University last in the New England Division of the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10), as part of the NCAA Division I-AA. The program had 20  head coaches, and 1 interim head coach, since it began play during the 1884 season. The final head coach of the Terriers was Tom Masella who served for the 1996 and 1997 seasons. ^{[1] [2]}

Three coaches have led Boston University in postseason bowl games or playoffs: Larry Naviaux, Rick Taylor, and Dan Allen. Two of these coaches also won conference championships: Taylor captured four and Allen one as a member of the Yankee Conference.

Aldo Donelli is the leader in seasons coached, with 10 years as head coach. Taylor is the leader and games coached (88), won (55), and highest winning percentage at 0.631. Excluding interim head coaches, Masella has the lowest winning percentage with 0.091.

Key

Key to symbols in coaches list

General		Overall		Conference		Postseason [A 1]
No.	Order of coaches [A 2]	GC	Games coached	CW	Conference wins	PW	Postseason wins
DC	Division championships	OW	Overall wins	CL	Conference losses	PL	Postseason losses
CC	Conference championships	OL	Overall losses	CT	Conference ties	PT	Postseason ties
NC	National championships	OT	Overall ties [A 3]	C%	Conference winning percentage
†	Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame	O%	Overall winning percentage [A 4]

Coaches

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards ^{[A 5]}

No.	Name [A 6]	Season(s) [A 7]	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	PT	DC	CC	NC	Awards
1	John MacDonald	1918–1919	10	3	6	1	0.350	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
2	Percy Wendell	1920	8	4	3	1	0.563	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
3	Charles Whelan	1921–1925	36	11	22	3	0.347	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
4	Edward N. Robinson [A 8]	1926–1929	33	11	19	3	0.379	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
4	Reggie Brown [A 9]	1926–1929	33	11	19	3	0.379	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
5	Hilary Mahaney	1930–1931	18	3	14	1	0.194	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
6	Myles Lane	1932	7	2	3	2	0.429	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
7	John Harmon	1933	7	2	5	0	0.286	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
8	Pat Hanley	1934–1941	64	35	24	5	0.586	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
9	Walt Holmer	1942 1945–1946	17	9	7	1	0.559	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
Int	Robert McKelvey [A 10]	1945	3	0	3	0	.000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
10	Aldo Donelli	1947–1956	86	46	36	4	0.558	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
11	Steve Sinko	1957–1963	62	23	36	3	0.395	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
12	Warren Schmakel	1964–1967	46	20	24	2	0.457	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	—
13	Larry Naviaux	1969–1972	40	19	21	0	0.475	—	—	—	—	0	1	0	—	—	0	—
14	Paul Kemp	1973–1976	41	16	24	1	0.402	7	14	0	0.333	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
15	Rick Taylor	1977–1984	88	55	32	1	0.631	26	14	0	0.650	1	3	0	—	4	0	—
16	Steve Stetson	1985–1987	33	10	23	0	0.303	6	13	0	0.316	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
17	Chris Palmer	1988–1989	22	8	14	0	0.364	7	9	0	0.438	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
18	Dan Allen	1990–1995	69	36	33	0	0.522	24	24	0	0.500	1	2	0	1	1	0	—
19	Tom Masella	1996–1997	22	2	20	—	0.091	1	15	—	0.063	0	0	—	0	0	0	—

Notes

1. Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played. ^[3]
2. A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
3. Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since. ^[4]
4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss. ^[5]
5. Statistics correct as of the end of the 1997 NCAA Division I-AA football season.
6. Boston University did not have a head coach for their 1884, 1886–1887, 1891–1897, 1904–1905, or 1917 seasons.
7. Boston University did not field teams duuring the 1885, 1888–1890, 1898–1903, 1906–1916, or 1943–1944 seasons.
8. Robinson served as co-head coach with Reggie Brown from 1926 to 1929.
9. Brown served as co-head coach with Edward N. Robinson from 1926 to 1929.
10. McKelvey served as interim head coach until Holmer was discharged from the Navy and resumed his coaching duties on November 5, 1945. ^[6]

References

1. Joe Burris (October 26, 1997). "The end for BU football". The Boston Globe. p. 89. Retrieved September 29, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
2. "An era ends today at Boston University". The Journal News. Associated Press. November 8, 1997. Retrieved September 29, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
3. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
4. Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
5. Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
6. King, Bill (November 5, 1945). "Braves Have Already Signed New Manager". The Telegraph. Retrieved September 16, 2023.