Plymouth State Panthers football

Plymouth State Panthers football
First season	1970
Athletic director	Kim Bownes
Head coach	Paul Castonia 19th season, 85–97 (.467)
Stadium	Panther Field (capacity: 1,200)
Field surface	FieldTurf
Location	Plymouth, New Hampshire
NCAA division	Division III
Conference	MASCAC
Past conferences	NEFC Freedom Football Conference
All-time record	298–198–7 (.599)
Playoff appearances	Div. III: 5
Playoff record	Div. III: 1–5
Conference titles	12
Rivalries	UMass Dartmouth
Colors	Green and white [1]
Mascot	Panther
Website	athletics.plymouth.edu

The Plymouth State Panthers football team represents Plymouth State University in college football at the NCAA Division III level. The Panthers are members of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, fielding its team in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference since 2013. The Panthers play their home games at Panther Field in Plymouth, New Hampshire. ^[2]

Their head coach is Paul Castonia, who took over the position in 2003. ^[3]

Playoffs

The Panthers have made five appearances in the Division III playoffs. Their combined record is 1–5.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1984	First Round	Union (NY)	L 14–26
1994	First Round Second Round	Merchant Marine Ithaca	W 19–18 L 7–22
1995	First Round	Union (NY)	L 7–24
2008	First Round	Cortland	L 14–26
2017	First Round	Brockport	L 0–66

Seasons

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
Plymouth State Panthers [4]
1970	1970	Walter L. Murphy	NCAA	—	—	0	3	0					—	—
1971	1971	NEFC			5	3	0					—	—
1972	1972			Tom Bell	4	2	1	2nd	3	1	1	—	—
1973	1973				Division III	6	2	0	2nd	3	2	0	—	—
1974	1974			7		1	1	2nd	5	1	1	—	—
1975	1975			6		4	0	5th	5	3	0	—	—
1976	1976			Charlie Currier		5	4	0	T-2nd	5	3	0	—	—
1977	1977			2		6	1	9th	1	6	1	—	—
1978	1978			Dan Zaneski		3	6	0	8th	2	6	0	—	—
1979	1979			4		6	0	T-5th	4	5	0	—	—
1980	1980			Jim Aguiar		6	3	1	T-4th	5	3	1	—	—
1981	1981			Jay Cottone		9	1	0	1st	9	0	0	Conference Champion	—
1982	1982	10				0	0	1st	9	0	0	Conference Champion	—
1983	1983	9				2	0	1st	8	1	0	Won ECAC Championship	—
1984	1984	10		1		0	1st	9	0	0	Lost First Round 14–26	—
1985	1985	8		3		0	1st	8	1	0	Lost ECAC Championship	—
1986	1986	Lou Desloges		9		1	1	1st	8	0	1	Lost ECAC Championship	—
1987	1987			10		1	0	1st	5	0	0	Won ECAC Championship	—
1988	1988			10		1	0	1st	6	0	0	Lost ECAC Championship	—
1989	1989			7		2	0	2nd	4	1	0	—	—
1990	1990	9		2		0	1st	5	0	0	Lost ECAC Championship	—
1991	1991	6		3		1	2nd	3	2	0	Lost ECAC Championship	—
1992	1992	FFC		4		4	1	3rd	4	1	1	—	—
1993	1993			Don Brown		6	4	0	2nd	5	1	0	Lost ECAC Championship	—
1994	1994					10	1	0	1st	6	0	0	Won 1994 First Round 19–18 Lost Second Round 7–22	—
1995	1995		9	1		0	1st	7	0	0	Lost 1994 First Round 7–24	—
1996	1996		Mike Kemp	5	4	0	T-4th	3	3	0	—	—
1997	1997			7	4	0	T-2nd	4	2	0	Lost ECAC Championship	—
1998	1998	7	4	0	3rd	4	2	0	Lost ECAC Championship	—
1999	1999	Chris Rorke	8	3	0	T-2nd	4	2	0	Won ECAC Championship	—
2000	2000		5	5	0	T-3rd	3	3	0	—	—
2001	2001	7	3	0	T-1st	5	1	0	Conference Champion	—
2002	2002	0	10	0	7th	0	6	0	—	—
2003	2003	Paul Castonia	0	10	0	7th	0	6	0	—	—
2004	2004		—	1	8	0					—	—
2005	2005		4	6	0					—	—
2006	2006		NEFC	4	5	0	T-3rd	4	3		—	—
2007	2007			9	1	0	2nd	6	1		Won ECAC Championship	—
2008	2008			10	2	0	1st	7	0		Lost 2008 First Round 14–26 [5]	—
2009	2009			8	3	0	2nd	6	1		Lost ECAC Championship [6]	—
2010	2010		6	4	0	T-4th	4	3		—	—
2011	2011		4	6	0	5th	2	5		—	—
2012	2012	2	8	0	T-6th	1	6		—	—
2013	2013	MASCAC	2	8	0	T-8th	1	7		—	—
2014	2014		1	9	0	9th	0	8		—	—
2015	2015		2	8	0	T-8th	1	7		—	—
2016	2016		6	4	0	T-3rd	4	4		—	—
2017	2017	9	2	0	T-1st	7	1		Lost 2017 First Round 0–66 [7]	—
2018	2018	6	4	0	4th	5	3		—	—
2019	2019	6	4	0	T-5th	4	4		—	—
Season canceled due to Covid-19
2021	2021	Paul Castonia	NCAA	Division III	MASCAC	5	5	0	4th	5	3		—	—
2022	2022					9	2	0	2nd	6	2		Won New England Bowl 21–20 [8]	—
2023	2023								—	—

List of head coaches

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

No.	Name	Season(s)	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	PT	DC	CC	NC	Awards
1	Walter Murphy [12]	1970–1971	11	5	6	0	0.455	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2	Tom Bell [13]	1972–1975	34	23	9	2	0.706	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
3	Charlie Currier [14]	1976–1977	18	7	10	1	0.417	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
4	Dan Zaneski [15]	1978–1979	19	7	12	0	0.368	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
5	Jim Aguiar [16]	1980	10	6	3	1	0.650	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
6	Jay Cottone [14]	1981–1985	53	46	7	0	0.868	–	–	–	–	1	2	0	–	5	–	–
7	Lou Desloges [17]	1986–1992	73	55	15	3	0.774	–	–	–	–	1	4	0	–	4	–	–
8	Don Brown [18]	1993–1995	31	25	6	0	0.806	–	–	–	–	1	2	0	–	2	–	–
9	Mike Kemp [19]	1996–1998	31	19	12	0	0.613	–	–	–	–	0	2	0	–	–	–	–
10	Chris Rorke [20]	1999–2002	41	20	21	0	0.488	–	–	–	–	1	0	0	–	1	–	–
11	Paul Castonia [21]	2003–present	182	85	97	0	0.467	–	–	–	–	1	4	0	–	2	–	–

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. ^[9]
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. ^[10]
4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss. ^[11]

References

1. "Plymouth State Logos, Colors, and Fonts" . Retrieved December 10, 2018.
2. "FB: Panthers ground Fitchburg State". Plymouth State University. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
3. "PSU elevates Zeman to co-head coach – New Hampshire Football Report" . Retrieved March 18, 2023.
4. "Plymouth State Football Year by Year Results". athletics.plymouth.edu. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
5. "PSU Football to visit SUNY Cortland for NCAA playoffs". November 16, 2008.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
6. "Springfield tops PSU Football in ECAC Northeast Bowl". Plymouth State University. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
7. Newcomb, Nick. "Brockport blows out Plymouth St. 66-0 in first round of NCAA Division III playoffs". Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
8. Staff Report. "NH college football: Plymouth State wins New England Bowl". UnionLeader.com. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
9. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
10. Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
11. Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
12. Citizen, For The. "Plymouth St. honors two local coaches". Foster's Daily Democrat. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
13. "History of Success; Bell's Tenure Sparks Years of Continued Success for Charger Football". University of New Haven Athletics. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
14. McCool, Joseph Daniel (August 17, 1997). "From Ordinary Guy To a Hall of Famer". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved March 18, 2023.
15. "2003 Plymouth State Athletic Hall of Fame".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
16. "Ex-college wrestling coach Aguiar dead at 68". InterMat. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
17. Leader, Alex Hall New Hampshire Union. "Plymouth State football celebrates 50th season". UnionLeader.com. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
18. Vautour, Matt (November 24, 2021). "Matt Vautour: UMass' Don Brown has turned a doomed program into a winner before". masslive. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
19. "Head Football Coach Mike Kemp resigns". May 10, 1999.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
20. "Lehigh Names Chris Rorke Football Offensive Coordinator". patriotleague.org. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
21. "Paul Castonia named Head Football Coach". June 30, 2003.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)