| UMass Lowell River Hawks football | |
|---|---|
| First season | 1980 |
| Last season | 2002 |
| Athletic director | Dana Skinner |
| Head coach |
Wally Dembowski 2nd season, 4–17 (.190) |
| Stadium | Cushing Field Complex (capacity: 2,000) |
| Year built | 2001 |
| Field surface | FieldTurf |
| Location | Lowell, Massachusetts |
| NCAA division | Division II |
| Conference | NE-10 |
| Past conferences |
Independent NEFC FFC ECFC ECF |
| All-time record | 87–125–1 (.411) |
| Conference titles | 1 |
| Division titles | 2 |
| Colors | Blue, white, and red
[1] |
| Mascot | River Hawks |
The UMass Lowell River Hawks football team represented the University of Massachusetts Lowell in college football at the NCAA Division II level. The River Hawks were members of the Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10), having fielded its team in the NE-10 from 2001 to 2002. The River Hawks played their home games at the Cushing Field Complex in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Their last head coach was Wally Dembowski, who took over the position from 2001 to 2002.
Conference affiliations
- Club team (1980)
- Independent (1981–1986)
- New England Football Conference (1987–1991)
- Freedom Football Conference (1992–1995)
- Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (1996)
- Eastern Football Conference (1997–2000)
- Northeast-10 Conference (2001–2002)
List of head coaches
Key
| General | Overall | Conference | Postseason [A 1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Order of coaches [A 2] | GC | Games coached | CW | Conference wins | PW | Postseason wins |
| DC | Division championships | OW | Overall wins | CL | Conference losses | PL | Postseason losses |
| CC | Conference championships | OL | Overall losses | CT | Conference ties | PT | Postseason ties |
| NC | National championships | OT | Overall ties [A 3] | C% | Conference winning percentage | ||
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage [A 4] | ||||
Coaches
| No. | Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DC | CC | NC | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Perreault | 1980–1885 | 47 | 18 | 29 | 0 | 0.383 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | Dennis Scannell | 1986–1992 | 65 | 45 | 19 | 1 | 0.700 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 0.767 | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | – | – |
| 3 | Tom Radulski | 1993–1995 | 30 | 5 | 25 | 0 | 0.167 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 0.133 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4 | Sandy Ruggles [5] | 1996–2000 | 50 | 15 | 35 | 0 | 0.300 | 12 | 30 | 0 | 0.286 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | Wally Dembowski [6] [7] | 2001–2002 | 21 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 0.190 | 4 | 16 | 0 | 0.200 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Year-by-year results
| National champions | Conference champions | Bowl game berth | Playoff berth |
| Season | Year | Head coach | Association | Division | Conference | Record | Postseason | Final ranking | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Conference | |||||||||||||
| Win | Loss | Tie | Finish | Win | Loss | Tie | ||||||||
| Lowell Chiefs | ||||||||||||||
| 1980 | 1980 | John Perreault | Club team | |||||||||||
| 1981 | 1981 | NCAA | Division III | Independent | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | — | |||||
| 1982 | 1982 | 2 | 8 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1983 | 1983 | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1984 | 1984 | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1985 | 1985 | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1986 | 1986 | Dennis Scannell | 2 | 7 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 1987 | 1987 | NEFC | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4th (North) | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1988 | 1988 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2nd (North) | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1989 | 1989 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1st (North) | 5 | 0 | 0 | L conference championship | — | ||||
| 1990 | 1990 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2nd (North) | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| UMass Lowell River Hawks | ||||||||||||||
| 1991 | 1991 | Dennis Scannell | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1st (North) | 5 | 0 | 0 | W conference championship | — |
| 1992 | 1992 | FFC | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4th | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | — | |||
| 1993 | 1993 | Tom Radulski | 5 | 5 | 0 | T–5th | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1994 | 1994 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 8th | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1995 | 1995 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 9th | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1996 | 1996 | Sandy Ruggles | ECFC | 6 | 4 | 0 | 6th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||
| 1997 | 1997 | Division II | EFC | 2 | 8 | 0 | 5th (Bay State) | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||
| 1998 | 1998 | 2 | 8 | 0 | T–3rd (Bay State) | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1999 | 1999 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 5th (Atlantic) | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2000 | 2000 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 5th (Atlantic) | 2 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2001 | 2001 | Wally Dembowski | NE-10 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 10th | 1 | 9 | 0 | — | — | ||
| 2002 | 2002 | 3 | 8 | 0 | T–8th | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
Notes
- ^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played. [2]
- ^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
- ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since. [3]
- ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss. [4]
References
- ^ "UMass Lowell Athletics Identity Standards". August 8, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
- ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived from the original on August 22, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
- ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
- ^ "North Middlesex parts ways with legendary football coach Sandy Ruggles after 25 seasons". The Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
- ^ "UMass-Lowell axes football program, citing budget cuts". New Bedford Standard-Times. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
- ^ ALGERI, STEVE (April 15, 2011). "Winchester High names new football coach". Homenewshere.com. Retrieved June 24, 2023.