The Citadel Bulldogs football

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
The Citadel Bulldogs
2015 The Citadel Bulldogs football team
Citadel Bulldogs wordmark.png
First season 1905 (119 years ago) (1905)
Athletic director Jim Senter
Head coach Brent Thompson
1st year, – 
Stadium Johnson Hagood Stadium
Field Sansom Field
Year built 1948
Seating capacity 21,000
Field surface Natural Grass
Location Charleston, South Carolina
Conference Southern Conference
All-time record 487–546–32 (.472)
Bowl record 1–0 (1.000)
Playoff appearances 4
Playoff record 2–4
Conference titles 3 (1961, 1992, 2015)
Fight song "The Fighting Light Brigade"
Mascot Bulldog
Marching band The Regimental Band and Pipes
Website citadelsports.com

The Citadel Bulldogs Football represent The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I FCS. The Bulldogs play in the Southern Conference, as they have since 1936. The Bulldogs are coached by Brent Thompson, who was hired on January 19, 2016 to replace Mike Houston, who departed on January 18, 2016 for James Madison.[1][2][3]

Facilities

The Bulldogs first recorded stadium was College Park, located in the northeast corner of Hampton Park in Charleston, South Carolina. This field predated the current College Park at the same site, which is used as a practice facility for The Citadel Bulldogs baseball. Due to increasing attendance and the poor state of the stadium, the Bulldogs moved to the original Johnson Hagood Stadium in 1927. This stadium was replaced with the current Johnson Hagood Stadium in 1948.

Home stadium

The Bulldogs play their home games in Johnson Hagood Stadium, which lies just to the south of The Citadel's gates in Charleston. Johnson Hagood is a 21,000 seat stadium, in which The Citadel routinely ranks in the top 25 in attendance at the FCS level. In 2001, the Altman Athletic Center opened in the south end zone, complete with new home and visitor's locker rooms, official's locker rooms, and an upstairs hospitality area for donors. In 2008, The Citadel completed a re-construction of the west stands and West Side Tower. The stands contain reserved premium seats and bleacher seats, while the tower, shared with the South Carolina National Guard, contains twelve suites, a club level, and state of the art press box. During preparation for construction, workers discovered the remains of sailors from failed test runs of the H.L. Hunley. These remains were reinterred in Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston.

Beginning in 2012, The Citadel implemented a points system for parking and seat selection in Johnson Hagood Stadium, joining many large programs who use similar systems. The program is designed to reward long-time and large donors to The Citadel athletics by giving them preference in selecting seat and parking locations.[4]

Practice and on-campus facilities

Practices are held at the Maybank Triplets Practice Facility, an artificial turf field at the north edge of campus. The Bulldogs utilize Seignious Hall, located across from McAlister Field House for weightlifting, locker rooms, team meeting and video space, and academic tutoring. The Citadel Sports Medicine Department also utilizes Seignious Hall. [5]

Hazing

In 1992, Rick Reilly published an article in Sport Illustrated detailing alleged hazing that occurred following the 1991 defeat in the Wofford game. A first year player claimed to have been forced to undergo demeaning rituals, including a form of waterboarding, designed to punish him for his role in the loss.[6] The local community disputed the accuracy of the article, mainly pointing to the team's 10-1 record that year as evidence of cohesion and high morale, but not citing any factual evidence that the incidents did not occur.[7] The school did not take action against cadets named in the article, the athlete making the claims left following his first year as a direct result of the alleged abuse.[8]

Coaches and staff

Coaches from The Citadel have often been targeted for larger programs. Notable former head and assistant coaches at The Citadel include Bobby Ross, Charlie Taaffe, Ellis Johnson, Frank Beamer, Al Davis, and Ralph Friedgen.[9]

Head Coaches[10]

Name First Year Final Year No. Seasons
Syd Smith 1905 1905 1
Ralph Foster 1906 1908 3
Sam Costen 1909 1910 2
Louis LeTellier 1911 1912 2
George Rogers 1913 1919 4
Harvey O'Brien 1916 1921 5
Carl Prause 1922 1929 8
Johnny Floyd 1930 1931 2
Tatum Gressette 1932 1939 8
Bo Rowland 1940 1942 3
J. Quinn Decker 1946 1952 7
John D. McMillan 1953 1954 2
John Sauer 1955 1956 2
Eddie Teague 1957 1965 9
Red Parker 1966 1972 7
Bobby Ross 1973 1977 5
Art Baker 1978 1982 5
Tom Moore 1983 1986 4
Charlie Taaffe 1987 1995 9
Don Powers 1996 2000 5
Ellis Johnson 2001 2003 3
John Zernhelt 2004 2004 1
Kevin Higgins 2005 2013 9
Mike Houston 2014 2015 2
Brent Thompson 2016 1

Current Staff

The current coaching staff at the Citadel is:[11]

Name Position
Brent Thompson Head Coach
Lou Conte Slot Backs/Offensive Coordinator
Blake Harrell Inside Linebackers/Defensive Coordinator
Joel Taylor Safeties/Pass Defense Coordinator
Vacant Special Teams Coordinator
J. P. Gunter Recruiting Coordinator/Wide Receivers
Ron Boyd Offensive Line
Quarterbacks/B-Backs
Tripp Weaver Outside Linebackers
Roy Tesh Defensive Line
Scott Yielding Tight Ends

Seasons and results

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Main article: List of The Citadel Bulldogs football seasons

Conference championships

The Citadel has claimed three conference championships in the Southern Conference. The 2015 title was the first co-championship in school history.

Postseason appearances

Following the 1960 season, the Bulldogs played in the 1960 Tangerine Bowl defeating Tennessee Tech 27-0. Conference champion VMI did not participate in bowl games. The Bulldogs declined a bid to play in the 1961 Tangerine Bowl.

The Bulldogs appeared in the FCS Playoffs in 1988, 1990, 1992, and 2015, posting a 2–4 record. They lost in the first round twice to Georgia Southern and in the Quarterfinals to Youngstown State in 1992 after defeating North Carolina A&T in the first round. They defeated Coastal Carolina in the first round of the 2015 playoffs, and fell to Charleston Southern in the second round.

Rivalries

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

See also: Military Classic of the South and The Citadel–Furman football rivalry

The Citadel's primary rivals are the VMI Keydets football and Furman Paladins football. The game with VMI is known as the Military Classic of the South. The Citadel and Furman have been heated, annual rivals since both joined the Southern Conference in 1936.

Opponent Wins Losses Ties First meeting Last Citadel win Last Opponent win
VMI 39 30 2 1920 2015 2003
Furman 34 58 3 1913 2015 2013

Record vs. Current SoCon opponents

Excludes Furman and VMI, listed above.
East Tennessee State returns to the SoCon in 2016.
Opponent Wins Losses Ties First meeting Last Citadel win Last Opponent win
Chattanooga 17 29 2 1926 2011 2015
East Tennessee State[lower-alpha 1] 9 15 0 1966 2002 2003
Mercer[lower-alpha 2] 8 4 1 1906 2015 1931
Samford 5 4 0 1989 2015 2014
Western Carolina 23 16 1 1972 2015 2014
Wofford 41 27 1 1916 2015 2014
  1. ↑ East Tennessee State did not sponsor football from 2004–2014
  2. ↑ Mercer did not sponsor football from 1941–2012

Record vs instate opponents

Division 1, non-SoCon only
Opponent Wins Losses Ties First meeting Last Citadel win Last Opponent win
Charleston Southern 5 5 — 2002 2012 2015[lower-alpha 1]
Clemson 5 31 1 1909 1931 2013
Coastal Carolina 1 1 — 2014 2015[lower-alpha 2] 2014
Presbyterian 50 11 1 1915 2010 1979
South Carolina 8 40 3 1905 2015 2011
South Carolina State 4 0 0 1989 2001 none
  1. ↑ The Bulldogs lost a 2015 matchup in the second round of the FCS Playoffs.
  2. ↑ The Bulldogs won a 2015 matchup in the first round of the FCS Playoffs.

Bulldogs in the Pros

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Main article: List of The Citadel Bulldogs in the NFL Draft

Many Citadel alumni have played in various professional leagues, including the National Football League, Canadian Football League and Arena Football League. Sixteen players have been drafted in the NFL Draft and AFL Draft, and other players have signed as undrafted free agents. Likely the most famous Citadel alumni in professional football are Running back Stump Mitchell and broadcaster Paul Maguire. Currently, Andre Roberts and Cortez Allen are on active NFL rosters, with the Washington Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers, respectively.[12]

Individual honors

All-Americans
This list includes selected First Team All-Americans at The Citadel[13]

Year Name AFCA AP Walter Camp Sports Network/STATS Football Gazette
1976 Brian Ruff
Green tickY
1985 Jim Gabrish
Green tickY
1986 Scott Thompson
Green tickY
1988 Carlos Avalos
Green tickY
Green tickY
Green tickY
Green tickY
1990 J. J. Davis
Green tickY
1991 Lester Smith
Green tickY
Green tickY
1992 Lester Smith
Green tickY
Green tickY
Green tickY
Carey Cash
Green tickY
Green tickY
Green tickY
Terrence Forney
Green tickY
Lance Hansen
Green tickY
Green tickY
1994 Levi Davis
Green tickY
1995 Brad Keeney
Green tickY
1997 Carlos Frank
Green tickY
2008 Andre Roberts
Green tickY
Green tickY
2012 Mike Sellers
Green tickY
Green tickY
Green tickY
2015 Tyler Renew
Green tickY
Dee Delaney
Green tickY

Retired Jerseys

14 - Jack Douglas
15 - Lester Smith
35 - Stump Mitchell
51 - Brian Ruff
59 - Marc Buoniconti
66 - John Small

Future schedules

This represents the most recent verified future non-conference games. The current season schedule can be found at 2015 The Citadel Bulldogs football team.

2016

Date Opponent Location
Sept. 17 Gardner–Webb Boiling Springs, NC
Oct. 8 North Greenville Charleston, SC
Nov. 19 North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC

2017

Date Opponent Location
Nov. 18 Clemson Clemson, SC

2018

Date Opponent Location
Nov. 17 Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1004233/
  7. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19920925&id=JskfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lNgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4352,3160623
  8. ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1004233/
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=The_Citadel_Bulldogs_football&oldid=722300022"