The Face of Your Program

[Appinator]

Was reading up on ESPN, and they have had an interesting article about who they think is the face of each major college football program.

Thought this might be a good FCS offseason thread as well, gives everyone a chance to share some historical knowledge about their program.

Three years ago for App it would have been Kid Brewer, who led us to an undefeated/unscored upon regular season in 1937 and to whom our stadium is named after. After three consecutive though, I think Coach Moore has locked it up.

There is an immense amount of history that all of the Ivies have, so there will be some greats listed. It'll be interesting with who everyone comes up with and historical/modern debates.

With all of this being said:

Who is the face of YOUR program?

[GreatAppSt]

GSU would most likely have a Buttface :D .

http://www.gand-khujli.com/buttface.gif

[813Jag]

In recent years (I.E. the last 15) it's easily been Coach Pete Richardson. Since his arrival in 1993 Southern has had more success than they had in many year.

Coach A.W. Mumford (who our stadium is named for) was the top Coach in Southern history, but he was over shadowed by the Great Eddie Robinson (who was coaching at Grambling).

[Franks Tanks]

Was reading up on ESPN, and they have had an interesting article about who they think is the face of each major college football program.

Thought this might be a good FCS offseason thread as well, gives everyone a chance to share some historical knowledge about their program.

Three years ago for App it would have been Kid Brewer, who led us to an undefeated/unscored upon regular season in 1937 and to whom our stadium is named after. After three consecutive though, I think Coach Moore has locked it up.

There is an immense amount of history that all of the Ivies have, so there will be some greats listed. It'll be interesting with who everyone comes up with and historical/modern debates.

With all of this being said:

Who is the face of YOUR program?

This is a great thread. And to clarify according to the rules used by ESPN the face of the program isnt necessarily a person, but can also be a thing such as a stadium, tradition, or way of play.

For example the face of the Yale program could be the Yale Bowl, although my vote would be for Walter Camp. Georgia Southern could be their distinctive plain uni's, although it would be hard to bypass Erk. This could be fun

[Scooter]

For NDSU, I would have to say that the face of the program has to be coach Craig Bohl. There have been numerous coaches and players that could be thrown into the mix. However, due to the fact that NDSU took so long to make the jump to FCS, Craig Bohl has to be considered the face of NDSU.

[Appinator]

Any pictures would be interesting tooxthumbsupx

[gophoenix]

For Elon it would probably be Red Wilson and Jerry Tolley on the front. Took Elon to 103-26 in ten years. 6 post season appearances, 4 championship games and 2 championships in NAIA.

I know some people on here will rip at that, but people asked and that's what it would be.

[Fordham]

http://www.pacfan.com/v.jpg

[DetroitFlyer]

http://www.pacfan.com/v.jpg

OK, now you are just showing off....xsmiley_wix Tough "face" to beat!

[JMU DUUUKES]

Either Gary Clark, Charles Haley or Mickey Matthews in my opinion, I choose Mickey just because although those previous players have history and are extremely well known, Mickey pours his life into the program and made it compete on a national level

http://www.lib.jmu.edu/special/SCPix/sfoo/SFOO01.JPG

http://www.jmu.edu/centennialcelebration/wm_library/championship2.jpg

[813Jag]

http://bp3.blogger.com/_atBBSwCyLVQ/Rw0oZmVK6sI/AAAAAAAAAI8/qG4UwvqBKzA/s320/SU+2.jpg

Another face of Southern's program is the Jaguar Nation. Our fans truly follow our team home or away, probably more than any other school in our conference. And they are on par with some of the top fan bases in FCS. It is not an uncommon sight to see lots of RVs tailgating at a road game. Places like Alcorn, Mobile, and Houston are our second home.

[Franks Tanks]

This is a tough choice for Lafayette as we dont have one absolute like Vince Lombardi. I do have a few options

1. John "Jock" Sutherland. He is one of the greatest coaches in the early years of the game and a member of the college football HOF. He started his coaching career at Lafayette.

http://www.collegefootball.org/playerimages/30039_1.jpg

2. Charlie Berry. Easily the greatest athlete ever to play football for the Leopards. He was an All-American FB player at Lafayette, and we are talking about true all american not broken down by division as they didnt exist at that time. He played pro football for years including the 1925 NFL champion Pottsville Maroons. Charlie was also an all-star cather for Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics. After his sports career he went on to become an MLB ump and NFL referee.

http://www.qualitycards.com/pictures/1181771010.jpg

3. Bill Russo. Lafayette's all time wins leader and 1988 Eddie Robinson coach of the year award winner. He revitilized Lafayette Football in the 1980's and maintained continued success through the mid to late 90's.

http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/lafa/sports/genrel/auto_headshot/1461363.jpeg


4. Lafayette-Lehigh Rivalry. Despite the other possible choices I feel nothing else defines our program like the most played rivalry in college football. The Rivalry gets us the most press and it is the single thing that comes up first when the casual fan thinks of Lafayette Football.

http://blog.pennlive.com/roryfaust/2008/04/large_curley.JPG

[93henfan]

Tubby (300 wins, Hall of Famer, 3 National Championships):

http://www.collegefootball.org/famersearch.php?id=70077

http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/01-02/Tubby'300feature.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BHW1J5DSL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

[813Jag]

Seeing many of these posts causes me to think of other things associated with our program. Here's another: The Bayou Classic - it divides families, friends, schools, neighborhoods you name it. I know lots of people in Baton Rouge who are Grambling alums or fans. Heck in my family my two first cousins are Grambling Grads. Also adding to the allure is the fact that it's on Thanksgiving weekend which allows families to reunite on Thursday and head to New Orleans on Friday. And don't think it's party time during the game, it's intense and neither side wants to lose. Who wants to go home after a game knowing you'll hear smack talk for the next year every where you go.

http://blog.50millionpounds.com/bayouclassic.jpg

[blueballs]

For GSU, Erk Russell...

[jaxstatealum]

As Tanks says the "face" can be anything...

Ours would be the Marching Southerners of which I was a member. However, it is kinda sad that that is what we are most known for :o

[WrenFGun]

I'm not familiar with UNH's history, for the most part, but I have a hard time imagining anything can match what Ricky Santos and David Ball did at Cowell. They literally tore up the record books. Before that, perhaps Jerry Azumah?

[Houndawg]

For SIU, the face of the program is Jerry Kill. Dude has been down here at least twice since he left doing charity work.

[danefan]

This is an easy question for us at Albany:

http://www.northeastconference.org/images/fball/2007/11/27/headcoach_bob_ford_brown2003_web.jpg

Bob Ford. He's been our only head coach. Nursed this program from club to Division I. 225 career victories puts him at the top of the active coaches in FCS and 3rd in Division I behind Paterno and Bowden.

[GeauxLions94]

http://www.pacfan.com/v.jpg

Who's he xconfusedx

[Golden Eagle]

College Hall of Famer Jim Youngblood.

[TheValleyRaider]

Who's he xconfusedx

I'll give you a hint...

http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/sharemed/targets/images/pho/t628/T628547A.jpg

;)

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

For Montana it has to be Don Read.

http://web.montanagrizzlies.com/mtgriz/images/photo_gallery_images/2005_2006_an/Photos/Archived_Spo/Football/read1.jpg


Read was hired in 1986 and retired in 1995 after bringing Montana their first National Championship. There were many other people involved int he history of Montana football and they deserve credit for laying the groundwork for Read but he is the one that put them on the map with an exciting brand of football that will never be matched again.

As evidence by what we have now.



I also have to mention Dave Dickenson as well, he is the person that all future Griz QB's will be compared to.

[The Cats]

for WCU, it's Bob Waters.....http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/wcar/sports/genrel/auto_action/109060.jpeg

http://catamountsports.cstv.com/genrel/011205aab.html

[DFW HOYA]

It's fairly evident there is no "face" to the Georgetown program.

If you've had a program for 120 years and players still get questions asking if Georgetown has a team, that's a problem.

[AppAlum2003]

I'll give you a hint...

http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/sharemed/targets/images/pho/t628/T628547A.jpg

;)

Who is that kid and why is he the face of your program? xeyebrowx




:D

[ur2k]

For the Spiders the face could be:

- Leland Melvin (career leader in receiving yards and receptions) - also an NASA Astronaut who was recently on a shuttle mission
- Brian Jordan - since he is well-known 2 sport pro
- Walker Gillette - first round draft choice by the Chargers in 1970

[technocat]

I would have to guess either Sonny Holland or Dennis Erickson.

But for me it will always be either Travis Lulay or 'The Big Human'.

[yorkcountyUNHfan]

I'm not familiar with UNH's history, for the most part, but I have a hard time imagining anything can match what Ricky Santos and David Ball did at Cowell. They literally tore up the record books. Before that, perhaps Jerry Azumah?

Ricky did a ton while at UNH and is now (and will be for awhile) the most recognized face/name around UNH football.

But you'd also have to add Coach Bill Bowes to the talk.

[DetroitFlyer]

Who's he xconfusedx


You must be a "young-un". Here is a hint.... That trophy they give out to the winning Super Bowl team is named after this gent.

[Lionsrking]

You must be a "young-un". Here is a hint.... That trophy they give out to the winning Super Bowl team is named after this gent.

I guess GL94 didn't make his sarcasm very clear.

[Hoyadestroya85]

one of these guys.. it's too hard to pick though

[TheValleyRaider]

I guess GL94 didn't make his sarcasm very clear.

One of these: ;) always helps xthumbsupx

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

I'm not familiar with UNH's history, for the most part, but I have a hard time imagining anything can match what Ricky Santos and David Ball did at Cowell. They literally tore up the record books. Before that, perhaps Jerry Azumah?


Ricky did a ton while at UNH and is now (and will be for awhile) the most recognized face/name around UNH football.

But you'd also have to add Coach Bill Bowes to the talk.

Agreed. Ricky is obviously the most recognized face/name right now, but I think we need a few more years to completely acknowledge Ricky's place in that hierarchy. Kind of like the five year waiting period for the HOF. For now, I have to at least consider legendary coach Bill Bowes in the same breath as Ricky.

I just looked at the CAA Website and saw that Bill has the most wins in Yankee/A-10/CAA history with 97. Tubby Raymond is second at 89. Both will probably be passed by third place Andy Talley who has 88 wins. Bill coached from 1972-1998 and had a record of 175-106-5 for a .621 winning percentage. What to me is even more impressive is the atmosphere when Bill took over. Our previous coach after two xasswhipx by Delaware vowed UNH would never play the Blue Hens again as long as he was head coach. And the general feeling at the time was they we couldn't compete with UMass. By 1975 Delaware was back on the schedule, UNH beat UMass (for the first time since 1968), made the D-II playoffs, beat Lehigh in the Quarterfinals and lost to Western KY in the semi-finals. From 1974 Bowes led UNH to winning seasons in 21 of the next 23 years with the only blemishes being a 4-6 and 5-5-1 season. During that stretch UNH made the D-II playoffs twice and D-IAA playoffs twice.

Bill Bowes is the foundation of today's UNH Football program. IMHO, every tradition and philosophy preached by Sean McDonnell is an extension of Bill Bowes.

[KiddBrewer]

One of these: ;) always helps xthumbsupx


Who is that kid and why is he the face of your program? xeyebrowx




:D


i guess the :D didnt help?.......

[TheValleyRaider]

i guess the :D didnt help?.......

Well, mine was directed at GeauxLions xrotatehx

[93henfan]

I just looked at the CAA Website and saw that Bill has the most wins in Yankee/A-10/CAA history with 97. Tubby Raymond is second at 89. Both will probably be passed by third place Andy Talley who has 88 wins.

Sorry for the slight diversion, but it might be fair to mention that Delaware didn't join the Yankee/A-10/CAA until 1986 and Villanova until 1988!

Their records in Yankee/A-10/CAA:

Bill Bowes 97-74-2 (.567), 27 seasons in conference
Tubby Raymond 89-38 (.701), 16 seasons in conference
Andy Talley 88-67 (.568), 20 seasons in conference

[AmsterBison]

I've always thought the face of Bison football would look like this:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3213/2607859569_610c13ce0c.jpg

[AggieFinn]

Making the most of nothing...the legendary "Player's Coach" Jim Sochor.

http://centennial.ucdavis.edu/timeline/thumbs/1969_sochor.jpghttp://centennial.ucdavis.edu/images/stories/display/sochor_display.jpg

Soch was known more for helping shape amazing human beings rather than just great football players. For 19 years he defined an ethic and standard that had his UC Davis Aggies out-competing bigger, faster, flashier teams. He led the Ags to 18 straight conference championships...this is more than any other football program on any level in NCAA history. It's also of note that Sochor primarily had teams with no scholarships...they were all walk-ons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Sochor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Sochor)

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Sorry for the slight diversion, but it might be fair to mention that Delaware didn't join the Yankee/A-10/CAA until 1986 and Villanova until 1988!

Their records in Yankee/A-10/CAA:

Bill Bowes 97-74-2 (.567), 27 seasons in conference
Tubby Raymond 89-38 (.701), 16 seasons in conference
Andy Talley 88-67 (.568), 20 seasons in conference

If I thought that had any bearing on Bill Bowes importance to the UNH Football program, I would have mentioned it. The CAA hasn't put an asterisk on the listing so I didn't feel like I needed too. I also figured it was pretty obvious that Bowes has the record because of logevity. And I wasn't trying to insinuate anything other than Bowes being in the same discussion with Raymond and Talley was quite an achievement.

Many younger fans like Wren don't have an extensive knowledge of UNH history and many think we never won before the past four years. Just trying to provide some perspective for my Wildcat brethren. Definitely not trying to take anything away from Raymond's accomplishments.

[Hoyadestroya85]

Sorry for the slight diversion, but it might be fair to mention that Delaware didn't join the Yankee/A-10/CAA until 1986 and Villanova until 1988!

Their records in Yankee/A-10/CAA:

Bill Bowes 97-74-2 (.567), 27 seasons in conference
Tubby Raymond 89-38 (.701), 16 seasons in conference
Andy Talley 88-67 (.568), 20 seasons in conference

the most impressive thing about Tubby is that Winning percentage... geez
Talley also might have 10 or so more seasons left to go...

[DSUrocks07]

- Al Lavan xnodx

http://www.nmnathletics.com.edgesuite.net/pics8/400/JX/JXLKAPOFYLJNYVB.20070730163841.jpg

- Darnerien McCants xthumbsupx

http://a668.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/15/l_900af16ec6f374b72fbdbc88ae87b4cb.jpg

[bonarae]

The 7 National Championships Harvard acculumuated during the early years of Football (i.e. the equivalent of the dead-ball era in baseball)

anyone else think of more?

[ALPHAGRIZ1]

This is a very cool thread.

[RadMann]

To outsiders, Tubby is the most well known. To people familiar with the program Dave Nelson is right there with him. As the inventor of the Wing-T offense, Tubby's mentor, longtime secretary of the NCAA College Football Rules Committee and College Football Hall of Fame Member, his stats stand on their own. In fact, the past three UD head coaches before Keeler are enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend. Gannon gets a mention also for the notoriety of his NFL career and his connection to UD as well.

[Tribe4SF]

For W&M it has become Jimmye Laycock. Having played for the Tribe from 1966-1970, and now having 29 years as Head Coach, Jimmye has come to personify the core values of both the school, and the football program.

[ButlerGSU]

The one, and only, Coach Erk Russell

http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/images/stheme/64stheme-LTWO.jpg

[Demon Fan]

Sam Goodwin coached the Northwestern State Demons for 17 seasons (1983 - 1999) and became the winningest coach in school and Southland football history, with 102 Demon victoies including 49 in Southland competition. [Goodwin's record was surplanted in 2004 when SHSU Coach Randelman retired with 132 "Kat" wins after 22 years]. Goodwin's teams captured four conference titles, nine of his last 12 teams were ranked nationally. The 1998 team finished the year ranked No. 3 nationally.

[lizrdgizrd]

For Elon it would probably be Red Wilson and Jerry Tolley on the front. Took Elon to 103-26 in ten years. 6 post season appearances, 4 championship games and 2 championships in NAIA.

I know some people on here will rip at that, but people asked and that's what it would be.
I always think of this guy as the face of Elon football.

http://org.elon.edu/phanatics/images/fans_1983.jpg

[93henfan]

What the hell is that thing? It actually looks worse than App St's mascot! Judging by the haircuts on the kids (early 80's?), I'm guessing that thing has been mercifully retired?

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

The one, and only, Coach Erk Russell

http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/images/stheme/64stheme-LTWO.jpg

no ifs, ands, or buts.

[93henfan]

Erk even has his own action figure!


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4145V6A20AL._SL500_AA280_.jpg


(George "The Animal" Steele, btw, for any who are stumped)

[ericsaid]

What the hell is that thing? It actually looks worse than App St's mascot! Judging by the haircuts on the kids (early 80's?), I'm guessing that thing has been mercifully retired?


This coming from someone who's mascot is a chicken.xcoolx

[T-Dog]

What the hell is that thing? It actually looks worse than App St's mascot! Judging by the haircuts on the kids (early 80's?), I'm guessing that thing has been mercifully retired?

I think it's one of their mascots from the time they were the Fighting Christians.

[EKU05]

It's probably overstating the obvious for me to say the words "Roy Kidd."

[cowbellnation]

For SDSU it comes down to 2 logical choices:

Hobo Day
and/or
The Pride of the Dakotas Marching Band

Hobo Day:

The craziest Homecoming Celebration in all of FCS. Now all you other fans are gonna come on here, "Oh Homecoming is Homecoming," well maybe everywhere else except for Hobo Day at SDSU. 2008 will be the 97th Hobo Day Celebration at SDSU, and I'm sure other fans (Not just SDSU fans) but NDSU, UND, UC Davis played at Hobo Day 2006, and SFA played at Hobo Day 2007, and McNeese gets to experience Hobo Day 2008 can give a piece on Hobo Day. Oh, and maybe USD. I cannot even begin to explain Hobo Day, it's truly an original and amazing experience that can't be beat in college football. Help me out Jackrabbits.

The Pride of the Dakotas Marching Band:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+pride+of+the+dakotas&search_type=&aq=f

Enough Said

[McNeese75]

For SDSU it comes down to 2 logical choices:

Hobo Day
and/or
The Pride of the Dakotas Marching Band

Hobo Day:

The craziest Homecoming Celebration in all of FCS. Now all you other fans are gonna come on here, "Oh Homecoming is Homecoming," well maybe everywhere else except for Hobo Day at SDSU. 2008 will be the 97th Hobo Day Celebration at SDSU, and I'm sure other fans (Not just SDSU fans) but NDSU, UND, UC Davis played at Hobo Day 2006, and SFA played at Hobo Day 2007, and McNeese gets to experience Hobo Day 2008 can give a piece on Hobo Day. Oh, and maybe USD. I cannot even begin to explain Hobo Day, it's truly an original and amazing experience that can't be beat in college football. Help me out Jackrabbits.

The Pride of the Dakotas Marching Band:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+pride+of+the+dakotas&search_type=&aq=f

Enough Said

Soooooooo do we need to know something about the dress code that day???? :D We already know to bring our cowbells.