The Case Western Reserve Spartans football team is the varsity intercollegiate

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team representing the

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

, located in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. They compete in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) at the Division III level and hold dual membership in both the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) and the

University Athletic Association The University Athletic Association (UAA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. Member schools are highly selective universities located in Georgia, Illino ...

(UAA). They are coached by Greg Debeljak. Home games are played at DiSanto Field. The team in its current form was created in 1970 after the federation of Western Reserve University and Case Institute of Technology.

History

Pre-merger (1890–1969)

Western Reserve played its first season in 1890 and Case began the following year in 1891. Physically bordering each other, the two schools became instant rivals. From 1894 to 1953, the rivalry game was played mostly on Thanksgiving Day, creating a

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

tradition. Due to high civic interest and large crowds, the games were often held at larger

city venues, such as

League Park League Park was a baseball park located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was situated at the northeast corner of Dunham Street (now known as East 66th Street) and Lexington Avenue in the Hough, Cleveland, Hough neighborhood. It was buil ...

and

Cleveland Municipal Stadium Cleveland Stadium, commonly known as Municipal Stadium, Lakefront Stadium or Cleveland Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball and foot ...

. Western Reserve led the all-time series 49–20–5. In 1892, Western Reserve declined Clevelander

John Heisman John William Heisman ( ; October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College ...

's offer to be their head coach, and then ironically faced him and his Oberlin Yeomen during the season opener, getting destroyed 38–8. Western Reserve would have their revenge two years later in

1894 Events January * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United States. * Ja ...

, finally defeating Heisman while at home in

, ending the season with a 7–0 undefeated record. In fact, the team outscored opponents a combined 232–8, and posted five shutouts. Only Oberlin and

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

scored on Western Reserve that year. Interestingly, the undefeated 1893 Case team handed coach John Heisman his first career loss after he started his coaching career with a 13–0 record. Michigan Wolverines Case Western Reserve Spartans football 1916 John Maulbetsch

Michigan Wolverines Case Western Reserve Spartans football 1916 John Maulbetsch

When the

Ohio Athletic Conference The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. All member institutions are located in Ohio. Formed in 1902, it is the third oldest athletic conference in the United States ...

was formed in 1902, Case dominated the early years winning its first four titles (1902–1905), posting a combined 18–1–1 league record, led by Chester Orr and Peggy Parratt, a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who would later throw the first forward pass in professional football history. The 1902 team scored the first touchdown against

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

's legendary coach Fielding H. Yost, who began his coaching career posting twelve consecutive shutouts. In fact, the headline in the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...

'' referred not to Michigan's victory but instead read, "MICHIGAN'S GOAL LINE CROSSED." Western Reserve emerged to win league titles in both

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Moment magnitude scale, Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 9 – The "Mud March (suffragists), Mud March", the ...

and

1908 This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time), measured according to the definition of mean solar time. Events January * January ...

, and again in

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January *January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 * ...

. Finally in OAC play, Case would win two more titles—first in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, ironically losing only to Western Reserve who exited the conference in 1931—and another in

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

, again suffering their only loss to rival Western Reserve. Western Reserve is the only Ohio team with a winning record, 6–5–1, against the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

, playing from 1891 to 1934.

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

's only death of a player from game-related injuries, team captain John Sigrist, occurred against Western Reserve in 1901. Case Tech holds a 10–11–2 all-time record against the

, with Coach Joe Fogg posting a perfect 4–0 record during his tenure. Ohio State vs Case football 1918

Famed Notre Dame coach,

Knute Rockne Knute Kenneth Rockne (; March 4, 1888 – March 31, 1931) was an American football player and coach at the University of Notre Dame. Leading Notre Dame for 13 seasons, Rockne accumulated over 100 wins and three national championships. Rockne is ...

, made his head coaching debut on September 28, 1918, against Case held at University Circle's Van Horn Field. George "The Gipper" Gipp led the Fighting Irish to a 26–6 victory rushing for two touchdowns. Although the home team could not play spoiler in his debut, Case lays claim to scoring the first touchdown against Rockne. The AP story recounted the scoring drive: "Case scored in the opening period when brilliant open field running by Hale and a forward pass, Hale to Wolf, placed the ball on Notre Dame's two-yard line. Capt. McCune plunged over." In 1920, The

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

played their first ever game in the

north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

at University Circle's Van Horn Field against Case, mainly due to coach Xen C. Scott, prior coach of both Case and Western Reserve, wanting to showcase his new team to the

audience.

had its own ''Big Four Conference'', which was formed in 1933 consisting of Baldwin-Wallace, Case Tech, John Carroll, and Western Reserve. Some of the highest attended games in school history occurred during this decade, needing to be played at

and

to handle the larger crowds. The champion received the Douglas S. Campbell Trophy. Case Tech won the inaugural in

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

and then Western Reserve won eight out of the next nine—

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

, and

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

. The local tradition came to an end due to the interruption of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The Bill Edwards era (1936–1941) propelled Western Reserve into the national spotlight, achieving three undefeated seasons (

, and

), a 28-game win streak, and the school's only bowl game — 1941 Sun Bowl, played Jan 1, 1941. The undefeated teams featured strong play from Ray Zeh, Frank "Doc" Kelker, Phil Ragazzo, Albie Litwak, Johnny Ries, Gene Myslenski, Mike Rodak, Dick Booth, and Johnny Wilson. During the

1935 college football season The 1935 college football season was the last one before the AP Poll, Associated Press (AP) writers' poll was used in selecting the national champion. There were seven contemporary math system selectors that year who are informally recognized by ...

, Ray Zeh led the nation in

scoring SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...

with 112 points. Over his six-year tenure, Coach Edwards guided the team to a 49–6–2 (0.877) record, earning a spot in the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

before heading off to coach the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. After a short hiatus during

, football resumed in 1946 where Western Reserve pushed hard to elevate the program to the national stage scheduling teams such as

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

, Kent State, Miami of Ohio,

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

, Colgate,

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

, and Duquesne. In 1946, Western Reserve became a charter member with the formation of the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

, in conjunction with

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

, and Wayne State. Ohio's first ever intercollegiate TV football game aired on October 23, 1948, where Western Reserve battled Kent State to a 14–14 tie. In 1954, Western Reserve withdrew from the

MAC Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

, citing the need for the school to focus more energy on academics and the high cost of running a big time program spearheaded by President John S. Millis. In conjunction with reviving the Case Institute program who had disbanded in 1954, both teams helped form the Presidents' Athletic Conference as charter members in 1955, with Western Reserve winning conference titles in 1955, 1958, and 1960.

Post-merger (1970–present)

The football teams combined in 1970, a few years after the federation of the two universities. Both the Red Cats and Rough Riders names were dropped, and the new mascot, Spartans, was adopted. A new rivalry game emerged in 1970 against the Carnegie Mellon Tartans. In 1986, the annual game and trophy was officially dubbed the Academic Bowl. Another rivalry against the

College of Wooster {{Infobox university , image = College of Wooster seal.png , image_upright = .6 , name = The College of Wooster , former_names = University of Wooster (1866–1915) , motto ...

began in 1984, where the winner holds on to the Baird Brothers Trophy. The Spartans played in the

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...

until 1983. The following season, they helped charter their fourth conference, the

North Coast Athletic Conference The North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III which is composed of colleges located in Ohio and Indiana. It sponsors 23 ...

. During the league's first year in 1984, the Spartans achieved a 9–0 undefeated season, winning the first conference title led by two-time All-American quarterback Fred DiSanto. The most successful coach by winning percentage in the post-merger era was Coach Jim Chapman, who amassed a 36–7–1 (0.830) record from 1982 to 1986, including a 14-game win streak. In conjunction with other top research universities in the country,

became a charter member of its fifth and final conference, the

, being joined by the football teams of

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

, and

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

in 1986. Conference titles were won in 1988 and 1996. The Spartans played as a member of both the NCAC and UAA, until finally departing the NCAC in 1999. In 2004, Coach Greg Debeljak moved into the head coaching role, where he set and holds the record for most wins in post-merger era history. Within a few years, the Spartans achieved three consecutive 10–0 undefeated seasons in (2007, 2008, and 2009), which helped set an all-time school record of a 38-game regular season win streak, leading to the school's first NCAA DIII playoff appearances (2007, 2008, and 2009) and playoff win (2007). Six UAA conference titles (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2016, and 2017) have been won. In 2017, he recorded another perfect 10–0 regular season, sharing the

conference title with Washington and Jefferson, also earning another playoff victory. Coach Greg Debeljak holds a 10–8 record against rival

Carnegie Mellon Carnegie may refer to: People *Carnegie (surname), including a list of people with the name **Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist * Clan Carnegie, a lowland Scottish clan Institutions Named for Andrew Carnegie * ...

. After a couple decade hiatus, the team rejoined the

in 2014 while retaining its membership in the UAA.

Mascot names

Case, originally known as Case School of Applied Science, carried the name ''Scientists'' from 1918 to 1939. In 1940, the mascot was changed to the ''Rough Riders'', in honor of their head coach Ray A. Ride. Case formally updated their school name in 1947 to Case Institute of Technology. Western Reserve originally used the mascot ''Pioneers'' from 1921 to 1927, until being forced to change by

Marietta College Marietta College (MC) is a private liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio, United States. Its campus encompasses approximately six city blocks next to downtown Marietta and enrolls 1,200 students. History Marietta College began as the Muskin ...

, who claimed earlier usage of the namesake. The famous ''Red Cats'' mascot was then used beginning in 1928. Upon the merger of the two schools, the ''Spartans'' name was adopted in 1970, as the team is now known.

Postseason and conference championships

Conference titles

A total of eleven undefeated seasons have been recorded—Western Reserve (

, and

) and Case (

1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...

, 1893) both while Independent and Case Western Reserve while in the NCAC or UAA (

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, 2007, 2008, 2009, and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

). A total of 23 conference titles have been earned—9 ( OAC), 8 ( UAA), 5 (

), and 1 ( NCAC).

1941 Sun Bowl

Arguably the most significant game in school history was played between Western Reserve University and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

in the 1941 Sun Bowl. For the Red Cats, Steve Belichick, father of NFL coach

Bill Belichick William Stephen Belichick ( ; born April 16, 1952) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels. Widely regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, he holds numerous coaching records, inc ...

, scored the first touchdown. Johnny Ries led the Red Cats offense with two rushing touchdowns. Four other future NFL players played in the game for Western Reserve, Dom "Mickey" Sanzotta, Stan Skoczen, Dick Booth, and Andy Logan. This would become both the only bowl game played and won in school history, ending in a 26–13 victory.

NCAA Division III playoffs

The Spartans reached the playoffs during the 2007, 2008, and 2009 seasons, led by quarterback Dan Whalen. The lone playoff victory during this stretch occurred in 2007, with a thrilling 21–20 victory over

Widener University Widener University is a private university in Chester, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in 1821, the university was known as the Pennsylvania Military College until 1972. Widener enrolls approximately 3,500 undergraduate students across s ...

In the first round of the 2017 playoffs, the Spartans traveled to and shut out Illinois Wesleyan 28–0. In the second round, they were defeated by 45–16 by Mount Union.

Conference affiliation

Founding charter members of five conferences: *

(OAC), 1902 (Case Tech and Western Reserve) *

(MAC), 1946 (Western Reserve) * Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), 1955 (Case Tech and Western Reserve) *

(NCAC), 1984 (Case Western Reserve) *

(UAA), 1986 (Case Western Reserve) DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1890 till:2017 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:AssocF from:1890 till:1901 text:Independent (1890–1901) bar:3 color:AssocF from:1902 till:1931 text:

(1902–1931) bar:5 color:AssocF from:1932 till:1942 text:Independent (1932–1942) bar:7 color:AssocF from:1943 till:1945 text: No team (1943–1945) bar:9 color:AssocF from:1946 till:1954 text:

(1946–1954) bar:11 color:AssocF from:1955 till:1969 text: Presidents' Athletic Conference (1955–1969) bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:1891 till:1901 text:Independent(1891–1901) bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:1902 till:1948 text:

(1902–1948) bar:6 color:OtherC2 from:1949 till:1953 text:Independent (1949–1953) bar:8 color:OtherC2 from:1954 till:1954 text: No team (1954) bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:1955 till:1969 text: Presidents' Athletic Conference (1955–1969) bar:12 color:Full from:1970 till:1983 text: Presidents' Athletic Conference (1970–1983) bar:13 color:Full from:1984 till:1999 text:

(1984–1999) bar:14 color:Full from:1986 till:End text:

(1986–present) bar:15 shift:(-200,-5) color:Full from:2014 till:End text: Presidents' Athletic Conference (2014–present) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1890 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Conference history (1890–present)" #> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

Notable affiliates and alumni

* Steve Belichick—father of

* Tom Davies * Bill Edwards—

inductee coach and former NFL head coach of the

* Frank "Doc" Kelker—

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

unable to play professional football due to existing color barrier * Ray Mack (Mlckovsky)—Drafted in the 1938 NFL draft by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

(Round 11, Pick 100), but declined to play

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

* Gordon McCarter * Frank Ryan Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Case 1967–1971, Quarterback

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

1962–1968 * Tommy Zagorski—Offensive Coordinator for

Akron Zips football The Akron Zips football team is a college football program representing the University of Akron in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Akron plays ...

Lou Saban Louis Henry Saban (October 13, 1921 – March 29, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He played for Indiana University in college and as a professional for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) between ...

—Former NFL head coach of

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

, and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

Mike Scarry Michael Joseph "Mo" Scarry (February 1, 1920 – September 9, 2012) was an American football player and coach. He grew up in Pennsylvania, and played football in college at Waynesburg University, Waynesburg College in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania a ...

* Jerry Schuplinski—Assistant quarterbacks coach for the

. * Xen C. Scott Captain of 1904 Western Reserve Football. Assistant coach of Western Reserve football 1906-1909. Head football coach 1910 Western Reserve. Head football coach of

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

(1917) and

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

(1919-1922) * Dan Whalen * Charley Winner—Former NFL head coach of

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

Former NFL Players: * Johnny Badaczewski (1946–1953) * Steve Belichick (1941–1941) * Dick Booth (1941–1945) * Hal "Candy" Carroll — Drafted in the 1956 NFL draft by the

*Frank Civiletto (1923–1923) *Ken Fryer (1944–1944) * Erwin Grabisna—Drafted in the 1988 NFL draft by the Raiders (Round 6, Pick 143).

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

champion (

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

) *Billy Gribben (1926–1926) * Ed Kagy (1912–1917) * Roger "Red" Kirkman (1933–1935) * Bill Laub (1902–1905), first head coach of the

Canton Bulldogs The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football Lea ...

, former mayor of

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

* Warren Lahr (1949–1959)—

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

, NFL Champion (3X), AAFC Champion *Bob Linn — Drafted in the

1952 NFL draft The 1952 NFL draft was held on January 17, 1952, at Hotel Statler in New York. Selections made by New York Yanks were assigned to the new Dallas Texans. This was the sixth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery ...

by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

*Andy Logan (1941–1941) * Bill Lund (1946–1947)—AAFC Champion (2X) * Peggy Parratt (1905–1916)—Credited for throwing the first legal

forward pass In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The legal and widespread use of the forward pass distinguishes grid ...

in professional football history * Milton "Muff" Portmann (1911–1916) * Phil Ragazzo (1938–1947) * Mike Rodak (1939–1942) * George Roman (1948–1950) * Dom "Mickey" Sanzotta (1942–1946) *Stan Skoczen (1944–1944) * E. J. "Doc" Stewart (1903–1906) *Saul Weinberg (1923–1923) * Del Wertz (1912–1914) * Johnny Wilson (1939–1942)

Notes and references

External links

* {{Presidents' Athletic Conference football navbox * American football teams established in 1890 1890 establishments in Ohio