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

team for the University of Dayton located in the U.S. state of

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Pioneer Football League. Dayton's first football team was fielded in 1905. The team plays its home games at the 11,000 seat Welcome Stadium in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County, Ohio, Greene County. The 2020 United S ...

. 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 University of Dayton, a position he held from January 2008 until his retirement in November 2022. Head coachi ...

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 *1935–1938: Buckeye Athletic Association *1939–1955: Independent *1956–1972: University Division Independent *1973–1976: Division I Independent *1977–1992: Division III Independent *1993–present: Pioneer Football League

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, since 2019. He was previously the 53rd Ohio Secretary of State. A member of the Republican Party, he previously represented the 6th Di ...

(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) South division. The cl ...

and the Las Vegas Raiders. *

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 p ...

(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. Irrele ...

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 (born 1949), American football player * Bill Lange (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 co ...

(1952–1956), New York Giants football player for 13 years and three time all-Pro defensive end. * Chuck Noll (1948-1952), Cleveland Browns player, and 4x Super Bowl winning coach for Steelers. * Brandon Staley (2003-2004) Former Dayton Quarterback and current Head Coach of the Los Angeles Chargers *

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. E ...

(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 NCAA Division III Football Championship began in 1973. The Division III playoffs begin with 32 teams selected to participate in the Division III playoffs. The Division III championship game, known as the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl or 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 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 Pioneer Football League 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 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 Pioneer Football League, the Northeast Conference, 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 ...

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