: ''For information on all University of Dayton sports, see

Dayton Flyers The Dayton Flyers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Dayton of Dayton, Ohio. All Flyers intercollegiate sports teams participate at the NCAA Division I level. The football team competes in the Division I FCS non-schola ...

'' The Dayton Flyers football program is the intercollegiate

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team for the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

located in the U.S. state of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the

Pioneer Football League The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference. It has member s ...

. Dayton's first football team was fielded in 1905. The team plays its home games at the 11,000 seat

Welcome Stadium Welcome Stadium is an 11,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Dayton, Ohio, United States, owned and operated by Dayton Public Schools. Primary tenants of the facility include University of Dayton Flyers football team and the Dayton Dynamo of the N ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

. The Flyers are coached by

Rick Chamberlin Rick Chamberlin (born April 2, 1957) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the former head football coach at Dayton Flyers football, University of Dayton, a position he held from January 2008 until his retirement in Novem ...

History

Classifications

*1906–1955: NCAA *1956–1972: NCAA University Division *1973–1976: NCAA Division I *1977–1992: NCAA Division III *1993–present: NCAA Division I–AA/FCS

Conference memberships

*1905–1925: Independent *1926–1934:

Ohio Athletic Conference The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) was formed in 1902 and is the third oldest athletic conference in the United States. Its current commissioner is Sarah Otey. Former commissioners include Mike Cleary, who was the first General Manager of a profe ...

*1935–1938:

Buckeye Athletic Association The Buckeye Athletic Association, also known as the Buckeye Conference, was an athletic league formed out of members of the Ohio Athletic Conference. Its original membership in 1926 included Ohio Wesleyan University (Battling Bishops), Ohio Univer ...

*1939–1955: Independent *1956–1972: University Division Independent *1973–1976: Division I Independent *1977–1992: Division III Independent *1993–present:

Notable former players

Notable alumni include: *

Jon A. Husted Jon A. Husted (born August 25, 1967) is an American politician serving as the 66th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, lieutenant governor of Ohio, since 2019. He was previously the 53rd Ohio Secretary of State. A member of the Republican Party (United S ...

(1985-1989), Ohio lieutenant governor *

Jon Gruden Jon David Gruden (born August 17, 1963) is a former American professional football coach who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He held his first head coaching position with the Raiders franchise during thei ...

(1982–1984), Graduated in 1985. Former head coach of the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

and the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West divis ...

. *

Kelvin Kirk Kelvin Kirk (December 31, 1953 – July 2, 2003) was an American football wide receiver and kick returner who played for seven seasons in the Canadian Football League. Kirk was also the first Mr. Irrelevant (a humorous award given to the last pl ...

(1953–2003), first

Mr. Irrelevant Mr. Irrelevant is the nickname given to the last pick of the annual National Football League Draft. Although NFL drafts date back to 1936, the first person to be called Mr. Irrelevant was Kelvin Kirk of the 1976 NFL Draft. History "Mr. Irrelev ...

and

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

player *

Gary Kosins Gary James Kosins (born January 21, 1949) is a former American football running back who played three seasons with the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the third round of the 1972 NFL Draft. He ...

(born 1949), American football player *

Bill Lange William Alexander Lange (; June 6, 1871 – July 23, 1950), also known as "Little Eva",Robbins, p. 194 was an American Major League Baseball center fielder, who played his entire seven-year career for the Chicago Colts and Orphans from t ...

(1928–1995), American football player *

Jim Katcavage James Richard Katcavage (October 28, 1934 – February 22, 1995) was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) who played thirteen seasons for the New York Giants. From 1952 until 1956, Katcavage played c ...

(1952–1956), New York Giants football player for 13 years and three time all-Pro defensive end. *

Chuck Noll Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * ...

(1948-1952), Cleveland Browns player, and 4x Super Bowl winning coach for Steelers. *

Brandon Staley Brandon John Staley (born December 10, 1982) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams in 2020 ...

(2003-2004) Former Dayton Quarterback and current Head Coach of the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

Adam Trautman Adam Trautman (born February 5, 1997) is an American football tight end for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Dayton and was drafted by the Saints in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. ...

(2015-2019), American football player on the New Orleans Saints. He was the first Dayton player drafted (2020) since 1977.

Championships

National championships

Dayton has won two national championships, both during their tenure in Division III. Dayton has made five appearances in the NCAA Division III National Championship Game, also known as the Stagg Bowl. The Flyers defeated

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

, 63–0 in the 1980 championship game, and defeated Union (NY) 17–7 in the 1989 championship game. The Flyers were unsuccessful in three other championship game appearances, losing 17–10 to Widener in 1981, 19–3 to

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

in 1987, and 34–20 to

in 1991.

Conference championships

Dayton has won 11 conference championships, six outright and five shared. † denotes co-champions

Divisional championships

From 2001–2005, the

was divided into North and South Divisions, with the winners of those divisions participating in a Conference Championship Game. As winners of the Pioneer Football League's North Division, Dayton has made two appearances in the Pioneer Football League Championship Game, in 2001 and 2002.

Bowl game appearances

Dayton has participated in one bowl game, with the Flyers having a record of 0–1. They also played in the Gridiron Classic in 2007 against

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

opponent Albany, winning 42–21. The Sports Network Cup was a way of determining the best mid major team in Division I FCS, with first place votes determining the winner between teams from the

, the

, and the

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and N ...

Playoff appearances

NCAA Division I FCS

Dayton has made one appearance in the FCS playoffs. Their record is 0–1.

NCAA Division III

The Flyers made eleven appearances in the NCAA Division III football playoffs. Their combined record was 16–9.

References

External links

* {{Pioneer Football League navbox American football teams established in 1905 1905 establishments in Ohio