List of The Citadel Bulldogs head football coaches

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The Citadel Bulldogs football program is a college football team that represents The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the Southern Conference. The Bulldogs compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Championship Subdivision.

Contents

The first season of football at The Citadel was in 1905. The team has had twenty-five different head coaches, with two serving for two separate stretches of time. There was no team from 1943 through 1945 due to World War II.

The Bulldogs have appeared in and won one bowl game, the 1960 Tangerine Bowl under head coach Eddie Teague. They have also made five appearances in the NCAA Division I-AA (now FCS) Playoffs, holding an overall record of 2–5. The first three appearances were under head coach Charlie Taaffe, while the others were led by Mike Houston and Brent Thompson. The Citadel has claimed four Southern Conference championships, in 1961 under the leadership of Teague, in 1992 under Taaffe, in 2015 under Houston, and 2016 under Thompson. The Bulldogs have not won a national championship in football.

Through the end of the 2018 season, Charlie Taaffe has coached the most games for the Bulldogs, and claimed the most wins. He and Mike Houston are the only coaches to lead the team and win a game in the Division I-AA playoffs. Kevin Higgins recorded the most losses in Citadel history and second most games overall, just one behind Taaffe. After three seasons, Brent Thompson has the highest winning percentage at .588, while John D. McMillan has the lowest winning percentage at .225.

Taaffe earned National Coach of the Year honors in 1992, from Sports Information Directors in the Eddie Robinson Award, The Sports Network, and from the American Football Coaches Association. Six coaches have earned Southern Conference Coach of the Year honors: Teague (1961), Tom Moore (1984), Taaffe (1988 and 1992), Higgins (2012), Houston (2015), and Thompson (2016). Additionally, John Sauer and Teague earned South Carolina Coach of the Year awards in 1955 and 1961, respectively.

Key

Key to symbols in coaches list
GeneralOverallConferencePostseason [A 1]
No.Order of coaches [A 2] GCGames coachedCWConference winsPWPostseason wins
DCDivision championshipsOWOverall winsCLConference lossesPLPostseason losses
CCConference championshipsOLOverall lossesCTConference tiesPTPostseason ties
NCNational championshipsOTOverall 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 [4] [A 5]
No.NameTerm(s)GCOWOLOTO%CWCLCTC%PWPLDCsCCsNCsAwards [5]
1 Syd Smith 19056231.4170
2 Ralph Foster 1906–190816862.56300
3 Sam Costen 1909–191016772.500141.25000
4 Louis LeTellier 1911–191216862.563150.16700
5 George C. Rogers 1913–1915, 19193314163.4704121.2650000
6 Harry J. O'Brien 1916–1918, 1920–19213314154.4858132.3910000
7 Carl Prause 1922–19297741324.55824163.5930000
8 Johnny Floyd 1930–193115993.500711.8330000
9 Tatum Gressette 1932–19397834413.45514210.400 [A 6] 0000
10 Bo Rowland 1940–19422413101.563281.2270000
11 J. Quinn Decker 1946–19526523391.3738250.2420000
12 John D. McMillan 1953–1954204151.225170.1250000
13 John Sauer 1955–195618891.472350.37500001955 South Carolina Coach of the Year
14 Eddie Teague 1957–19659145442.50529260.52710101955 South Carolina Coach of the Year
1961 Southern Conference Coach of the Year
15 Red Parker 1966–19727339340.53425200.5560000
16 Bobby Ross 1973–19775524310.43611190.3670000
17 Art Baker 1978–19825530241.55515131.3300000
18 Tom Moore 1983–19864418251.4207181.28800001984 Southern Conference Coach of the Year
19 Charlie Taaffe 1987–199510355471.53930341.46913101988 Southern Conference Coach of the Year
1992 Eddie Robinson Award
1992 The Sports Network Coach of the Year
1992 AFCA Division I-AA Coach of the Year
1992 SC Hall of Fame Coach of the Year
1992 Southern Conference Coach of the Year
20 Don Powers 1996–2000551936.3451327.3250000
21 Ellis Johnson 2001–2003341222.353717.2920000
22 John Zernhelt 20041037.30025.2860000
23 Kevin Higgins 2005–20131024357.4302643.37700002012 Southern Conference Coach of the Year
24 Mike Houston 2014–2015251411.56095.64311102015 Southern Conference Coach of the Year
25 Brent Thompson 2016–2022803644.4502729.48201102016 Southern Conference Coach of the Year
26 Maurice Drayton 2023–present0110.00008.0000000

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. [1]
  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. [2]
  4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss. [3]
  5. Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season.
  6. Gressette had a record of 10–7 (.588) against Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association opponents and 4–14 (.222) against Southern Conference opponents.

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The 1994 The Citadel Bulldogs football team represented The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the 1994 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Charlie Taaffe served as head coach for the eighth season. The Bulldogs played as members of the Southern Conference and played home games at Johnson Hagood Stadium.

The 1995 The Citadel Bulldogs football team represented The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the 1995 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Charlie Taaffe served as head coach for the ninth season. The Bulldogs played as members of the Southern Conference and played home games at Johnson Hagood Stadium.

The 1987 The Citadel Bulldogs football team represented The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the 1987 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Charlie Taaffe served as head coach for the first season. The Bulldogs played as members of the Southern Conference and played home games at Johnson Hagood Stadium.

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The 2017 The Citadel Bulldogs football team represented The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bulldogs were led by second-year head coach Brent Thompson and played their home games at Johnson Hagood Stadium. They were members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 5–6, 3–5 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for sixth place.

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References

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. The Citadel Football - 2011 Media Guide. citadelsports.com. p. 142. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  5. "Coaches of the Year". citadelsports.com. Archived from the original on February 19, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2013.