Richard Wilson Stockstill (born December 23, 1957) is an

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 ...

coach. He is the head coach for the

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football program represents Middle Tennessee State University in the sport of American football. The Blue Raiders compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ...

program. Stockstill was a

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

quarterback under coach

Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest college ...

from 1977 to 1981. On December 12, 2005, Stockstill was hired as the 14th head coach of the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.

Early life

Stockstill was born in Sidney, Ohio, on December 23, 1957. However, he grew up in

Fernandina Beach, Florida Fernandina Beach is a city in northeastern Florida and the county seat of Nassau County, Florida, Nassau County, Florida, United States. It is the northernmost city on Florida's Atlantic coast, situated on Amelia Island, and is one of the princi ...

. He was inducted into the Fernandina Hall of Fame in 2006. He attended

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

and was a three-year letterman there as a quarterback where he was team captain and earned honorable mention All-America honors in 1981 under coach

Coaching career

Stockstill served as an assistant at numerous locations for 24 years prior to getting his first head coaching job. He began at

Bethune–Cookman University Bethune–Cookman University (BCU or Bethune–Cookman) is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Daytona Beach, Florida. Bethune–Cookman University is affiliated with the U ...

as an offensive coordinator and later went on to coach wide receivers at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

. For the 1989 season, Stockstill began a long stint as a wide receivers and quarterbacks coach with the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...

, where he stayed until 2002. He served under coaches

Danny Ford Danny Lee Ford (born April 2, 1948) is a former American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Alabama from 1967 to 1969. He served as the head football coach at Clemson University from 1978 to 1989 and at th ...

Ken Hatfield Kenneth Wahl Hatfield (born June 6, 1943) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Air Force Academy (1979–1983), the University of Arkansas (1984–1989), Clemson University (1 ...

, Tommy West and

Tommy Bowden Tommy Pearce Bowden (; born July 10, 1954) is a former American football coach. He served as the head coach at Clemson University from 1999 until October 13, 2008. He is a son of Bobby Bowden, former head football coach of Florida State Universi ...

while at Clemson. Stockstill also worked under coaches

Lou Holtz Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is an American former football player, coach, and analyst. He served as the head football coach at The College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York ...

and

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former American football, football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

after working one season for

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

as an offensive coordinator.

Middle Tennessee

In 2006, Stockstill got his first head coaching job at

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight undergraduate colleges as well as a college of graduate studies, together off ...

Murfreesboro Murfreesboro is a city in and county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropol ...

. In his first season, Stockstill led the Blue Raiders to the program's second bowl game as well as a share of the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

title. He was later that year named the conference coach of the year. The 2007 and 2008 seasons saw the Blue Raiders take a small step back with back-to-back 5–7 seasons. However, in 2009, Stockstill and the Blue Raiders went 10–3 and won the

New Orleans Bowl The New Orleans Bowl is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually since 2001. It is normally held at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans; when the Superdome and the rest of the city suffered damage due to ...

, which was the second bowl victory in school history. Again, Stockstill was named conference coach of the year for the 2009 season. The Blue Raiders went to another bowl in 2010, and they finished the season 6–7 after losing the

GoDaddy.com Bowl The 68 Ventures Bowl is a postseason NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game that has been played annually in Mobile, Alabama since 1999. In 2021, the game was moved from Ladd-Peebles Stadium to Hancock Whitney Stadium, on the ...

. After the successful 2009 season, he turned down several offers from other schools, including

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

and

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

, citing that it was not the right time to leave the Blue Raiders. Despite a .500 overall record, Stockstill is 18-60 against teams with eventual winning records, of which a record of 4-28 is coming against non-conference FBS opponents (1-1 against FCS). Stockstill has led MTSU to eight bowl games in 13 years, winning two. As of the end of the 2021 season, Stockstill is tied with Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald as the fourth longest-tenured head coach in Division I FBS.

Personal life

Stockstill and his wife, the former Sara Fleischman, have a son, Brent, and a daughter, Emily. His son Brent was awarded a scholarship to play football at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

beginning in the fall of 2013 but was released to play under his father at MTSU. Brent was the Blue Raiders' primary quarterback for the 2015 through 2018 seasons, culminating with an appearance in the

2018 New Orleans Bowl The 2018 New Orleans Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 15, 2018, with kickoff scheduled for 9:00 p.m. EST (8:00 p.m. local CST). It was the 18th edition of the New Orleans Bowl, and one of the 2018–19 bowl ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

Middle Tennessee profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stockstill, Rick 1957 births Living people American football quarterbacks Bethune–Cookman Wildcats football coaches Clemson Tigers football coaches East Carolina Pirates football coaches Florida State Seminoles football players Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football coaches South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches UCF Knights football coaches People from Fernandina Beach, Florida People from Sidney, Ohio Coaches of American football from Florida Players of American football from Florida