Updates
Above: The 1894 Hatter football team, and mascot.
Roger Hughes named Head Football Coach
June 27, 2011 -- Stetson Director of Athletics Jeff Altier is proud to announce that Roger A. Hughes has been named head coach of the Stetson University football team. Hughes becomes the ninth head football coach in the history of the program that ran from 1894 through 1956 and will begin play again in 2013. He was selected from a pool of more than 160 applicants.
"I want to thank and commend the search committee, the Stetson and DeLand community members who participated in the search, for their time and effort in reviewing the large and highly qualified pool of applicants. As the director of athletics, I knew the candidate pool was going to be large, but I was pleasantly surprised with the large number college head coaches who have led non-scholarship, or limited-scholarship programs, to athletic success at academically rigorous institutions," said Altier.
"Dr. Hughes has maintained a leadership role within the American Football Coaches Association and has been employed as a consultant by many institutions, which speaks volumes about how he is respected within the college football world," continued Altier. "Roger has significant fundraising experience and an understanding of how to cultivate and solicit donors, which is critical for Stetson at this developmental stage of our program. As everyone gets to know Roger and reflect upon his experience, I am confident that all will agree that he is the perfect fit for Stetson as we re-introduce football."
Hughes has 27 years of experience coaching at all levels of the NCAA including 10 seasons as head coach at Princeton University, from 2000-2009. Most recently he worked as the wide receivers coach for the Omaha Nighthawks of the United States Football League in 2010. Hughes has been a member of the American Football Coaches Association since 1984, and served on the Head Coaches Committee of the Football Championship Subdivision.
"I am very excited to be named the head football coach at Stetson University. The opportunity to represent an institution with Stetson's outstanding academic and athletic reputation is a true honor and is congruent with my previous coaching experiences," said Hughes.
At Princeton, Hughes took over a team that started with 10 freshmen and sophomores in 2000 and finished 3-7. He grew the program into an Ivy League co-champion that finished 9-1 in 2006. The highlight victory of the season was a 34-31 win at co-champion Yale. That win clinched Princeton's first bonfire in 12 years, a tradition for any team that sweeps Harvard and Yale in the same season. It was the first nine-win season at Princeton in 42 years. At the conclusion of the 2006 season, Hughes was named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award and earned the Johnny Vaught Coach of the Year Award from the American Football Foundation.
Hughes put together a .560 winning percentage (28-22) over his final five seasons at Princeton and completed his 10-year run as head coach at 47-52 (.475). He was the only coach in Ivy League history to improve a team by at least two wins in three straight seasons. While leading the Tigers, Hughes coached two All-Americans, 24 First Team All-Ivy and 55 Second Team All-Ivy League players. His teams led the league in passing and total offense in 2006, and in rushing in 2008.
Off the field at Princeton, Hughes was instrumental in cultivating and maintaining relationships with alumni, corporate sponsors and university supporters. Over his 10 years, he helped raise more than $14 million including the largest athletic gift in the school's history.
Prior to Princeton, Hughes spent eight seasons as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Dartmouth College. During his time in Hanover (N.H.), the Big Green won a pair of Ivy League titles (1992, 1996) and enjoyed a nation-leading 22-game unbeaten streak. He coached players that set 14 of the top 15 single-game passing and total yardage records. One of those players was Jay Fiedler who played 13 years in the NFL.
After graduating from Doane College (Crete, Nebraska) in 1982, where he was a football tight end as well as a member of the golf team, Hughes began his coaching career with the Tigers as a receivers and defensive backs coach with the varsity, and an offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator with the junior varsity (1982-1984). From there he went on to the University of Nebraska as a graduate assistant (1984-1986), Doane as the offensive coordinator (1986-1987), University of Wisconsin-Whitewater as a running backs coach (1988) and Cameron University as offensive coordinator and strength coach (1989-1992) before being hired at Dartmouth.
Hughes received his B.A. in physical education and a B.S. in biology from Doane in 1982 and then earned an M.P.E. in exercise physiology (1984) and a Ph.D. in exercise physiology (1987) at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.
At Stetson, Hughes will be charged with rebuilding a football program that has been dormant since 1956. Approximately a year ago, Stetson began examining the economic feasibility of a return to football. Following approval by the Board of Trustees in February to move forward, the DeLand City Commission met in March to consider a partnership with Stetson for the needed improvements to the Spec Martin Stadium complex. When the proposal was approved football was reborn at Stetson.
"Starting any endeavor from the ground up is an enormous challenge. But working within the visions of President Wendy Libby and Athletic Director Jeff Altier makes this challenge a very exciting one. I can't wait to get started," said Hughes.
"Roger Hughes' experience in the Ivy League and in rebuilding programs makes him a perfect coach and leader for the Hatters," said Stetson President Wendy Libby. "Stetson was accepted into the Pioneer Football League on June 13, and we're excited to have Coach Hughes on board to help us build a great football program for our students, alumni, faculty, staff and community fans!"
Like the Ivy League, the Pioneer League is comprised of private schools that promote high academic standards and do not allow athletic scholarships. The lack of scholarships requires unique recruiting skills to be competitive. Over his career Hughes has recruited from all 50 states and, at Princeton, he helped develop a national web-based recruiting system.
Next up for Coach Hughes will be the recruitment of prospective student athletes beginning this fall, hiring an offensive or defensive coordinator, and beginning facility construction over the winter, hiring additional assistant coaches and support staff and beginning a practice year in the summer of 2012, and then beginning a full schedule in the fall of 2013.
Stetson Football invited to join Pioneer League
June 13, 2011 -- The Pioneer League President's Group met Monday, June 13, 2011, and voted to accept both Stetson University and Mercer University as the newest members of the NCAA Division I non-scholarship football league.
"Stetson University is proud to join the prestigious Pioneer Football League as we re-introduce Hatter Football in 2013," said Stetson President Wendy B. Libby. "The other colleges and universities in the Pioneer League are similar to Stetson in academic excellence, values and enrollment, and we believe we will be a good fit for the league, both on and off the field."
Fifty-five years after ending its football program, Stetson University made the decision to reinstate the sport and begin play in 2013. Approximately a year ago, Stetson began examining the economic feasibility of adding football, as well as women's lacrosse, and determined the commitment would help the university boost enrollment and retention and gain national name recognition.
"Stetson already has a very strong athletics program, and football will be a great addition," said Harlan L. "Butch" Paul, chairman of the Stetson Board of Trustees. "Bringing back football fits well into the university's new strategic goals to increase undergraduate enrollment, attract a more geographically diverse student population and increase the vibrancy of the campus for our students, while maintaining Stetson's high academic qualities and standards. It will also increase community and alumni engagement. The Board of Trustees is proud of Stetson's acceptance into the prestigious Division I Pioneer Football League."
Following approval by the Board of Trustees in February, Stetson made a proposal to the City of DeLand for shared use of Spec Martin Football Stadium at Earl Brown Park in downtown DeLand. The DeLand City Commission met March 14 to consider the partnership with Stetson and the needed improvements to the stadium complex. The proposal was approved unanimously, and football was reborn at Stetson.
The next step was for Stetson to make application for acceptance into the Pioneer Football League. The Pioneer Football League is the nation's only non-scholarship, football-only NCAA Football Championship Subdivision conference. The other schools in the league include Butler, Campbell, Davidson, Dayton, Drake, Jacksonville, Marist, Morehead State, San Diego and Valparaiso. The addition of Stetson and Mercer bring the total number of schools to 12.
"The PFL, a national conference made up of schools that are very similar to Stetson University in size, and academic rigor has from my perspective always appeared to be a perfect fit for us," said Stetson Director of Athletics Jeff Altier. "I am pleased that the members of the Pioneer Football League agree and, as such, have extended a membership opportunity."
"This is a very exciting time for Stetson University, not just because we are adding the intercollegiate sports of football, sand volleyball and women's lacrosse, but because the plan to grow the student population and enhance campus vibrancy is coming together as we had planned," he added.
After the addition of football was formally approved and application was made to join the PFL, Stetson began its search for the next head football coach.
"The search for a head football coach is winding down," said Altier. "The pool of 160 applicants has been narrowed down to three. These three candidates have been on campus over the past week for in-person interviews. The search committee has done an outstanding job, and any of the top three candidates will be a welcome addition to Stetson University. Our plans are to finish the background checks this week and offer the position to the top candidate early next week, and shortly thereafter conduct a press conference to announce the new coach."
Following the hiring of a new coach the remaining Stetson football program timeline will include recruitment of prospective student athletes beginning this fall, hiring an offensive or defensive coordinator, and beginning facility construction over the winter, hiring assistant coaches and support staff, and beginning a practice year in the summer of 2012, and then joining the PFL regular schedule in the fall of 2013.
Football, lacrosse -- The background, the future
March 15, 2011 -- Stetson has noticed some misconceptions being voiced about the new football and women's lacrosse programs. Funds for the start-up costs are coming from donations and partnerships like the one Stetson has with the City of DeLand. These donors and partners are excited about the positive impact football will have upon enrollment and campus vibrancy and are giving because they see the value in this endeavor for the entire university as well as the city.
Stetson's goal has always been, and continues to be, to fund the start-up costs from donations and partnerships, just like we have done with Melching Field, Patricia Wilson Field, and the Wilson Athletic Center. Some donors to the project made their support conditional to the launch of the new athletic initiatives. But, in fact, the project's largest donors to date include one who has already endowed a chair, given to the Science Center and continues to support our academic program each year. Another has given to scholarships, endowed chairs and the Science Center as well. These are donors who understand their role in supporting the university broadly to advance our strategic goals. It is not our intent to use operating funds to sustain the football or lacrosse initiatives and, in fact, projections show that once established, these new athletic programs will generate $1 million or more towards the university's bottom line.
Stetson remains, as always, committed to academic excellence and expects that the new initiatives, football in particular, will help generate growing awareness about Stetson's academic reputation. We expect the combination of academic excellence, campus vibrancy, and school spirit will help us attract an increasing number of high-caliber students. Many schools are successful in combining outstanding academics and vibrant football programs.