Mike London led the Spiders to their lone national championship as head coach in 2008 .
The Richmond Spiders college football team represents the University of Richmond in the Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference (CAAFC), as part of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision . The program has had 36 head coaches and one interim head coach since it began play during the 1881 season . Since December 2016, Russ Huesman has served as head coach at Richmond.[ 1]
Seven coaches have led Richmond in postseason playoff or bowl games : Frank Jones , Dal Shealy , Jim Reid , Dave Clawson , Mike London , Danny Rocco , and Huesman. Eleven coaches have won conference championships: Fred Vail won one and Frank Dobson won three as a member of the Eastern Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Association ; Dobson won two and Glenn Thistlethwaite won one as a member of the Virginia Conference ; Jones won three and Jim Tait won one as a member of the Southern Conference ; Shealy won one as a member of the Yankee Conference ; Reid won two and Clawson won one as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference ; Clawson and London each won one and Rocco won two as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association ; and Huesman won one as a member of the CAAFC. London also won an NCAA Division I Football Championship in 2008 .
Dobson is the leader in seasons coached, with 20 years as head coach and in games coached (175) and won (79). M. C. Taylor has the highest winning percentage of those who have coaced more than one game at 1.000. C. T. Taylor has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with 0.000.
Key
Key to symbols in coaches list
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
List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards[ A 5]
No.
Name
Season(s)[ A 6]
GC
OW
OL
OT
O%
CW
CL
CT
C%
PW
PL
PT
DC
CC
NC
Awards
1
M. C. Taylor
1881
2
2
0
0
1.000
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
0
—
2
C. M. Hazen
1882 1885–1886 1888
8
4
4
0
0.500
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
0
—
3
H. R. Hundley
1887
2
1
1
0
0.500
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
0
—
4
Frank Johnson
1889
3
1
2
0
0.333
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
0
—
5
C. T. Taylor
1890
3
0
3
0
.000
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
0
—
6
Dana Rucker
1891 1893–1895
19
3
13
3
0.237
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
0
—
7
Penwick Shelton
1892
5
2
3
0
0.400
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
0
—
8
Bill Wertenbaker
1897
8
3
5
0
0.375
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
0
—
9
Oscar Lee Owens
1898
7
3
3
1
0.500
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
0
—
10
Julien Hill
1899
4
2
2
0
0.500
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
0
—
11
Ed Kenna
1900
7
3
4
0
0.429
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
0
—
12
Garnett Nelson
1901
8
1
7
0
0.125
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
0
—
13
Graham Hobson
1902
6
3
3
0
0.500
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
0
—
14
Fred Vail
1903
10
6
3
1
0.650
3
0
0
1.000
—
—
—
—
1
0
—
15
Harry Wall
1904
6
1
5
0
0.167
0
2
0
.000
—
—
—
—
0
0
—
16
E. A. Dunlap
1905–1909 1912
57
19
33
5
0.377
11
12
2
0.480
—
—
—
—
0
0
—
17
E. V. Long
1910
8
1
6
1
0.188
0
3
0
.000
—
—
—
—
0
0
—
18
Sam Honaker
1911
8
0
6
2
0.125
0
3
0
.000
—
—
—
—
0
0
—
19
Frank Dobson
1913–1917 1919–1933
175
79
78
18
0.503
17
12
7
0.569
—
—
—
—
5
0
—
20
Robert C. Marshall
1918
5
3
1
1
0.700
1
0
0
1.000
—
—
—
—
0
0
—
21
Glenn Thistlethwaite
1934–1941
76
41
26
9
0.599
15
19
3
0.446
—
—
—
—
1
0
—
22
John Fenlon
1942 1946–1947
30
12
15
3
0.450
5
12
2
0.316
—
—
—
—
0
0
—
23
Malcolm Pitt
1943–1944
15
8
7
0
0.533
1
5
0
0.167
—
—
—
—
0
0
—
24
George Hope
1945
8
2
6
0
0.250
0
4
0
.000
—
—
—
—
0
0
—
25
Karl Esleeck
1948–1950
30
10
18
2
0.367
6
17
1
0.271
—
—
—
—
0
0
—
26
Ed Merrick
1951–1965
146
53
87
6
0.384
33
52
5
0.394
—
—
—
—
0
0
—
27
Frank Jones
1966–1973
82
44
38
0
0.537
36
13
0
0.735
1
1
0
—
3
0
—
28
Jim Tait
1974–1979
65
21
44
0
0.323
8
4
0
0.667
0
0
0
—
1
0
—
29
Dal Shealy
1980–1988
100
43
57
0
0.430
11
11
0
0.500
1
2
0
—
1
0
—
30
Jim Marshall
1989–1994
66
19
47
0
0.288
12
36
0
0.250
0
0
0
0
0
0
—
31
Jim Reid
1995–2003
102
48
53
1
0.475
35
40
0
0.467
1
2
0
2
2
0
Yankee Coach of Year (1995) A-10 Coach of Year (1998, 2000)
32
Dave Clawson
2004–2007
49
29
20
—
0.592
18
14
—
0.563
3
2
—
2
2
0
I-AA.org National Coach of the Year (2005)
33
Mike London
2008–2009
29
24
5
—
0.828
13
3
—
0.813
5
1
—
1
1
1 – 2008
AFCA FCS Coach of the Year (2008) BCA National Coach of the Year (2008)
34
Latrell Scott
2010
11
6
5
—
0.545
4
4
—
0.500
0
0
—
—
0
0
—
Int
Wayne Lineburg [ A 7]
2011
11
3
8
—
0.273
0
8
—
.000
0
0
—
—
0
0
—
35
Danny Rocco
2012–2016
65
43
22
—
0.662
26
14
—
0.650
5
3
—
—
2
0
CAA Coach of the Year (2015)
36
Russ Huesman
2017–present
75
42
33
—
0.560
29
22
—
0.569
2
2
—
—
2
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]
^ Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season .
^ Richmond did not field a team for their 1883, 1884, and 1896 seasons.
^ After Latrell Scott resigned just priar to the start of the season, Lineburg served as interim head coach for the 2011 season.[ 5]
References
^ "Richmond hires Chattanooga's Huesman as new football coach" . ESPN.com . Associated Press. December 14, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2024 .
^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF) . Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011 .
^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches" . USA Today . McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. 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 September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009 .
^ "Spiders' Latrell Scott out; interim named" . ESPN.com . Associated Press. August 23, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2024 .
# denotes interim head coach
Venues Bowls & rivalries People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
# denotes interim head coach