Muhlenberg Mules football

Muhlenberg Mules football
First season	1900;125 years ago (1900)
Athletic director	Lynn Tubman
Head coach	Nate Milne 7th season, 60–13 (.822)
Stadium	Scotty Wood Stadium (capacity: 3,000)
Year built	1999
Field surface	FieldTurf
Location	Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
NCAA division	Division III
Conference	Centennial
Past conferences	Eastern Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference (1926–1942) MAC (1958–1982)
All-time record	589–520–41 (.530)
Playoff appearances	Div. III: 8
Playoff record	Div. III: 9–8
Conference titles	18
Rivalries	Moravian [1]
Colors	Red and gray [2]
Mascot	Mule
Website	muhlenbergsports.com

The Muhlenberg Mules football team represents Muhlenberg College in college football at the NCAA Division III level. The team, known as the Muhlenberg Mules, have been members of the Centennial Conference since 1983. The Mules play their home games at Scotty Wood Stadium in Allentown, Pennsylvania. ^[3] The Muhlenberg Mules football program was founded in 1900.

The team's current head coach is Nate Milne, who took over the position beginning in the 2018 season. ^[4]

Muhlenberg was known as the Cardinal and Grey until 1923, Cardinals from 1924 to 1928, and Mules 1929 onward.

History

1900 to 1945

In 1900, Muhlenberg launched its football program, which was the college's first varsity sport. In 1925, Haps Benfer became Muhlenberg head football coach, and the team finished the 1925 season 6-3-1.

From 1936 to 1945, Doggie Julian was head coach. He recorded a career record of 56–49–2. Julian was also head basketball coach during this time and, from 1942 to 1944, head baseball coach. ^[5]

1946 to 1997

Further information: Ben Schwartzwalder

In 1946, Ben Schwartzwalder became head football coach. ^[6] In his first season, he guided the Mules to a 9–1 record ^[7] and a national championship with Muhlenberg defeating St. Bonaventure University in the Tobacco Bowl. ^[7] The following year, in the 1947 season, Schwartzwalder again led the Mules to a 9–1 record; the season's only loss came by one point, in a 7–6 loss at Temple. The Mules declined an invitation that season to appear in the Tangerine Bowl. ^[8] In 1949, Schwartzwalder departed to coach Syracuse.

1997 to 2018

Mike Donnelly became the head football coach in 1997. Despite a 1–9 inaugural season, Donnelly turned the team around; from 2000 to 2004, the Mules won five straight Centennial Conference championships ^[9] and earned five straight postseason berths. In 2007, the Mules again won the Centennial Conference and received another berth in the NCAA playoffs, winning their first-round game before falling in the second round. Donnelly's team won the Centennial Conference again in 2008 and earned a playoff berth, but lost in the playoff's first round. In 2010, they returned to the playoffs with the same result.

Since the 2000 season, Muhlenberg has compiled a 66–28 overall record in the Centennial Conference, second best among all active and former members behind only Johns Hopkins University. Seven times in the 2000s, the Muhlenberg football team won the Centennial Conference championship. ^[10]

2018 to present

Further information: Nate Milne

Nate Milne became Muhlenberg's head football coach in the 2018 season. He has a 35–5 record over his first three seasons. ^[11] In 2019, he was named AFCA Coach of the Year Award for NCAA Division III. ^[12]

Conference affiliation

• Independent (1900–1925)
• Eastern Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference (1926–1942)
• Independent (1943–1957)
• Middle Atlantic Conferences (1958–1982)
• Centennial Conference (1983–present)

Former NFL players

Since the start of the Muhlenberg football program in 1900, at least three Muhlenberg players have gone on to play in the National Football League:

• Sisto Averno, 1950 to 1954 with the Baltimore Colts, Dallas Texans, and New York Yanks
• Charlie Copley, 1920 to 1922 with the Akron Pros and Milwaukee Badgers
• Tony Zuzzio, 1942, Detroit Lions

List of head coaches

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

No.	Name	Season(s)	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	PT	CC
1	Charles Schmidt	1900	5	1	3	1	.300	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2	Walter Beck	1901	4	1	2	1	.375	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
3	William Grey	1902	7	0	4	3	.214	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
4	Walter Singmaster	1905	6	2	3	1	.417	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
5	Alfred Raub	1906	9	5	4	0	.556	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
6	George Barclay	1907	10	7	3	0	.700	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
7	Alfred E. Bull	1908–1910	24	8	12	4	.417	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
8	Thomas Kelley	1911–1913	27	17	9	1	.648	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
9	George McCaa	1914–1915	19	6	11	2	.368	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
10	John B. Price	1916–1917	17	10	4	3	.676	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
11	Guy Brubaker	1918	5	3	2	0	.600	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
12	Bill Ritter	1919–1920	18	6	11	1	.361	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
13	Johnny Spiegel	1921–1922	21	11	8	2	.571	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
14	Walter W. Wood	1923–1924	20	10	9	1	.525	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
15	Haps Benfer	1925–1928	38	19	18	1	.513	6	5	0	.545	–	–	–	1
16	George Holstrom	1929–1933	48	20	25	3	.448	8	10	2	.450	–	–	–	2
17	John Utz	1934–1935	19	3	15	1	.184	0	7	1	.063	–	–	–	0
18	Doggie Julian	1936–1944	89	42	46	1	.478	15	8	1	.646	–	–	–	3
19	Larry Rosati	1945	5	0	5	0	.000	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
20	Ben Schwartzwalder	1946–1948	30	25	5	0	.833	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
21	Howard Baughman	1949–1950	17	4	11	2	.294	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
22	Tom Triplett	1951–1955	41	14	25	2	.366	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
23	Ray Whispell	1956–1969	121	50	69	2	.421	27	45	2	.378	–	–	–	0
24	Frank P. Marino	1970–1980	99	53	40	6	.566	51	46	6	.524	–	–	–	0
25	Ralph Kirchenheiter	1981–1989	85	52	32	1	.618	42	22	1	.654	–	–	–	2
26	Francis Meagher	1990–1993	39	10	28	1	.269	9	19	0	.321	–	–	–	0
27	Greg Olejack	1994–1996	30	3	26	1	.117	2	18	1	.119	–	–	–	0
28	Mike Donnelly [16]	1997–2017	225	148	77	0	.658	109	52	0	.677	2	5	0	7
29	Nate Milne [17]	2018–present	73	60	13	0	.820	40	8	0	.833	7	3	0	3

Year-by-year results

National champions

Conference champions

Bowl game berth

Playoff berth

Season	Year	Head coach	Association	Division	Conference	Record							Postseason	Final ranking
						Overall			Conference
						Win	Loss	Tie	Finish	Win	Loss	Tie
Muhlenberg Mules
1900	1900	Charles Schmidt	—	—	Independent	1	3	1					—	—
1901	1901	Walter Beck				1	2	1					—	—
1902	1902	William Grey				0	4	3					—	—
No team from 1903 to 1904
1905	1905	Walter Singmaster	—	—	Independent	2	3	1					—	—
1906	1906	Alfred Raub	IAAUS			5	4	0					—	—
1907	1907	George Barclay				7	3	0					—	—
1908	1908	Alfred E. Bull				2	5	1					—	—
1909	1909					3	4	2					—	—
1910	1910		NCAA			3	3	1					—	—
1911	1911	Thomas Kelley				5	4	0					—	—
1912	1912					6	3	0					—	—
1913	1913					6	2	1					—	—
1914	1914	George McCaa				2	6	2					—	—
1915	1915					4	5	0					—	—
1916	1916	John B. Price				5	3	1					—	—
1917	1917					5	1	2					—	—
1918	1918	Guy Brubaker				3	2	0					—	—
1919	1919	Bill Ritter				3	5	0					—	—
1920	1920					3	6	1					—	—
1921	1921	Johnny Spiegel				7	2	1					—	—
1922	1922					4	6	1					—	—
1923	1923	Walter W. Wood				3	6	1					—	—
1924	1924					7	3	0					—	—
1925	1925	Haps Benfer				6	3	1					—	—
1926	1926				Eastern Pennsylvania	7	3	0	1st	3	0	0	—	—
1927	1927					5	4	0	3rd	2	2	0	—	—
1928	1928					1	8	0	T–4th	1	3	0	—	—
1929	1929	George Holstrom				3	6	0	4th	1	3	0	—	—
1930	1930					5	4	1	T–2nd	2	1	1	—	—
1931	1931					2	8	0	5th	0	4	0	—	—
1932	1932					3	4	2	T–1st	2	1	1	—	—
1933	1933					6	3	0	T–1st	3	1	0	—	—
1934	1934	John Utz				2	6	1	5th	0	3	1	—	—
1935	1935					1	9	0	5th	0	4	0	—	—
1936	1936	Doggie Julian				2	6	1	T–3rd	1	2	1	—	—
1937	1937					5	5	0	T–2nd	2	2	0	—	—
1938	1938					7	3	0	T–1st	3	1	0	—	—
1939	1939					6	4	0	2nd	2	1	0	—	—
1940	1940					4	6	0	2nd	2	1	0	—	—
1941	1941					6	4	0	T–1st	2	1	0	—	—
1942	1942					7	3	0	1st	3	0	0	—	—
1943	1943				Independent	1	10	0					—	—
1944	1944					4	5	0					—	—
1945	1945	Larry Rosati				0	5	0					—	—
1946	1946	Ben Schwartzwalder				9	1	0					—	—
1947	1947					9	1	0					—	—
1948	1948					7	3	0					—	—
1949	1949	Howard Baughman				1	7	1					—	—
1950	1950					3	4	1					—	—
1951	1951	Tom Triplett				1	8	0					—	—
1952	1952					2	5	1					—	—
1953	1953					3	5	0					—	—
1954	1954					4	3	1					—	—
1955	1955					4	4	0					—	—
1956	1956	Ray Whispell		College Division		4	4	0					—	—
1957	1957					4	4	0					—	—
1958	1958				MAC	4	4	0	8th (University)	1	2	0	—	—
1959	1959					3	6	0	8th (University)	1	2	0	—	—
1960	1960					6	3	0	8th (University)	1	2	0	—	—
1961	1961					2	7	0	8th (University)	0	4	0	—	—
1962	1962					2	7	0	7th (University)	0	4	0	—	—
1963	1963					5	3	0	2nd (College–Southern)	4	1	0	—	—
1964	1964					5	4	0	3rd (College–Southern)	5	3	0	—	—
1965	1965					1	8	0	9th (College–Southern)	1	8	0	—	—
1966	1966					2	6	1	7th (College–Southern)	2	6	1	—	—
1967	1967					2	5	1	9th (College–Southern)	2	5	1	—	—
1968	1968					6	3	0	3rd (College–Southern)	6	3	0	—	—
1969	1969					4	5	0	6th (College–Southern)	4	5	0	—	—
1970	1970	Frank P. Marino				7	2	0	2nd (Southern)	7	2	0	—	—
1971	1971					5	4	0	8th (Southern)	5	4	0	—	—
1972	1972					1	8	0	T–8th (Southern)	1	7	0	—	—
1973	1973			Division III		7	1	1	3rd (Southern)	7	1	1	—	—
1974	1974		2			7	0	7th (Southern)	2	6	0	—	—
1975	1975		2			6	2	7th (Southern)	2	5	2	—	—
1976	1976		5			3	1	4th (Southern)	5	3	1	—	—
1977	1977		6			3	0	4th (Southern)	5	3	0	—	—
1978	1978		6			2	1	4th (Southern)	5	2	1	—	—
1979	1979		4			3	1	T–4th (Southern)	5	3	1	—	—
1980	1980		8			1	0	2nd (Southern)	7	1	0	—	—
1981	1981	Ralph Kirchenheiter	3			5	0	8th (Southern)	3	5	0	—	—
1982	1982		4			5	0	5th (Southern)	4	4	0	—	—
1983	1983		Centennial		6	3	0	T–1st	5	2	0	Conference co-champions	—
1984	1984				6	3	0	3rd	5	2	0	—	—
1985	1985				7	3	0	3rd	5	2	0	—	—
1986	1986				7	3	0	T–1st	6	1	0	Conference co-champions	—
1987	1987				7	3	0	T–2nd	5	2	0	—	—
1988	1988				7	3	0	3rd	5	2	0	—	—
1989	1989				5	4	1	3rd	4	2	1	—	—
1990	1990	Francis Meagher			2	8	0	8th	1	6	0	—	—
1991	1991				3	7	0	T–4th	3	4	0	—	—
1992	1992				1	8	1	8th	1	6	0	—	—
1993	1993				4	5	0	T–3rd	4	3	0	—	—
1994	1994	Greg Olejack			2	8	0	7th	1	6	0	—	—
1995	1995				0	9	1	8th	0	6	1	—	—
1996	1996				1	9	0	7th	1	6	0	—	—
1997	1997	Mike Donnelly			1	9	0	7th	1	6	0	—	—
1998	1998				5	5	0	5th	3	4	0	—	—
1999	1999				6	4	0	T–3rd	3	4	0	—	—
2000	2000				9	2	0	T–2nd	5	2	0	W ECAC Southwest Bowl	—
2001	2001				7	4	0	T–1st	5	1	0	L ECAC Southeast Bowl	—
2002	2002				10	2	0	T–1st	5	1	0	L NCAA Division III Second Round	—
2003	2003				7	3	0	T–1st	5	1	0	Conference co-champions	—
2004	2004				8	3	0	T–1st	4	2	0	Conference co-champions	—
2005	2005				3	7	0	T–5th	2	4	0	—	—
2006	2006				5	5	0	T–5th	2	4	0	—	—
2007	2007				11	1	0	1st	8	0	0	L NCAA Division III Second Round	8
2008	2008				9	2	0	1st	7	1	0	L NCAA Division III First Round	25
2009	2009				3	7	0	T–7th	2	6	0	—	—
2010	2010				7	4	0	T–1st	7	2	0	L NCAA Division III First Round	—
2011	2011				7	3	0	2nd	7	2	0	—	—
2012	2012				8	3	0	2nd	7	2	0	L ECAC South Atlantic Bowl	—
2013	2013				8	3	0	2nd	7	2	0	L ECAC South Atlantic Bowl	—
2014	2014				9	2	0	2nd	8	2	0	L NCAA Division III First Round	23
2015	2015				8	3	0	T–2nd	7	2	0	L Centennial-MAC Bowl Series	—
2016	2016				9	2	0	2nd	8	1	0	L Centennial-MAC Bowl Series	—
2017	2017				8	3	0	T–3rd	6	3	0	W Asa S. Bushnell Bowl	—
2018	2018	Nate Milne			11	2	0	T–1st	8	1	0	L NCAA Division III Quarterfinal	9
2019	2019				13	1	0	1st	9	0	0	L NCAA Division III Semifinal	7
No team in 2020 due to COVID-19.
2021	2021	Nate Milne	NCAA	Division III	Centennial	11	2	0	T–1st	8	1	0	L NCAA Division III Quarterfinal	7
2022	2022					6	4	0	3rd	6	3	0	W Centennial-MAC Bowl Series	—
2023	2023					10	1	0	2nd	5	1	0	W Centennial-MAC Bowl Series	22
2024	2024					8	3	0	3rd	4	2	0	W Centennial-MAC Bowl Series	—

Gallery

• 
  The 1908 Muhlenberg Mules football team, coached by Alfred E. Bull
• 
  Scotty Wood Stadium, the on-campus home field
• 
  1974 team
• 
  1937 program
• 
  1942 ticket
• 
  1946 program

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. ^[13]
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. ^[14]
4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss. ^[15]

References

1. "Greyhounds Set to Begin 2023 Campaign at Rival Muhlenberg Under the Lights Friday Night". moraviansports.com. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
2. "Graphic Identity Program" . Retrieved May 12, 2023.
3. "Scotty Wood Stadium - Muhlenberg College". www.discoverlehighvalley.com. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
4. Riebesell, Matt (December 8, 2017). "Nate Milne: New Role, Same Goal". The Muhlenberg Weekly. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
5. "Doggie Julian" at Coaches Database, retrieved October 2, 2022
6. Muhlenberg College (October 12, 2018). The Muhlenberg Weekly (March 1945 - Feb.1946) – via Internet Archive.
7. Muhlenberg College (October 12, 2018). The Muhlenberg Weekly (1946-1947) – via Internet Archive.
8. Muhlenberg College (October 12, 2018). The Muhlenberg Weekly (1947-1948) – via Internet Archive.
9. "Centennial Conference" (PDF). Centennial Conference.
10. "Newsletter". www.muhlenbergsports.com. 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
11. "Nate Milne" at Muhlenberg Sports, retrieved October 2, 2022
12. "Division III's Best Jamestown HS Alum Milne Named Coach Of The Year". Jamestown, New York . January 16, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. "Muhlenberg football coach Mike Donnelly dies after short battle with leukemia". The Morning Call. October 5, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
17. "Milne Named Head Football Coach At Muhlenberg College". post-journal.com. Retrieved August 29, 2023.

External links

• Official website