Gallaudet Bison football

Gallaudet Bison
First season 1883
Athletic director Michael Weinstock
Head coach Chuck Goldstein
6th year, 28–22 (.560)
Stadium Hotchkiss Field
Seating capacity 1,500
Field surface Field Turf
Location Washington, D. C.
Conference Eastern College Football Conference (ECFC)
Conference titles 1
Colors Buff, Blue, and White
              
Website www.gallaudetathletics.com

The Gallaudet Bison football team represents Gallaudet University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III competition. It has been discontinued many times, and most recently restarted in 2007.[1][2] After an undefeated season in 2005, which was achieved after 122 years, head coach Ed Hottle began his campaign to return Gallaudet to the NCAA ranks. With support from the Gallaudet administration, the Bison played their last season of club football in 2006 and played a full NCAA slate of eight games in 2007.[3] In the fall of 2013, Gallaudet's football program began a remarkable run for the Division III playoffs and garnering a considerable amount of publicity, winning the regular season with a 9-1 record, before falling to Hobart College in the first round of the playoffs and ending the season with a 9-2 (.818) overall record.[4][5]

After the 2009 football season, Coach Hottle left to become the first head coach of the first football team at Stevenson University. He announced his decision in a heart-felt meeting with the football team. Offensive Coordinator Chuck Goldstein was tapped to be the interim head coach of the football team. On December 17, 2009, the interim tag was removed and he is now the permanent head coach of the team.[6]

Gallaudet University's football team has a longstanding rivalry with Catholic University of America, another school in the Washington D.C. area. On September 7, 2012, Gallaudet University defeated Catholic University of America for the first time in the 106-year history of the rivalry between the two D.C. schools.[7]

The home stadium, Hotchkiss Field, was known as Garlic Field prior to 1924.

History

The football team was organized in 1883 by coach John B. Hotchkiss. In the 1890s, the football huddle originated at Gallaudet.[8][9][10] Quarterback Paul D. Hubbard noticed hand signals could be read by opposing players, a particular concern when Gallaudet played other schools for the deaf. To remedy this, he had his players form a circle so that his sign-language signals could be sent and received without anyone on the sidelines or on the opposing team seeing.[11]

Hall of Fame

The following football players have been inducted into the Gallaudet Athletics Hall of Fame.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Gallaudet to Re-Start Program in 2007". Washingtonpost.com. July 12, 2005.
  2. ↑ "2013 Football Records Book" (PDF). Fs.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  3. ↑ Foster, Brooke (August 19, 2007). "Sound and the Fury". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  4. ↑ The Associated Press. "Gallaudet football prepares for first ever playoff game". wjla.com.
  5. ↑ "Hobart derails Gallaudet football's historic season : News : CNYcentral.com". cnycentral.com.
  6. ↑ "Goldstein Named Gallaudet's 36th Head Football Coach, Davis Elevated to Assistant Coach". Gallaudet University. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "Gallaudet Defeats Catholic for the First Time in the School History". Gallaudet University Athletics. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  8. ↑ "The History of Gallaudet University (page 3)". Pr.gallaudet.edu. November 7, 1997. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  9. ↑ "The Huddle Debate Continues" (PDF). College Football Historical Society 11 (2): 4. February 1998. Retrieved August 4, 2015 – via LA84.
  10. ↑ Jeff Pegues (November 11, 2013). "The Storied football team of Gallaudet, the nation's first university for the deaf". Cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  11. ↑ Gannon, Jack (1981). "Deaf Heritage: Narrative History of Deaf America" (PDF). Silver Spring, MD: National Association of the Deaf (Studentunitymovement.org): 272 & 276. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
  12. ↑ "Gallaudet University Athletics Hall of Fame". Gallaudeathletics.com. Retrieved 2015-08-11.
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