Eastern Michigan Eagles football
Encyclopedia
The Eastern Michigan Eagles are a college football
program at Eastern Michigan University
. They compete in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the Mid-American Conference
. Past names include Michigan State Normal College Normalites (1899 to 1928), Michigan State Normal College Hurons (1929 to 1955), and Eastern Michigan Hurons (1956 to 1990).
Since 1891, Eastern Michigan University has compiled an all-time record of 428-519-47, fielding a team in each year except 1944. The team has achieved five undefeated seasons
, in 1906, 1925, 1927, 1943 (holding opponents scoreless), and 1945 and eight winless seasons, in 1891, 1910, 1941, 1949, 1960, 1961, 1981 and 2009. The team has never ended a season ranked in any major poll, and is among the worst Division I FBS schools both in all-time win percentage (45.4%, for 107 out of 120) and in all-time scoring margin (-1898, for 108 out of 120). The team saw its greatest period of success from 1925 through 1939 under head coach Elton Rynearson
, for whom their home field, Rynearson Stadium
, is named. Among the lowest periods in the team's history was a 27-game losing streak in the early 1980s; under head coach Mike Stock the team was held scoreless seven times and posted an average margin of loss of 18 points per game.
, in 1906, 1925, 1927, 1943 (holding opponents scoreless), and 1945 and eight perfectly bad seasons, in 1891, 1910, 1941, 1949, 1960, 1961, 1981 and 2009. The team has never ended a season ranked in any major poll and is among the worst NCAA Division I FBS schools both in all-time win percentage (45.4%, for 107 out of 120) and in all-time scoring margin (-1898, for 108 out of 120).
From 1892 to 1926, the team competed in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
, winning conference championships in 1896 and 1925. (Although the MIAA did not recognize football as an official sport until 1894, MIAA teams competed against each other as early as 1891.)
The 1916 season was cut short after four games when Coach Elmer Mitchell and four players contracted smallpox
; the last game was played October 28 against the University of Detroit.
In the late 1920s, Coach Elton Rynearson
led the team to what remain their most successful seasons, with perfect season
s in 1925 and 1927, and a record of 29-2 from 1925 through 1928.
From 1927 to 1930 Michigan State Normal College competed in the Michigan Collegiate Conference
, where they won the championship every year. Rynearson coached the Hurons through 1948, and his 114 wins are more than double those of any other coach at the school. After 19 years as an independent team the school competed in the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1950 through 1961, during which time the school's name changed from Michigan State Normal College to Eastern Michigan College and then to Eastern Michigan University, and following two more independent seasons the team competed in the Presidents' Athletic Conference
in 1964 and 1965.
In 1972, Eastern Michigan joined the Mid-American Conference
, in which they still compete. From the 1980 season through the 1982 season, the team lost a school-record 27 consecutive games, including a "perfectly bad season" in 1981. In the late 1980s, Coach Jim Harkema
lead the team to four consecutive winning seasons, including Eastern's only MAC championship in 1987, when the team went to the 1987 California Bowl and upset 17½ point favorite San Jose State University for the only bowl game
win in school history. The 1988 and 1989 teams each finished in second place in the conference.
logos or imagery should drop them. An EMU committee considered the change and recommended three possible replacement nicknames, Eagles, Green Hornets, and Express, from which the Board of Regents voted to accept the nickname "Eagles". The change became official on May 22, 1991. The controversy over the nickname continues to this day, as many former students and faculty were angered that a unique name like Hurons was replaced by a common name like Eagles, and many alumni have refused to donate money to the school until the name Hurons is restored. An official chapter of the EMU Alumni Association, the Huron Restoration Chapter, seeks to bring back the name and claims to have the support of Chief Leaford Bearskin of the Wyandot Tribe of Oklahoma and former Grand Chief Max Gros-Louis of the Huron-Wendat Nation
of Quebec.
In 19 seasons since the change, the Eagles have managed only a single winning season, 1995, in which they went 6-5. In the Eagles era, the team has a 61-160-1 record, including a perfectly bad season (0-12) in 2009 and single win seasons in 1992 (1-10) and 2006 (1-11). They have had eight different coaches in that time, for an average coaching tenure less than 3 years, and two head coaches who stayed less than a season each (Jan Quarless coached the final seven games in 1992, and Tony Lombardi coached the final game in 1999).
for the first time. If there's a such thing as a good 4-8 season, this was it; the sweep of in-state rivals, the relatively narrow loss at Michigan, and the return of quarterback Andy Schmitt left many Eagle fans feeling optimistic for the 2008 season.
on the tie. Schmitt finished 58/80 for 516 yards (school record), threw 5 TDs, and ran for one more. Most of these records were reset from just the week prior against Temple. In that game, Schmitt finished 50/76 for 485 yards, but Eastern was outscored by three. His 76 passes in a game without an interception set an NCAA record. He was only intercepted once against Central with 80 passes. Schmitt's return as a 5th year senior in 2009 was a point of optimism for fans. For those two games he was 108/156 for 1001 yards and 1 interception.
, who had formerly been the defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan and the University of Louisville, as the team's head coach. The coaching change initially brought excitement to the program, as English hired a new staff, including former University of Michigan, New York Giants, and Oakland Raiders running back Tyrone Wheatley
, and replaced Genyk's spread offense with a pro-style offense.
However, the change in offense proved difficult for senior quarterback Andy Schmitt, and after being largely ineffective in the first several games of the season, Schmitt suffered a season-ending knee injury playing against Michigan. Eastern finished 2009 without a win, their first winless season since 1981. Once again, the season started better than it turned out in the end. In the second game of the year, the Eagles traveled to Northwestern, and after falling down 21-0 in the second quarter, they ended up tying the game at 24 with 2 minutes left, before Northwestern kicked a game winning field goal in the closing seconds. The following week, they had another trip just across the county to play Michigan. Similar to their 2006 game at Michigan State, they played a very competitive first half, only trailing by one score. But like many times before, they could not put two good halves together. They were outscored 21-0 in the second half, and gave up 380 yards rushing total. The rest of the season they used former starting quarterback Kyle McMahon, and freshman Alex Gillet, giving him good experience for the future. Eastern scored no more than 12 points in any of the next three games, including a 56-8 loss at Central Michigan. The week after that, they nearly beat Ball State who was also winless at the time. The difference was a safety in the fourth quarter. Next, they had one more non-conference game as they traveled to Arkansas. This game was the opposite of the Michigan game — bad first half, good second half. They were down 42-0 before eventually losing 63-27. For the rest of the year, they were only close in the finale at Akron, losing by 7.
In previous years, Eastern was able to get at least a few wins because of a high scoring offense. The loss of their quarterback ended that, and their defense was bad this year even by their standards. Eastern gave up 3,321 rushing yards (276.8 per game), more than any other team in the nation, which was their downfall. Because of this, they statistically appeared to have one of the best passing defenses, allowing 150.5 passing yards per game, second only to Air Force, but this was mostly an illusion. Everyone knew they could not stop the run, so opponents just did not call many pass plays.
The difficult non-conference schedule will include games at Ohio State, at Vanderbilt, and at Virginia.
Around mid-century, Eastern Michigan played its home games at a small field near the corner of Oakwood and Washtenaw, just west of McKenny Union
. In 1969, the university constructed Rynearson Stadium
, named for former coach Elton Rynearson
. With a 30,200 person seating capacity, Rynearson Stadium is among the smallest to host an FBS team, but despite that, the largest attendance at an EMU game at Rynearson was 25,009, on September 16, 1995 for a 51-6 win over UNLV. Rynearson is one of only two stadiums in the Mid-American Conference with a track around the football field. Lighting was added to the stadium in 1974, and the playing surface has been FieldTurf
since 2005. Two EMU games at Rynearson have been sell-outs: a 24-31 loss to Western Michigan on October 22, 1988 drew 23,003 (listed capacity at the time was 22,227), and a 0-0 tie against Eastern Kentucky on October 16, 1971 drew 17,360 (listed capacity at the time was 15,500).
In late 2009, Eastern Michigan University broke ground on an indoor practice facility, which was completed that academic year. In addition to being used for football practices, the air-supported structure is used by Eastern Michigan's soccer, baseball, softball, and golf programs. This is one of only three such air-supported facilities used by Football Bowl Subdivision programs. According to Athletic Director Derrick Gragg a traditionally constructed facility of the same size would have cost approximately five times more.
(1900–1902), Henry Schulte
(1906–1908), Elton Rynearson
(1917, 1919–1920, 1925–1948), Fred Trosko
(1952–1964), Dan Boisture
(1967–1973), George Mans
(1974–75), Mike Stock
(1978–1982), Jim Harkema
(1983–1992), Rick Rasnick
(1995–1999), Jeff Woodruff
(2000–2003), Jeff Genyk
(2004–2008), and the current coach Ron English
(2009–present). Rynearson was the longest-serving and winningest coach, with a record of 114-58-15 over 26 seasons, while Vern Bennett (1894) posted the highest winning percentage, 71.4%. Tony Lombardi was the shortest-tenured coach, leading the team only for the final game of the 1999 season.
, including being on the undefeated 1898 Michigan Wolverines football team
that won the university's first Western Conference championship, Clayton Teetzel
travelled six miles east to Ypsilanti, where he became the first person to coach the Michigan State Normal College football team for more than one year. From 1900 through 1902, his teams compiled a 6-14-1 record.
, who played at the guard
and center
positions for Fielding H. Yost's famous "Point-a-Minute" teams of 1903
, 1904
, and 1905
, which compiled a record of 33–1–1 over the three years Schulte was a starter. Schulte was often referred to by the nickname "Indian" Schulte, though he was of German rather than Native American descent.
In late 1905 and early 1906, charges of professionalism were leveled at the major college football programs, including Michigan, leading to calls for reform or even elimination of the sport from college campuses. In response to the controversy, the faculty at Michigan ruled Schulte and two other football players, Germany Schulz
and Walter Rheinschild
, academically ineligible. As a result, Schulte missed the 1906 season. In his ineligible senior year at Michigan, Schulte began a long career in coaching as the track coach at Michigan State Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University). From 1906 to 1908, Schulte served as coach of the football, baseball and track teams at Eastern Michigan University. In three years as Eastern Michigan's football coach, Schulte compiled a 9–6–1 record.
Schulte subsequently coached at Missouri and achieved great success as a track coach and assistant football coach at Nebraska. Schulte was credited with building great football lines for Nebraska, evn in his years as an assistant coach; Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne
frequently mentioned Schulte as "the greatest line coach in the game."
Rynearson's return in 1925 sparked the most successful period in school history. From 1925 through 1930, the team achieved a 40-4-2 record, including perfect season
s in 1925 and 1927. From 1925 through 1927 they outscored opponents 405 points to 31 and registered 19 shutouts. They won the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championship in 1925, and won the Michigan Collegiate Conference championships in 1927, 1928, 1929, and 1930. Although less dominant, Rynearson's teams continued to have success throughout the 1930s, never having a losing season until the teams of 1940 and 1941 combined for a 2-10-3 record. The 1943 and 1945 teams (there was no team in 1944) were again successful, combining for a 7-0-1 record. However, following the end of World War II, Rynearson's teams again struggled, and he ended his coaching career on a streak of three losing seasons from 1946 through 1948. His 26 seasons as head coach are double those of the next-longest serving coach, Fred Trosko, and no Eastern Michigan University football coach has reached even half of Rynearson's win total of 114 games.
was hired as head coach, and over the next several seasons the team improved markedly, attaining a 7-1-1 record in 1953, an 8-1-0 record in 1954, and a 7-2-0 record in 1955. The team was not able to sustain the success, however, and for the remained of his thirteen seasons Trosko's teams struggled, finishing two consecutive seasons winless (1960 and 1961, both 0-8-1), and only managing two additional winning seasons, going 6-3-0 in 1957 and 4-3-0 in 1964, Trosko's final year. In thirteen seasons, the second longest tenure of any head coach at the school, Trosko had nearly as many losses as Rynearson had in twenty-six seasons.
was hired as head coach, and under his leadership, the team produced the longest period of sustained success since Rynearson's days. The team posted winning seasons in all seven years of Trosko's coaching, including the 1971 squad that finished the regular season 7-0-2, before losing to Louisiana Tech in the Pioneer Bowl, the first bowl trip in school history.
Boisture's tenure is also notable for the construction of Rynearson Stadium
. Boisture's teams played their first two seasons at the old field, near the corner of Oakwood and Washtenaw, just west of McKenny Union
. In 1969, the new stadium, which was considered off-campus at the time, opened with a capacity of 15,500. Boisture's bowl-bound 1971 team played for one of just two sellout crowds in the stadium's history, a 0-0 tie against Eastern Kentucky on October 16, 1971 which drew 17,360 spectators.
program from 1959 to 1961, Mans began his coaching career as the ends coach on Trosko's 1963 team at Eastern Michigan University. After stints at Michigan Technological University
and the University of Michigan
, where he was one of two members of Bump Elliott
's coaching staff to continue to serve under Bo Schembechler
.
In February 1974, Mans was hired to follow Boisture as the head football coach at Eastern Michigan University, where he remained for the 1974 and 1975 seasons. In his first season as head coach, Mans' team started the season with only one win in the first six games, but the team finished strong, going 3–1–1 in the final five games. In May 1976, Mans announced his resignation as Eastern Michigan's coach in what the Associated Press
described as a "surprise move." According to one newspaper report, Mans resigned "when it became apparent that EMU would place a greater emphasis on basketball, hiring former Detroit Pistons
Coach Ray Scott
." Mans compiled an 8–12–1 record in two seasons as the head football coach at Eastern Michigan.
, bringing the losing streak to 22 games; the team went on to lose five more consecutive games under interim coach Bob LaPointe before the streak was broken with a 9-7 win over Kent State on November 6, 1982. Stock's teams were held scoreless seven times, his teams were outscored by a total of 809 points — nearly 18 points per game, and his final record of 6-38-1 gives him a 14.4% win percentage, easily the lowest of any coach to remain at Eastern more than one season. Stock continued to coach football both at the collegiate level and the professional level, both in the United States Football League
and the National Football League
, until his retirement following the 2008 NFL season, but this was his only head coaching position.
was named the interim head coach for the remainder of the season while the school conducted a national search, and Jim Harkema, who had won three Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
championships at Grand Valley State, was hired to lead the team beginning in 1983. Beginning in 1986, Harkema led the team to four consecutive winning seasons, including Eastern's only Mid-American Conference
championship in 1987, when the team went to the 1987 California Bowl and upset 17½ point favorite San Jose State University for the only bowl game
win in school history. Harkema is credited with building the program at Eastern Michigan into a "Top-Shelf" program, and he coached one of just two EMU games at Rynearson Stadium
that sold-out: a 24-31 loss to Western Michigan on October 22, 1988 drew 23,003 (listed capacity at the time was 22,227). In the early 1990s, the football team struggled, and after losing the first four games of the 1992 season, Harkema resigned, and assistant coach Jan Quarless
took over for the remainder of the season.
as the head coach. Prior to accepting the EMU head coaching position, Genyk spent the previous 12 years at Northwestern
working for the football program. He was the running backs coach, recruiting coordinator and one of the special teams coaches for five seasons (1999–2003). In 1998 he was the secondary coach, working with the safeties, and he was also one of the special teams’ coaches. In 1997, Genyk was the linebackers coach, and one of the special teams coaches as well. In December 1996, prior to the Wildcats’ appearance in the Comp USA Florida Citrus Bowl, Genyk was elevated to inside linebackers coach. Before the 1997 season, he made the switch to outside linebackers coach. During the 1994, 1995 and 1996 seasons, he was the director of football operations. He first joined the Northwestern staff as a graduate assistant coach for the 1992 and 1993 seasons.
During his tenure as the running backs coach, Genyk tutored tailback Damien Anderson to a school-record 2,063 yards in the 2000 season. He also saw another one of his running backs, Jason Wright, reach the 1,000-yard rushing mark in both 2002 and 2003 with 1,234 and 1,151 yards respectively. Anderson went on to earn All-American honors in 2000 while Wright was an Academic All-American in 2002.
Genyk was part of three Big Ten championship teams, and four postseason bowl games at Northwestern. The 1995, 1996 and 2000 teams all won Big Ten titles. The 1995 squad played in the Rose Bowl
, the 1996 team was in the Comp USA Florida Citrus Bowl, the 2000 team played in the Alamo Bowl
, and the 2003 squad played in the Motor City Bowl
. The '95 and '96 squads (as well as the 2000 squad in perhaps one of the greatest games in college football history) defeated Michigan, which Northwestern had not done since 1965.
Genyk is a native of Milan, Mich (born 8-22-60). where he was an all-state quarterback at Milan High School. He went on to Bowling Green State University and played quarterback for the Falcons from 1978 to 1981 before completing his bachelor’s degree in 1982 in business administration. Genyk has two master’s degrees, an MBA from Western Michigan University in 1989, and a master’s in education from Northwestern in 1994.
Genyk joined the Northwestern football staff in 1992 after serving as an assistant coach at Grand Rapids (Mich.) Community College from December 1990 to the spring of 1992 where he tutored the quarterbacks and wide receivers. Prior to joining the coaching ranks, he worked in private business from 1982 to 1991.
In his first season, 2004, Genyk helped lead EMU to a 4-4 Mid-American Conference record, the best record since the 1999 squad went 4-4 in Mid-American Conference play, and a 4-7 overall record. In addition, Genyk directed the Eagles to the Michigan MAC championship with wins over both in-state league rivals, Western Michigan and Central Michigan, for the first time since the 1986 season.
The 2005 season, Jeff Genyk's second as head coach, saw limited improvement as the Eagles finished with a 4-7 overall record (the same as 2004) and a 3-5 MAC mark. However, that final record could just as easily have been 6-5, 7-4, or even 8-3, as the Eagles dropped two one-point games (Miami University, Ball State), one two-point game (at Cincinnati), and one eight-point game (Western Michigan).
In 2006, EMU had just one win, the homecoming game against Toledo. Once again, the total could have been a lot higher, with six losses coming only by one possession. They lost two games by 8 (at Northwestern, at Kent State), one game in overtime by 7 (Central Michigan), one game by 6 (Ohio), and two games by 3 (at Bowling Green, at Western Michigan).
, former defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan and the University of Louisville, was named head coach of the Eastern Michigan football program. At the time of his hiring, English was one of five African American head coaches in major college football; the others were Kansas
's Turner Gill
, Miami
's Randy Shannon
, Houston
's Kevin Sumlin
, New Mexico
's Mike Locksley
; Mike Haywood became the sixth when Miami University
(Ohio) hired him just days later. Although his hiring brough a lot of excitement to the program, he failed to capitalize in his first season, leading the team to an 0-12 record, the first winless season for EMU since 1981. Despite English's background as a defensive coach, the team allowed an average of more than 38 points per game, losing 10 games by double-digit margins, 6 of them by more than 20 points.
in 1892. Although the conference did not recognize football as an official sport until 1894, teams within the conference competed with each other as early as 1891. MSNC's first game against an MIAA opponent was a 30-10 victory over Albion College on November 2, 1892. In 1896, MSNC won their MIAA games by a combined score of 70-0, earning them the conference championship. Despite an undefeated season in 1906, the conference championship was won by Olivet College, whose team played, and won, more conference games. In 1925, with the return of Rynearson as coach, the team achieved another undefeated season and again took the MIAA championship, before leaving the conference a year later.
championship, marking the high point of four consecutive winning seasons, and the completion of a turnaround from the school's 27-game losing streak earlier in the decade.
in Wichita Falls
, Texas
.
In 1987, following the school's only MAC championship, and the first in any conference in 30 years, the team went on to upset 17½ point favorite San Jose State University in the 1987 California Bowl in Fresno
, California
, for the only bowl game
win in school history.
, against the Central Michigan Chippewas
and Western Michigan Broncos
. Since the Michigan MAC Trophy was created in 2005, Eastern Michigan has won it three times, sweeping the series in 2007, and retaining it in 2008 when all three schools went 1-1 in the round robin series. After defeating both Central and Western in 2011, Eastern reclaimed the trophy, tying them with Central Michigan for the most Michigan MAC championships in the series.
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
program at Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University is a comprehensive, co-educational public university located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Ypsilanti is west of Detroit and eight miles east of Ann Arbor. The university was founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School...
. They compete in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the Mid-American Conference
Mid-American Conference
The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...
. Past names include Michigan State Normal College Normalites (1899 to 1928), Michigan State Normal College Hurons (1929 to 1955), and Eastern Michigan Hurons (1956 to 1990).
Since 1891, Eastern Michigan University has compiled an all-time record of 428-519-47, fielding a team in each year except 1944. The team has achieved five undefeated seasons
Perfect Season
A perfect season is any sports season, excluding the playoff portion of a season, in which a team remains undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, and has occurred more commonly at the collegiate level in the United States.A perfect season may...
, in 1906, 1925, 1927, 1943 (holding opponents scoreless), and 1945 and eight winless seasons, in 1891, 1910, 1941, 1949, 1960, 1961, 1981 and 2009. The team has never ended a season ranked in any major poll, and is among the worst Division I FBS schools both in all-time win percentage (45.4%, for 107 out of 120) and in all-time scoring margin (-1898, for 108 out of 120). The team saw its greatest period of success from 1925 through 1939 under head coach Elton Rynearson
Elton Rynearson
Elton James Rynearson, Sr. was an American athlete, coach, and athletic director. He was affiliated with Eastern Michigan University for most of his life, beginning his association with the school as a student in 1910 and retiring as the school's athletic director in...
, for whom their home field, Rynearson Stadium
Rynearson Stadium
Rynearson Stadium is a stadium in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the Eastern Michigan University Eagles. It held its first game on September 27, 1969 when EMU upset the University of Akron, 10-3. Currently, the stadium has seating for...
, is named. Among the lowest periods in the team's history was a 27-game losing streak in the early 1980s; under head coach Mike Stock the team was held scoreless seven times and posted an average margin of loss of 18 points per game.
History
Since their first season of football, in 1891, Eastern Michigan University has compiled an all-time record of 428-519-47, failing to field a team only in 1944. The team has achieved five undefeated seasonsPerfect Season
A perfect season is any sports season, excluding the playoff portion of a season, in which a team remains undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, and has occurred more commonly at the collegiate level in the United States.A perfect season may...
, in 1906, 1925, 1927, 1943 (holding opponents scoreless), and 1945 and eight perfectly bad seasons, in 1891, 1910, 1941, 1949, 1960, 1961, 1981 and 2009. The team has never ended a season ranked in any major poll and is among the worst NCAA Division I FBS schools both in all-time win percentage (45.4%, for 107 out of 120) and in all-time scoring margin (-1898, for 108 out of 120).
Normalites era (1891–1928)
Michigan State Normal School first fielded a football team in 1891. Initially the team had no official nickname, being known variously as the "Normalites" or the "Men from Ypsi".From 1892 to 1926, the team competed in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association is an athletic conference that competes in the NCAA's Division III. The nine teams in the conference are all located in the states of Michigan and Indiana. The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association was established on March 24, 1888, making...
, winning conference championships in 1896 and 1925. (Although the MIAA did not recognize football as an official sport until 1894, MIAA teams competed against each other as early as 1891.)
The 1916 season was cut short after four games when Coach Elmer Mitchell and four players contracted smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
; the last game was played October 28 against the University of Detroit.
In the late 1920s, Coach Elton Rynearson
Elton Rynearson
Elton James Rynearson, Sr. was an American athlete, coach, and athletic director. He was affiliated with Eastern Michigan University for most of his life, beginning his association with the school as a student in 1910 and retiring as the school's athletic director in...
led the team to what remain their most successful seasons, with perfect season
Perfect Season
A perfect season is any sports season, excluding the playoff portion of a season, in which a team remains undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, and has occurred more commonly at the collegiate level in the United States.A perfect season may...
s in 1925 and 1927, and a record of 29-2 from 1925 through 1928.
Hurons era (1929–1990)
In 1929, the Michigan State Normal College Men's Union sponsored a contest to determine a nickname. A three-person committee chose "Hurons" from the contest entries; the runner-up name was "Pioneers". The name Hurons was submitted by Gretchen Borst and George Hanner, both MSNC students. It is likely that Hanner got the idea from the Huron Hotel in downtown Ypsilanti, where he was employed.From 1927 to 1930 Michigan State Normal College competed in the Michigan Collegiate Conference
Michigan Collegiate Conference
The Michigan Collegiate Conference was an athletic conference that existed in the United States for six years, from 1927 through 1932.Formed in December 1926, the members were Michigan State Normal , Western State Teachers College , Central State Teachers College , and the College of the...
, where they won the championship every year. Rynearson coached the Hurons through 1948, and his 114 wins are more than double those of any other coach at the school. After 19 years as an independent team the school competed in the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1950 through 1961, during which time the school's name changed from Michigan State Normal College to Eastern Michigan College and then to Eastern Michigan University, and following two more independent seasons the team competed in the Presidents' Athletic Conference
Presidents' Athletic Conference
The Presidents' Athletic Conference is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member teams are private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning located in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky....
in 1964 and 1965.
In 1972, Eastern Michigan joined the Mid-American Conference
Mid-American Conference
The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...
, in which they still compete. From the 1980 season through the 1982 season, the team lost a school-record 27 consecutive games, including a "perfectly bad season" in 1981. In the late 1980s, Coach Jim Harkema
Jim Harkema
E. James Harkema is former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Grand Valley State University , from 1973 to 1982 and at Eastern Michigan University from 1983 to 1992, compiling a career college football record of 109–86–6...
lead the team to four consecutive winning seasons, including Eastern's only MAC championship in 1987, when the team went to the 1987 California Bowl and upset 17½ point favorite San Jose State University for the only bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
win in school history. The 1988 and 1989 teams each finished in second place in the conference.
Eagles era (1991–present)
In October 1988, the Michigan Department of Civil Rights issued a report suggesting that all schools using Native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
logos or imagery should drop them. An EMU committee considered the change and recommended three possible replacement nicknames, Eagles, Green Hornets, and Express, from which the Board of Regents voted to accept the nickname "Eagles". The change became official on May 22, 1991. The controversy over the nickname continues to this day, as many former students and faculty were angered that a unique name like Hurons was replaced by a common name like Eagles, and many alumni have refused to donate money to the school until the name Hurons is restored. An official chapter of the EMU Alumni Association, the Huron Restoration Chapter, seeks to bring back the name and claims to have the support of Chief Leaford Bearskin of the Wyandot Tribe of Oklahoma and former Grand Chief Max Gros-Louis of the Huron-Wendat Nation
Huron-Wendat Nation
The Huron-Wendat Nation is a Huron-Wendat First Nation whose community and reserve is at Wendake, Quebec, a municipality now enclosed within Quebec City in Canada. In the French language, used by most members of the First Nation, they are known as the Nation Huronne-Wendat.In 2006, historical...
of Quebec.
In 19 seasons since the change, the Eagles have managed only a single winning season, 1995, in which they went 6-5. In the Eagles era, the team has a 61-160-1 record, including a perfectly bad season (0-12) in 2009 and single win seasons in 1992 (1-10) and 2006 (1-11). They have had eight different coaches in that time, for an average coaching tenure less than 3 years, and two head coaches who stayed less than a season each (Jan Quarless coached the final seven games in 1992, and Tony Lombardi coached the final game in 1999).
2007
In 2007, Eastern Michigan had a big come-from-behind win on the road over Northern Illinois early in the season. They were down 13-0, but ended up winning 21-19, when they blocked NIU's winning field goal attempt at the end of the game. The next week, they had a big win over Division I-AA Howard at home, and were 2-2 and optimistic. Two weeks later they had their best showing ever against the University of Michigan, dropping a 33-22 match in which they largely stifled Michigan's all-time leading QB Chad Henne, and returned a blocked kick for a score. Later, they beat Western Michigan decisively, 19-2, with only a mistake for a safety keeping them from their first shutout since 1997. To end the season, they traveled to Mount Pleasant to face a highly favored, and bowl-bound, Central Michigan team. CMU's quarterback Dan LeFevour would join Vince Young as the only QBs to pass for 3,000 and rush for 1,000 yards in a season. However, the Chippewas could not get past Eastern Michigan, losing to the Eagles 48-45. With the sweep of their in-state rivals, Eastern captured the Michigan MAC TrophyMichigan MAC Trophy
The Michigan MAC Trophy is given to the Michigan Mid-American Conference university – Central Michigan University , Eastern Michigan University and Western Michigan University – which defeats the other two schools in the same sport in the same regular season.There are two separate...
for the first time. If there's a such thing as a good 4-8 season, this was it; the sweep of in-state rivals, the relatively narrow loss at Michigan, and the return of quarterback Andy Schmitt left many Eagle fans feeling optimistic for the 2008 season.
2008
2008 started with a bang in a 52-0 defeat of Indiana State. For longtime fans, this was repayment for an embarrassing loss to ISU in 2001. Despite the strong start, Eastern lost 4 straight after the opener, and was never close in any of them. Then they pulled off a road upset of Bowling Green, who had beaten BCS member Pittsburgh earlier in the year. But after that, they had two close losses by three at West Point to Army, and by seven at home to Akron. After a loss to Temple on November 22, 2008, Eastern Michigan fired coach Jeff Genyk, but would allow him to coach the Eagle's final game of the season against rival Central Michigan. Many games lost by 7 points or less was one of the reasons given for firing Genyk. Eastern won that game, however, 56-52. Two national records were set against CMU as QB Andy Schmitt had 58 completions and Tyler Jones tied a record by catching 23 passes. With Eastern Michigan's win over Central Michigan, all three schools split the series, and Eastern retained the Michigan MAC TrophyMichigan MAC Trophy
The Michigan MAC Trophy is given to the Michigan Mid-American Conference university – Central Michigan University , Eastern Michigan University and Western Michigan University – which defeats the other two schools in the same sport in the same regular season.There are two separate...
on the tie. Schmitt finished 58/80 for 516 yards (school record), threw 5 TDs, and ran for one more. Most of these records were reset from just the week prior against Temple. In that game, Schmitt finished 50/76 for 485 yards, but Eastern was outscored by three. His 76 passes in a game without an interception set an NCAA record. He was only intercepted once against Central with 80 passes. Schmitt's return as a 5th year senior in 2009 was a point of optimism for fans. For those two games he was 108/156 for 1001 yards and 1 interception.
2009
Following the firing of Jeff Genyk during the 2008 season, Eastern Michigan hired Ron EnglishRon English (American football)
-External links:**...
, who had formerly been the defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan and the University of Louisville, as the team's head coach. The coaching change initially brought excitement to the program, as English hired a new staff, including former University of Michigan, New York Giants, and Oakland Raiders running back Tyrone Wheatley
Tyrone Wheatley
Tyrone Anthony Wheatley is the running backs coach at Syracuse University and a former professional American football player who played 10 seasons in the National Football League and was one of the most successful high school and collegiate athletes in Metropolitan Detroit history...
, and replaced Genyk's spread offense with a pro-style offense.
However, the change in offense proved difficult for senior quarterback Andy Schmitt, and after being largely ineffective in the first several games of the season, Schmitt suffered a season-ending knee injury playing against Michigan. Eastern finished 2009 without a win, their first winless season since 1981. Once again, the season started better than it turned out in the end. In the second game of the year, the Eagles traveled to Northwestern, and after falling down 21-0 in the second quarter, they ended up tying the game at 24 with 2 minutes left, before Northwestern kicked a game winning field goal in the closing seconds. The following week, they had another trip just across the county to play Michigan. Similar to their 2006 game at Michigan State, they played a very competitive first half, only trailing by one score. But like many times before, they could not put two good halves together. They were outscored 21-0 in the second half, and gave up 380 yards rushing total. The rest of the season they used former starting quarterback Kyle McMahon, and freshman Alex Gillet, giving him good experience for the future. Eastern scored no more than 12 points in any of the next three games, including a 56-8 loss at Central Michigan. The week after that, they nearly beat Ball State who was also winless at the time. The difference was a safety in the fourth quarter. Next, they had one more non-conference game as they traveled to Arkansas. This game was the opposite of the Michigan game — bad first half, good second half. They were down 42-0 before eventually losing 63-27. For the rest of the year, they were only close in the finale at Akron, losing by 7.
In previous years, Eastern was able to get at least a few wins because of a high scoring offense. The loss of their quarterback ended that, and their defense was bad this year even by their standards. Eastern gave up 3,321 rushing yards (276.8 per game), more than any other team in the nation, which was their downfall. Because of this, they statistically appeared to have one of the best passing defenses, allowing 150.5 passing yards per game, second only to Air Force, but this was mostly an illusion. Everyone knew they could not stop the run, so opponents just did not call many pass plays.
2010
While second-year head coach Ron English retained most of his staff from 2009, he brought in several new assistant coaches, including Phil Snow as Defensive Coordinator, Steve Morrison as linebackers coach, and Doug Downing as running backs coach.The difficult non-conference schedule will include games at Ohio State, at Vanderbilt, and at Virginia.
Facilities
McKenny Union
McKenny Hall, previously called McKenny Union and Charles McKenny Union, is one of four buildings comprising the Eastern Michigan University Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places on the campus of Eastern Michigan University...
. In 1969, the university constructed Rynearson Stadium
Rynearson Stadium
Rynearson Stadium is a stadium in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the Eastern Michigan University Eagles. It held its first game on September 27, 1969 when EMU upset the University of Akron, 10-3. Currently, the stadium has seating for...
, named for former coach Elton Rynearson
Elton Rynearson
Elton James Rynearson, Sr. was an American athlete, coach, and athletic director. He was affiliated with Eastern Michigan University for most of his life, beginning his association with the school as a student in 1910 and retiring as the school's athletic director in...
. With a 30,200 person seating capacity, Rynearson Stadium is among the smallest to host an FBS team, but despite that, the largest attendance at an EMU game at Rynearson was 25,009, on September 16, 1995 for a 51-6 win over UNLV. Rynearson is one of only two stadiums in the Mid-American Conference with a track around the football field. Lighting was added to the stadium in 1974, and the playing surface has been FieldTurf
FieldTurf
FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by the FieldTurf Tarkett division of Tarkett Inc., based in Calhoun, Georgia, USA. In the late 1990s, the artificial surface changed the industry with a design intended to replicate real grass...
since 2005. Two EMU games at Rynearson have been sell-outs: a 24-31 loss to Western Michigan on October 22, 1988 drew 23,003 (listed capacity at the time was 22,227), and a 0-0 tie against Eastern Kentucky on October 16, 1971 drew 17,360 (listed capacity at the time was 15,500).
In late 2009, Eastern Michigan University broke ground on an indoor practice facility, which was completed that academic year. In addition to being used for football practices, the air-supported structure is used by Eastern Michigan's soccer, baseball, softball, and golf programs. This is one of only three such air-supported facilities used by Football Bowl Subdivision programs. According to Athletic Director Derrick Gragg a traditionally constructed facility of the same size would have cost approximately five times more.
Head coaches
Many of EMU's head coaches have had brief tenures with the program; 18 head coaches served for one season or less. Among the more notable head coaches at EMU have been Clayton TeetzelClayton Teetzel
Clayton Tryon Teetzel was an American athlete and athletic coach. He played American football and competed in track for the University of Michigan from 1897 to 1899 and later coached football, basketball and track at Michigan State Normal College , Benton Harbor High School, Brigham Young...
(1900–1902), Henry Schulte
Henry Schulte
Henry Frank Schulte was an American football player and coach and also a college track and field coach...
(1906–1908), Elton Rynearson
Elton Rynearson
Elton James Rynearson, Sr. was an American athlete, coach, and athletic director. He was affiliated with Eastern Michigan University for most of his life, beginning his association with the school as a student in 1910 and retiring as the school's athletic director in...
(1917, 1919–1920, 1925–1948), Fred Trosko
Fred Trosko
Fred Trosko was an American football player and coach. He played at the halfback position for the University of Michigan football team from 1937 to 1939...
(1952–1964), Dan Boisture
Dan Boisture
Daniel P. Boisture, Jr. was an American football coach. He was the head coach of the Eastern Michigan Eagles football team from 1967 to 1973, compiling a record of 83-38-5....
(1967–1973), George Mans
George Mans
George W. Mans is a former American football player and coach and politician. He was the captain of the 1961 Michigan Wolverines football team, an assistant football coach at the University of Michigan from 1966 to 1973, and the head coach of the Eastern Michigan Eagles football team from 1974 to...
(1974–75), Mike Stock
Mike Stock (American football)
Mike Stock was an American football coach from 1961 through 2009. He coached for 26 years at the collegiate level, 17 years in the National Football League, one year in the United States Football League, and one year coaching high school football in Ohio; altogether he coached 14 different teams...
(1978–1982), Jim Harkema
Jim Harkema
E. James Harkema is former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Grand Valley State University , from 1973 to 1982 and at Eastern Michigan University from 1983 to 1992, compiling a career college football record of 109–86–6...
(1983–1992), Rick Rasnick
Rick Rasnick
Rick Rasnick , sometimes called Rich Rasnick, is an American football coach. he was the head football coach at Eastern Michigan University from 1995 to 1999...
(1995–1999), Jeff Woodruff
Jeff Woodruff
Jeff Woodruff is an American football coach. He was the head football coach at Eastern Michigan University from 2000 to 2003. He is currently the assistant head coach and tight ends coach for the Universtiy of Texas at El-Paso Miners football team....
(2000–2003), Jeff Genyk
Jeff Genyk
Jeff Genyk is currently the Special Teams Coordinator and Tight End Coach for The University of California. He was also a television analyst for Atlantic Coast Conference College Football for ESPN during the 2009 season and is the former head college football coach at Eastern Michigan...
(2004–2008), and the current coach Ron English
Ron English (American football)
-External links:**...
(2009–present). Rynearson was the longest-serving and winningest coach, with a record of 114-58-15 over 26 seasons, while Vern Bennett (1894) posted the highest winning percentage, 71.4%. Tony Lombardi was the shortest-tenured coach, leading the team only for the final game of the 1999 season.
Clayton Teetzel
After playing football for three years at the University of MichiganMichigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
, including being on the undefeated 1898 Michigan Wolverines football team
1898 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1898 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1898 college football season. The team, with Gustave Ferbert as head coach, went 10–0 and became the first Michigan football team to win the Western Conference championship. The first great Michigan football...
that won the university's first Western Conference championship, Clayton Teetzel
Clayton Teetzel
Clayton Tryon Teetzel was an American athlete and athletic coach. He played American football and competed in track for the University of Michigan from 1897 to 1899 and later coached football, basketball and track at Michigan State Normal College , Benton Harbor High School, Brigham Young...
travelled six miles east to Ypsilanti, where he became the first person to coach the Michigan State Normal College football team for more than one year. From 1900 through 1902, his teams compiled a 6-14-1 record.
Henry Schulte
Another Michigan man who led the Normalites was Henry SchulteHenry Schulte
Henry Frank Schulte was an American football player and coach and also a college track and field coach...
, who played at the guard
Guard (American football)
In American and Canadian football, a guard is a player that lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team....
and center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
positions for Fielding H. Yost's famous "Point-a-Minute" teams of 1903
1903 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1903 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1903 college football season. The team's head football coach was Fielding H. Yost...
, 1904
1904 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1904 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1904 college football season. In the team's fourth season under head coach Fielding H. Yost, the Wolverines compiled a perfect 10–0 record and outscored opponents 567–22. The 1904 team was the fourth of Yost's...
, and 1905
1905 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1905 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1905 college football season. The team's head football coach was Fielding H. Yost. The Wolverines played their home games at Regents Field...
, which compiled a record of 33–1–1 over the three years Schulte was a starter. Schulte was often referred to by the nickname "Indian" Schulte, though he was of German rather than Native American descent.
In late 1905 and early 1906, charges of professionalism were leveled at the major college football programs, including Michigan, leading to calls for reform or even elimination of the sport from college campuses. In response to the controversy, the faculty at Michigan ruled Schulte and two other football players, Germany Schulz
Germany Schulz
Adolph George "Germany" Schulz was an All-American American football center for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1904 to 1905 and from 1907 to 1908. While playing at Michigan, Schulz is credited with having invented the spiral snap and with developing the practice of standing behind the...
and Walter Rheinschild
Walter Rheinschild
Walter Meadowfield Rheinschild , known also by the nicknames "Rheiny" and "Rhino", was an American football player and coach. He played for the University of Michigan in 1904, 1905, and 1907, and was once "rated as the highest salaried amateur athlete in the business." He later coached for...
, academically ineligible. As a result, Schulte missed the 1906 season. In his ineligible senior year at Michigan, Schulte began a long career in coaching as the track coach at Michigan State Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University). From 1906 to 1908, Schulte served as coach of the football, baseball and track teams at Eastern Michigan University. In three years as Eastern Michigan's football coach, Schulte compiled a 9–6–1 record.
Schulte subsequently coached at Missouri and achieved great success as a track coach and assistant football coach at Nebraska. Schulte was credited with building great football lines for Nebraska, evn in his years as an assistant coach; Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne
Knute Rockne
Knute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history...
frequently mentioned Schulte as "the greatest line coach in the game."
Elton Rynearson
Following the smallpox-shortened 1916 season, Elton Rynearson was hired to replace Elmer Mitchell. Although Rynearson's offense was more effective, outscoring opponents 111 to 82, more than half of the scoring came in a single game, a 63-0 rout of Central Michigan, and the team ended the season with a 3-4 record. After the shortened 3-game 1918 season was coached by Lynn Bell, Rynearson returned to coach the 1919 squad to their first winning season in four years. After another winning season in 1920, other coaches assumed the duties for four years, during which the team managed a 9-15-4 record.Rynearson's return in 1925 sparked the most successful period in school history. From 1925 through 1930, the team achieved a 40-4-2 record, including perfect season
Perfect Season
A perfect season is any sports season, excluding the playoff portion of a season, in which a team remains undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, and has occurred more commonly at the collegiate level in the United States.A perfect season may...
s in 1925 and 1927. From 1925 through 1927 they outscored opponents 405 points to 31 and registered 19 shutouts. They won the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championship in 1925, and won the Michigan Collegiate Conference championships in 1927, 1928, 1929, and 1930. Although less dominant, Rynearson's teams continued to have success throughout the 1930s, never having a losing season until the teams of 1940 and 1941 combined for a 2-10-3 record. The 1943 and 1945 teams (there was no team in 1944) were again successful, combining for a 7-0-1 record. However, following the end of World War II, Rynearson's teams again struggled, and he ended his coaching career on a streak of three losing seasons from 1946 through 1948. His 26 seasons as head coach are double those of the next-longest serving coach, Fred Trosko, and no Eastern Michigan University football coach has reached even half of Rynearson's win total of 114 games.
Fred Trosko
Following Rynearson's retirement in 1948, Harry Ockerman was the head coach for three undistinguished years, in which he compiled a 7-19-0 record, including a winless first season. For the 1952 season, Fred TroskoFred Trosko
Fred Trosko was an American football player and coach. He played at the halfback position for the University of Michigan football team from 1937 to 1939...
was hired as head coach, and over the next several seasons the team improved markedly, attaining a 7-1-1 record in 1953, an 8-1-0 record in 1954, and a 7-2-0 record in 1955. The team was not able to sustain the success, however, and for the remained of his thirteen seasons Trosko's teams struggled, finishing two consecutive seasons winless (1960 and 1961, both 0-8-1), and only managing two additional winning seasons, going 6-3-0 in 1957 and 4-3-0 in 1964, Trosko's final year. In thirteen seasons, the second longest tenure of any head coach at the school, Trosko had nearly as many losses as Rynearson had in twenty-six seasons.
Dan Boisture
For two seasons after Trosko, Jerry Raymond coached the Hurons to a mediocre record, finishing 3-4-1 in 1965 and 5-3-1 in 1966. The following year Dan BoistureDan Boisture
Daniel P. Boisture, Jr. was an American football coach. He was the head coach of the Eastern Michigan Eagles football team from 1967 to 1973, compiling a record of 83-38-5....
was hired as head coach, and under his leadership, the team produced the longest period of sustained success since Rynearson's days. The team posted winning seasons in all seven years of Trosko's coaching, including the 1971 squad that finished the regular season 7-0-2, before losing to Louisiana Tech in the Pioneer Bowl, the first bowl trip in school history.
Boisture's tenure is also notable for the construction of Rynearson Stadium
Rynearson Stadium
Rynearson Stadium is a stadium in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the Eastern Michigan University Eagles. It held its first game on September 27, 1969 when EMU upset the University of Akron, 10-3. Currently, the stadium has seating for...
. Boisture's teams played their first two seasons at the old field, near the corner of Oakwood and Washtenaw, just west of McKenny Union
McKenny Union
McKenny Hall, previously called McKenny Union and Charles McKenny Union, is one of four buildings comprising the Eastern Michigan University Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places on the campus of Eastern Michigan University...
. In 1969, the new stadium, which was considered off-campus at the time, opened with a capacity of 15,500. Boisture's bowl-bound 1971 team played for one of just two sellout crowds in the stadium's history, a 0-0 tie against Eastern Kentucky on October 16, 1971 which drew 17,360 spectators.
George Mans
After playing at the right end position for the Michigan Wolverines footballMichigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
program from 1959 to 1961, Mans began his coaching career as the ends coach on Trosko's 1963 team at Eastern Michigan University. After stints at Michigan Technological University
Michigan Technological University
Michigan Technological University is a public research university located in Houghton, Michigan, United States. Its main campus sits on on a bluff overlooking Portage Lake...
and the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, where he was one of two members of Bump Elliott
Bump Elliott
Chalmers W. "Bump" Elliott is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played halfback at Purdue University and the University of Michigan...
's coaching staff to continue to serve under Bo Schembechler
Bo Schembechler
Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler, Jr. was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of Michigan from 1969 to 1989, compiling a career record of 234–65–8...
.
In February 1974, Mans was hired to follow Boisture as the head football coach at Eastern Michigan University, where he remained for the 1974 and 1975 seasons. In his first season as head coach, Mans' team started the season with only one win in the first six games, but the team finished strong, going 3–1–1 in the final five games. In May 1976, Mans announced his resignation as Eastern Michigan's coach in what the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
described as a "surprise move." According to one newspaper report, Mans resigned "when it became apparent that EMU would place a greater emphasis on basketball, hiring former Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
Coach Ray Scott
Ray Scott (basketball)
John Raymond Scott is a retired American professional basketball player and former head coach of the Detroit Pistons...
." Mans compiled an 8–12–1 record in two seasons as the head football coach at Eastern Michigan.
Mike Stock
Mike Stock's tenure as head coach is primarily remembered for a school-record 27-game losing streak from 1980 through 1982, including a winless season in 1981. He was fired after the team lost the first three games of 1982, including a 49-12 pasting at Louisiana Tech and 35-0 shutout at Miami UniversityMiami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
, bringing the losing streak to 22 games; the team went on to lose five more consecutive games under interim coach Bob LaPointe before the streak was broken with a 9-7 win over Kent State on November 6, 1982. Stock's teams were held scoreless seven times, his teams were outscored by a total of 809 points — nearly 18 points per game, and his final record of 6-38-1 gives him a 14.4% win percentage, easily the lowest of any coach to remain at Eastern more than one season. Stock continued to coach football both at the collegiate level and the professional level, both in the United States Football League
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
and the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, until his retirement following the 2008 NFL season, but this was his only head coaching position.
Jim Harkema
In 1982, following Mike Stock's firing, assistant coach Bob LaPointeBob LaPointe
Bob LaPointe was an American football coach in Michigan from 1968 through 2010. He is best known for winning Michigan's Class B high school state championship in 1975, and for serving as interim head coach at Eastern Michigan University for part of the 1982 season.From 1974 through 1977, LaPointe...
was named the interim head coach for the remainder of the season while the school conducted a national search, and Jim Harkema, who had won three Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is a competitive intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division II. The GLIAC was founded in June 1972. Member institutions are located in the midwestern United States in the States of Michigan and Ohio, with affiliate...
championships at Grand Valley State, was hired to lead the team beginning in 1983. Beginning in 1986, Harkema led the team to four consecutive winning seasons, including Eastern's only Mid-American Conference
Mid-American Conference
The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...
championship in 1987, when the team went to the 1987 California Bowl and upset 17½ point favorite San Jose State University for the only bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
win in school history. Harkema is credited with building the program at Eastern Michigan into a "Top-Shelf" program, and he coached one of just two EMU games at Rynearson Stadium
Rynearson Stadium
Rynearson Stadium is a stadium in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the Eastern Michigan University Eagles. It held its first game on September 27, 1969 when EMU upset the University of Akron, 10-3. Currently, the stadium has seating for...
that sold-out: a 24-31 loss to Western Michigan on October 22, 1988 drew 23,003 (listed capacity at the time was 22,227). In the early 1990s, the football team struggled, and after losing the first four games of the 1992 season, Harkema resigned, and assistant coach Jan Quarless
Jan Quarless
Jan Quarless is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Eastern Michigan University in 1992 and at Southern Illinois University Carbondale from 1997 to 2000, compiling a career college football record of 15–36...
took over for the remainder of the season.
Jeff Genyk
In 2004, EMU hired Jeff GenykJeff Genyk
Jeff Genyk is currently the Special Teams Coordinator and Tight End Coach for The University of California. He was also a television analyst for Atlantic Coast Conference College Football for ESPN during the 2009 season and is the former head college football coach at Eastern Michigan...
as the head coach. Prior to accepting the EMU head coaching position, Genyk spent the previous 12 years at Northwestern
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
working for the football program. He was the running backs coach, recruiting coordinator and one of the special teams coaches for five seasons (1999–2003). In 1998 he was the secondary coach, working with the safeties, and he was also one of the special teams’ coaches. In 1997, Genyk was the linebackers coach, and one of the special teams coaches as well. In December 1996, prior to the Wildcats’ appearance in the Comp USA Florida Citrus Bowl, Genyk was elevated to inside linebackers coach. Before the 1997 season, he made the switch to outside linebackers coach. During the 1994, 1995 and 1996 seasons, he was the director of football operations. He first joined the Northwestern staff as a graduate assistant coach for the 1992 and 1993 seasons.
During his tenure as the running backs coach, Genyk tutored tailback Damien Anderson to a school-record 2,063 yards in the 2000 season. He also saw another one of his running backs, Jason Wright, reach the 1,000-yard rushing mark in both 2002 and 2003 with 1,234 and 1,151 yards respectively. Anderson went on to earn All-American honors in 2000 while Wright was an Academic All-American in 2002.
Genyk was part of three Big Ten championship teams, and four postseason bowl games at Northwestern. The 1995, 1996 and 2000 teams all won Big Ten titles. The 1995 squad played in the Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
, the 1996 team was in the Comp USA Florida Citrus Bowl, the 2000 team played in the Alamo Bowl
Alamo Bowl
The Alamo Bowl is a major American college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the 65,000-seat Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. It matches the second choice team from the Pacific-12 Conference and the third choice team from the Big 12 Conference.Traditionally, the Alamo Bowl has been...
, and the 2003 squad played in the Motor City Bowl
Motor City Bowl
The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl is a post-season college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played annually since 1997. The first five games were played at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. Starting in 2002, the game was moved to 65,000-seat Ford Field in downtown...
. The '95 and '96 squads (as well as the 2000 squad in perhaps one of the greatest games in college football history) defeated Michigan, which Northwestern had not done since 1965.
Genyk is a native of Milan, Mich (born 8-22-60). where he was an all-state quarterback at Milan High School. He went on to Bowling Green State University and played quarterback for the Falcons from 1978 to 1981 before completing his bachelor’s degree in 1982 in business administration. Genyk has two master’s degrees, an MBA from Western Michigan University in 1989, and a master’s in education from Northwestern in 1994.
Genyk joined the Northwestern football staff in 1992 after serving as an assistant coach at Grand Rapids (Mich.) Community College from December 1990 to the spring of 1992 where he tutored the quarterbacks and wide receivers. Prior to joining the coaching ranks, he worked in private business from 1982 to 1991.
In his first season, 2004, Genyk helped lead EMU to a 4-4 Mid-American Conference record, the best record since the 1999 squad went 4-4 in Mid-American Conference play, and a 4-7 overall record. In addition, Genyk directed the Eagles to the Michigan MAC championship with wins over both in-state league rivals, Western Michigan and Central Michigan, for the first time since the 1986 season.
The 2005 season, Jeff Genyk's second as head coach, saw limited improvement as the Eagles finished with a 4-7 overall record (the same as 2004) and a 3-5 MAC mark. However, that final record could just as easily have been 6-5, 7-4, or even 8-3, as the Eagles dropped two one-point games (Miami University, Ball State), one two-point game (at Cincinnati), and one eight-point game (Western Michigan).
In 2006, EMU had just one win, the homecoming game against Toledo. Once again, the total could have been a lot higher, with six losses coming only by one possession. They lost two games by 8 (at Northwestern, at Kent State), one game in overtime by 7 (Central Michigan), one game by 6 (Ohio), and two games by 3 (at Bowling Green, at Western Michigan).
Ron English
Following the firing of Genyk, Ron EnglishRon English (American football)
-External links:**...
, former defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan and the University of Louisville, was named head coach of the Eastern Michigan football program. At the time of his hiring, English was one of five African American head coaches in major college football; the others were Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
's Turner Gill
Turner Gill
Turner Hillery Gill is an American football coach who most recently served as the head coach at Kansas from 2010-2011, and was one of 11 African-American head coaches in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision at the time of his hiring.-College:Gill graduated from Arlington Heights High...
, Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
's Randy Shannon
Randy Shannon
Randy Lennard Shannon is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Miami from 2007 to 2010. Shannon played football at Miami and then with the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL....
, Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
's Kevin Sumlin
Kevin Sumlin
-External links:*...
, New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
's Mike Locksley
Mike Locksley
Mike Locksley is an American football coach. After serving as an assistant coach for several college football squads, he became the 29th head coach of the University of New Mexico Lobos football team in 2009...
; Mike Haywood became the sixth when Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
(Ohio) hired him just days later. Although his hiring brough a lot of excitement to the program, he failed to capitalize in his first season, leading the team to an 0-12 record, the first winless season for EMU since 1981. Despite English's background as a defensive coach, the team allowed an average of more than 38 points per game, losing 10 games by double-digit margins, 6 of them by more than 20 points.
Current staff
| Name | Position | Year at EMU | Alma Mater Alma mater Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:... |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ron English Ron English (American football) -External links:**... |
Head Coach | 3rd | California |
| Ken Karcher Ken Karcher Ken Karcher is an American football coach and former quarterback. He is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Eastern Michigan University... |
Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator Offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of a gridiron football team who is in charge of the offense. Generally, along with his defensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach... /Quarterbacks Coach |
3rd | Tulane Tulane University Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States... |
| Phil Snow Phil Snow Phillip Snow Is the Defensive Coordinator at Eastern Michigan University. He attended Sacramento CC and Cal. State Hayward , where he received a Bachelor's in Physical Education... |
Defensive Coordinator Defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator typically refers to a coach on a gridiron football team who is in charge of the defense. Generally, along with his offensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach... /Defensive Backs coach |
2nd | Cal-State Hayward California State University, East Bay California State University, East Bay is a public university located in the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The university, as part of the 23-campus California State University system, offers over 100 areas of study... |
| Kurt Anderson | Running Game Coord./Offensive Line | 4th | Michigan University of Michigan The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan... |
| Tom Burpee | Tight Ends Coach/Special Teams Coordinator | 3rd | Michigan University of Michigan The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan... |
| Ken Delgado | Defensive Line Coach | 2nd | San Jose St. San José State University San Jose State University is a public university located in San Jose, California, United States... |
| Doug Downing | Recruiting Coordinator/Running Backs Coach | 2nd | Purdue Purdue University Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and... |
| Deon Maddox | Wide Receivers Coach | 2nd | Syracuse Syracuse University Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College... |
| Steve Morrison Steve Morrison (American football) Steven Craig Morrison is a retired professional American football linebacker who played for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League from 1995 to 1998. He is currently the linebackers coach at Eastern Michigan University. He last served as the defensive coordinator for the Western... |
Linebackers Coach | 2nd | Michigan University of Michigan The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan... |
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Michigan State Normal College was admitted to the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic AssociationMichigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association is an athletic conference that competes in the NCAA's Division III. The nine teams in the conference are all located in the states of Michigan and Indiana. The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association was established on March 24, 1888, making...
in 1892. Although the conference did not recognize football as an official sport until 1894, teams within the conference competed with each other as early as 1891. MSNC's first game against an MIAA opponent was a 30-10 victory over Albion College on November 2, 1892. In 1896, MSNC won their MIAA games by a combined score of 70-0, earning them the conference championship. Despite an undefeated season in 1906, the conference championship was won by Olivet College, whose team played, and won, more conference games. In 1925, with the return of Rynearson as coach, the team achieved another undefeated season and again took the MIAA championship, before leaving the conference a year later.
Michigan Collegiate Conference
Michigan State Normal College dominated the brief history of the Michigan Collegiate Conference (which consisted of MSNC, Central Michigan University, and Western Michigan University), winning the conference championships in each of the four seasons (1927, 1928, 1929, and 1930) it lasted, including an undefeated season in 1927. The team was never defeated in Michigan Collegiate Conference play. This marked what remains one of the most successful periods in the history of the team.Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
In twelve seasons in the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Eastern Michigan won three championships: in 1954, in 1955, and in 1957. All came under the leadership of head coach Fred Trosko.Mid-American Conference
In 1987, Eastern won its only Mid-American ConferenceMid-American Conference
The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...
championship, marking the high point of four consecutive winning seasons, and the completion of a turnaround from the school's 27-game losing streak earlier in the decade.
Bowl appearances
In 1971, the school's last season as an independent team, they went 7-0-2 in the regular season, before losing 14-3 to Louisiana Tech in the 1971 Pioneer BowlPioneer Bowl
The Pioneer Bowl is a bowl game between football teams from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and 2007 and is one of two bowl games between historically black colleges and universities...
in Wichita Falls
Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States, United States. Wichita Falls is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay and Wichita counties. According to the U.S. Census estimate of 2010,...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
In 1987, following the school's only MAC championship, and the first in any conference in 30 years, the team went on to upset 17½ point favorite San Jose State University in the 1987 California Bowl in Fresno
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, for the only bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
win in school history.
Trophy games
Eastern Michigan participates in one trophy series, the Michigan MAC TrophyMichigan MAC Trophy
The Michigan MAC Trophy is given to the Michigan Mid-American Conference university – Central Michigan University , Eastern Michigan University and Western Michigan University – which defeats the other two schools in the same sport in the same regular season.There are two separate...
, against the Central Michigan Chippewas
Central Michigan Chippewas
The Central Michigan Chippewas are the sixteen men's and women's athletics teams of Central Michigan University. CMU was a member of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1950-1970. The school's athletics programs are affiliated with the NCAA and compete in the Mid-American...
and Western Michigan Broncos
Western Michigan Broncos
The Western Michigan Broncos are a NCAA Division I FBS team representing Western Michigan University. They compete in the Mid-American Conference in men's baseball, basketball, football, soccer and tennis; and women's basketball, cross-country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, track and field,...
. Since the Michigan MAC Trophy was created in 2005, Eastern Michigan has won it three times, sweeping the series in 2007, and retaining it in 2008 when all three schools went 1-1 in the round robin series. After defeating both Central and Western in 2011, Eastern reclaimed the trophy, tying them with Central Michigan for the most Michigan MAC championships in the series.
Current NFL players
- Charlie BatchCharlie BatchCharles "Charlie" Batch is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft...
- QuarterbackQuarterbackQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
, Detroit LionsDetroit LionsThe Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
1998-2001, Pittsburgh SteelersPittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
2002-Pres. - Jason JonesJason Jones (American football)Jason Duane Jones is an American football defensive tackle for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Titans in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft...
- Defensive EndDefensive endDefensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...
, Tennessee TitansTennessee TitansThe Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
2008-Pres. - T.J. Lang - Offensive Lineman, Green Bay PackersGreen Bay PackersThe Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
2009-Pres. - Kevin WalterKevin WalterKevin Patrick Walter is an American football wide receiver for the Houston Texans of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the seventh round of the 2003 NFL Draft...
- Wide ReceiverWide receiverA wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
, Cincinnati BengalsCincinnati BengalsThe Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
2003-05, Houston TexansHouston TexansThe Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
2006-Pres.
Former NFL players
- Vashone AdamsVashone AdamsVashone LeRey Adams is a retired American professional football player who played three seasons in the National Football League with the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints. Adams first attended Fort Hays State University before transferring to Eastern Michigan University...
- Cleveland BrownsCleveland BrownsThe Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
1995, Baltimore RavensBaltimore RavensThe Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...
1996 - John Banaszak - Pittsburgh SteelersPittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
1975-81 - Dave Boone - Minnesota VikingsMinnesota VikingsThe Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
1974 - Clarence ChapmanClarence ChapmanClarence Earl Chapman is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the seventh round of the 1976 NFL Draft. He played college football at Eastern Michigan.Chapman also played for the New Orleans Saints, Cincinnati Bengals and...
- New Orleans SaintsNew Orleans SaintsThe New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
1977-79 - Al ClarkAl ClarkAl Clark may refer to:*Al Clark , Academy Award for Best Film Editing-nominated film editor*Al Clark , former baseball umpire*Al Clark ,...
- Detroit LionsDetroit LionsThe Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
1971, Los Angeles Rams 1972-75, Philadelphia EaglesPhiladelphia EaglesThe Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
1976 - Carson Dach - New York GiantsNew York GiantsThe New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
2003 - Lional DaltonLional DaltonLional Deshaun Dalton is a former American football defensive tackle in the National Football League.-College career:...
- DT, Baltimore RavensBaltimore RavensThe Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...
1998–2001, Denver BroncosDenver BroncosThe Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
2002, Washington RedskinsWashington RedskinsThe Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
2003, Kansas City ChiefsKansas City ChiefsThe Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
2004-05, Houston TexansHouston TexansThe Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
2006 - Al Day - Denver BroncosDenver BroncosThe Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
1960 - Bill Dulac - New England PatriotsNew England PatriotsThe New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
1974-75 - Ron Fernandes - Baltimore Colts 1976-78
- Anthony Fields - Detroit LionsDetroit LionsThe Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
1987 - Will FosterWill FosterWill Foster is the keyboardist for the English rock band The Tears.Previously, he played with UK art rock band Delicatessen before forming Lodger - alongside Delicatessen singer Neil Carlill, Supergrass drummer Danny Goffey, and Goffey's wife Pearl Lowe....
- New England PatriotsNew England PatriotsThe New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
1973-74 - Reggie GarrettReggie GarrettReggie Garrett is a former professional American football player who played wide receiver for three seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers....
- Pittsburgh SteelersPittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
1974-75 - Garry Grady - Miami DolphinsMiami DolphinsThe Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
1969 - Chuck Hanneman - Detroit LionsDetroit LionsThe Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
1937-41, Cleveland RamsCleveland RamsThe Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team based in Cleveland, Ohio.The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland, Ohio. The NFL considers the franchise as a second incarnation of the previous Cleveland Rams team that was a charter member of the second American Football League...
1941 - Ron JohnsonRon Johnson (cornerback)A seven-year veteran of the National Football League, Ron Johnson performed as a cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers; Ron played all seven of his NFL seasons in a Pittsburgh uniform.-Biography:...
- Pittsburgh SteelersPittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
1978-84 - David MarshallDavid MarshallDave Marshall or David Marshall may refer to:* Dave Marshall , former professional baseball player* Dave Marshall , guitarist with Vince Neil and Slaughter...
- Cleveland BrownsCleveland BrownsThe Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
1984, Miami DolphinsMiami DolphinsThe Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
1987 - Jereme PerryJereme PerryJereme Jovon Perry is an American football defensive back who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2006...
- DBDefensive backIn American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...
, Cleveland BrownsCleveland BrownsThe Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
2006–07 - Brett Petersmark - Houston Oilers 1987
- Jim PietrzakJim PietrzakJames Michael Pietrzak is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League for the New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, and the Kansas City Chiefs. He played college football at Eastern Michigan University and was drafted in the sixth round of the 1974 NFL Draft....
- New York GiantsNew York GiantsThe New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
1974-79, New Orleans SaintsNew Orleans SaintsThe New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
1979-84, Kansas City ChiefsKansas City ChiefsThe Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
1987 - Dave PureiforyDave PureiforyDave Pureifory was a professional American football defensive lineman for three teams in an eleven-year career in the National Football League.-Early life:...
- Green Bay PackersGreen Bay PackersThe Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
1972-77, Cincinnati BengalsCincinnati BengalsThe Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
1978, Detroit LionsDetroit LionsThe Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
1979-82 - Ron RiceRon Rice (American football)Ron Rice is a former American football safety in the National Football League. He was signed by the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent in 1995. He played college football at Eastern Michigan....
- Detroit LionsDetroit LionsThe Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
1995-2001 - Chris RobersonChris Roberson (American football)Chris Roberson is an American football cornerback for the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft...
- Jacksonville JaguarsJacksonville JaguarsThe Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
2005-06, Detroit LionsDetroit LionsThe Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
2008 - L. J. Shelton - Arizona CardinalsArizona CardinalsThe Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
1999-2004, Cleveland BrownsCleveland BrownsThe Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
2005, Miami DolphinsMiami DolphinsThe Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
2006-07, San Diego ChargersSan Diego ChargersThe San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
2008 - Jason ShortJason ShortJason Michael Short is a retired American football linebacker in the National Football League. He played college football at Eastern Michigan University....
- LBLinebackerA linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
, Philadelphia EaglesPhiladelphia EaglesThe Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
2004–06, Cleveland BrownsCleveland BrownsThe Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
2007 - Chuck ShontaChuck ShontaCharles "Chuck" Shonta is a former college and professional American football defensive back. He attended Eastern Michigan University and played football there. In 1960 he joined the Boston Patriots of the upstart American Football League...
- Boston Patriots 1960-61 - Barry Stokes - Miami DolphinsMiami DolphinsThe Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
1998, Green Bay PackersGreen Bay PackersThe Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
1999, Los Angeles Raiders 2000-01, Cleveland BrownsCleveland BrownsThe Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
2002-03, New York GiantsNew York GiantsThe New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
2004, Atlanta FalconsAtlanta FalconsThe Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
2005, Detroit LionsDetroit LionsThe Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
2006-07