New Hampshire Wildcats
2023 New Hampshire Wildcats football team
UNH Wildcats.png
First season1893
Athletic directorAllison Rich
Head coachRicky Santos
2nd season, 15–9 (.625)
StadiumWildcat Stadium
(capacity: 11,015)
Field surfaceFieldTurf
LocationDurham, New Hampshire
NCAA divisionDivision I FCS
ConferenceColonial Athletic Association
All-time record539–445–55 (.545)
Conference titles15
RivalriesMaine (rivalry)
UMass (rivalry)
Dartmouth (rivalry)
Consensus All-Americans36
ColorsBlue, gray, and white[1]
     
MascotWild E. Cat
WebsiteUNHWildcats.com

The New Hampshire Wildcats football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of New Hampshire located in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The Wildcats compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The team plays its home games at the 11,000 seat Wildcat Stadium in Durham, New Hampshire, and are led by head coach Ricky Santos.

The school has fielded a varsity football team annually since 1893, with the exception of one year during World War I and two years during World War II. Bill Bowes, who served as head coach from 1972 to 1998, is an inductee of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Conference affiliations

Home venues

The Wildcats have played their home football games at several venues in Durham. Prior to the current stadium, which has been in use since 1936, the team played its home games on Memorial Field from 1921 through 1935. Memorial Field remains in use by the women's field hockey team.[2] Memorial Field was constructed to "honor the memory of those New Hampshire men who gave their lives for their country during the great World War."[3] Funded by donations from alumni, it was built on the site of the prior athletic field,[3] which had been referred to as the College Oval.[4]

Plan for Memorial Field as published in the May 12, 1920, edition of The New Hampshire. .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}43°08′21″N 70°56′05″W / 43.139041°N 70.934808°W / 43.139041; -70.934808
Plan for Memorial Field as published in the May 12, 1920, edition of The New Hampshire. 43°08′21″N 70°56′05″W / 43.139041°N 70.934808°W / 43.139041; -70.934808

Notable former players

Notable team captains during the program's early years include:

Notable alumni who played in the NFL, AFL or CFL include:[11]

See also: List of New Hampshire Wildcats in the NFL Draft

Alumni who are notable for other achievements, outside of playing professional football, include:

Head coaches

From left: Coaches Cowell, Justice, and Glassford

The below table lists the win–loss record for head coaches throughout program history. The team had its first formal head coach, John Scannell, during the 1902 season. Some opponents in early years were high school teams; for example, the 1895 team did not face any college teams in its six-game schedule. Other opponents into the 1920s were military teams (different from service academy programs, such as Army); an example being the 1926 team facing the Quantico Marines.

The school was not a member of any conference prior to the 1923 season. Since 1973, the team has played in NCAA classifications with postseason tournaments (playoffs).

Updated through the abbreviated 2020 season, when the team played a single conference game in the Spring of 2021.[12][13]

No. Name Term Gm Overall Conference Playoff CCs NCs
W L T % W L T % W L
— No coaches 1893–1901 50 16 32 2 .340               0
1 John Scannell 1902–1903 15 4 9 2 .333               0
2 G. B. Ward 1904 7 2 5 0 .286               0
3 unknown[a] 1905 8 2 4 2 .375               0
4 Edward Herr 1906–1907 16 3 10 3 .281               0
5 Charles Gill 1908 8 1 7 0 .125               0
6 Willard Gildersleeve 1909 7 3 4 0 .429               0
7 Ray B. Thomas 1910–1911 13 3 8 2 .308               0
8 Tod Eberle 1912–1913 14 5 8 1 .393               0
9 Thomas D. Shepherd 1914 9 1 6 2 .222               0
10 Butch Cowell 1915–1917, 1919–1936 178 87 68 23 .553 17 9 4 .633     2 0
11 George Sauer 1937–1941 41 22 18 1 .549 5 2 1 .688     0 0
12 Charles M. Justice 1942 6 6 0 0 1.000 3 0 0 1.000     0 0
13 Herbert Snow 1944dagger 4 1 3 0 .250 1 1 0 .500     0 0
14 Bill Glassford 1946–1948 25 19 5 1 .780 10 1 1 .875     2 0
15 Chief Boston 1949–1964 127 60 57 10 .512 25 34 8 .433     4 0
16 Andy Mooradian 1965 8 0 8 0 .000 0 5 0 .000     0 0
17 Joe Yukica 1966–1967 16 7 9 0 .438 3 7 0 .300     0 0
18 Jim Root 1968–1971 33 18 14 1 .561 11 9 0 .550     1 0
19 Bill Bowes 1972–1998 286 175 106 5 .621 97 74 2 .566 1 4 4 0
20 Sean McDonnell 1999–2018, 2020–2021 250 157 104 0 .602 100 72 0 .581 14 14 2 0
21 Ricky Santos 2019, 2022–presentdouble-dagger 24 15 9 0 .625 12 4 0 .750 1 1 1 0

dagger The 1944 schedule was limited to four games, with players restricted to 17-year-olds and returning veterans.[15]
double-dagger McDonnell began a medical leave at the start of the 2019 season, with Santos named interim head coach; McDonnell returned the following season.

Postseason appearances

Bowl games

The team has appeared in one bowl game during its history:[16]

Year Bowl Opponent Result PF PA
December 6, 1947 Glass Bowl Toledo L 14 20

Notes:

Division II playoffs

The team made the postseason twice during the time it competed in Division II (1973–1977), compiling an overall record of 1–2:

Division I-AA/FCS playoffs

The Wildcats have appeared in the Division I-AA/FCS Playoffs 17 times, playing 32 postseason games. Their overall record is 15–17.

Year Round Opponent Result
1991 First Round Samford L 13–29
1994 First Round Appalachian State L 10–17
2004 First Round
Quarterfinals		 Georgia Southern
Montana		 W 27–23
L 17–47
2005 First Round
Quarterfinals		 Colgate
Northern Iowa		 W 55–21
L 21–24
2006 First Round
Quarterfinals		 Hampton
Massachusetts		 W 41–38
L 17–24
2007 First Round Northern Iowa L 35–38
2008 First Round
Quarterfinals		 Southern Illinois
Northern Iowa		 W 29–20
L 34–36
2009 First Round
Quarterfinals		 McNeese State
Villanova		 W 49–13
L 7–46
2010 Second Round
Quarterfinals		 Bethune-Cookman
Delaware		 W 45–20
L 3–16
2011 Second Round Montana State L 25–26
2012 Second Round Wofford L 7–23
2013 First Round
Second Round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals		 Lafayette
Maine
Southeastern Louisiana
North Dakota State		 W 45–7
W 41–27
W 20–17
L 14–52
2014 Second Round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals		 Fordham
Chattanooga
Illinois State		 W 44–19[19]
W 35–30[20]
L 18–21[21]
2015 First Round Colgate L 20–27[22]
2016 First Round
Second Round		 Lehigh
James Madison		 W 64–21[23]
L 22–55[24]
2017 First Round
Second Round
Quarterfinals		 Central Connecticut
Central Arkansas
South Dakota State		 W 14–0
W 21–15
L 14–56
2022 First Round
Second Round 		Fordham
Holy Cross 		W 52–42
L 19–35

Rivalries

Maine

Main article: Battle for the Brice-Cowell Musket

The football programs of New Hampshire and the Maine Black Bears first met in 1903, and have met annually since 1922, except for two season during World War II and during the 2020 season due to impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 1948, the winning team gets possession of an antique musket until the next season's game. The teams met for the 100th time in 2010.

UMass

Main article: Colonial Clash

The football programs of New Hampshire and the UMass Minutemen first met in 1897, and most recently met in 2011. Since 1986, the most outstanding player of the matchup has been awarded the Bill Knight Trophy. However, the future of the rivalry is in question, as the two programs are now in different NCAA football classifications. The teams met for the 70th time in 2007.

Dartmouth

Main article: Dartmouth–New Hampshire football rivalry

The football programs of New Hampshire and the Dartmouth Big Green first met in 1901, and most recently met in 2021. The teams met for the 35th time in 2007.

Donation controversy

A longtime UNH librarian, Robert Morin, died in 2015 and left $4 million to the University; $1 million of that money was spent on a new video scoreboard for the football stadium, and the decision to spend so much of the donation on a scoreboard became a controversial topic. University officials explained that there was no instruction on how to spend the money, other than $100,000 for the library. It was also noted that Morin started watching and became particularly interested in football towards the end of his life.[25]

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of December 12, 2022.[26]

2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028
at Stonehill at UCF at North Carolina Central at Syracuse Dartmouth at Boston College
at Central Michigan at Holy Cross Holy Cross Harvard at Dartmouth
Dartmouth at Harvard at Ball State
at Dartmouth

Notes

  1. ^ New Hampshire's media guide lists Edward Herr as head coach for the 1905 season, in addition to the 1906 and 1907 seasons. However, this is not corroborated by contemporary sources, as Herr was a student at Dartmouth through the 1905–06 academic year, and upon his hiring at Vermont for the 1908 season it was noted that he had been coach at New Hampshire for the prior two years.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Athletics Branding". University of New Hampshire Brand & Visual Guidelines. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Memorial Field Then". unh.edu. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Alumni Plan Memorial Field to Honor Men Who Died in War". The New Hampshire. Vol. 9, no. 28. May 12, 1920. p. 3. Retrieved February 21, 2020 – via library.unh.edu.
  4. ^ a b "New Hampshire State College vs. University of Vermont". The Portsmouth Herald. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. October 15, 1920. p. 1. Retrieved February 20, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Colby Holds New Hampshire to 7-7 Tie in Final Home Game". The New Hampshire. Vol. 10, no. 7. November 10, 1920. pp. 1, 4. Retrieved February 20, 2020 – via library.unh.edu.
  6. ^ "New Hampshire Runs Wild Against M. A. C." The Boston Globe. November 13, 1921. p. 19. Retrieved January 25, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "N. H.-Tufts". The Boston Globe. November 9, 1935. p. 9. Retrieved January 25, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "New Hampshire Opens New Field in Victory". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. AP. September 27, 1936. p. 45. Retrieved January 24, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Dedication Day At New Hampshire Spoiled By Maine". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. AP. October 11, 1936. p. 49. Retrieved November 29, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "UNH Football Field Is Cowell Stadium". The Burlington Free Press. Burlington, Vermont. AP. June 19, 1952. p. 21. Retrieved November 29, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Wildcats in the NFL". unh.prestosports.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014 – via Wayback Machine.
  12. ^ "UNHWildcats.com – University of New Hampshire Official Athletics Website:All-time UNH Football Coaching Records". Unh.prestosports.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014 – via Wayback Machine.
  13. ^ "2017 New Hampshire Media Guide". University of New Hampshire. 2017. p. 66. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  14. ^ "Football Coach". The Burlington Free Press. Burlington, Vermont. May 6, 1908. p. 8. Retrieved April 27, 2020 – via Wayback Machine.
  15. ^ "High School Coach Will Lead Wildcats". The Portsmouth Herald. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. September 15, 1944. p. 6. Retrieved November 24, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Football | University of New Hampshire Library". www.library.unh.edu. Archived from the original on 2015-09-05.
  17. ^ Bailey, David (December 19, 2014). "Gridiron Garb: UNH Wildcats (1975)".
  18. ^ Pike, Al. "UNH football: McDonnell looks back at last game against Montana State". seacoastonline.com.
  19. ^ "Fordham vs. New Hampshire - Game Summary - December 6, 2014 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  20. ^ "Chattanooga vs. New Hampshire - Game Summary - December 12, 2014 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  21. ^ "Illinois State vs. New Hampshire - Game Summary - December 20, 2014 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  22. ^ "Colgate vs. New Hampshire - Game Summary - November 28, 2015 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  23. ^ "Lehigh vs. New Hampshire - Game Summary - November 26, 2016 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  24. ^ "New Hampshire vs. James Madison - Game Summary - December 3, 2016 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  25. ^ Chappell, Bill (September 15, 2016). "$1 Million Of Frugal Librarian's Bequest To N.H. School Goes To Football Scoreboard". NPR. Retrieved January 15, 2017 – via npr.org.
  26. ^ "New Hampshire Wildcats Football Future Schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved December 12, 2022.

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