The school has fielded a varsity football team annually since 1893, with the exception of one year during World War I and two years during World War II. Bill Bowes, who served as head coach from 1972 to 1998, is an inductee of the College Football Hall of Fame.
The Wildcats have played their home football games at several venues in Durham. Prior to the current stadium, which has been in use since 1936, the team played its home games on Memorial Field from 1921 through 1935. Memorial Field remains in use by the women's field hockey team.[2] Memorial Field was constructed to "honor the memory of those New Hampshire men who gave their lives for their country during the great World War."[3] Funded by donations from alumni, it was built on the site of the prior athletic field,[3] which had been referred to as the College Oval.[4]
The below table lists the win–loss record for head coaches throughout program history. The team had its first formal head coach, John Scannell, during the 1902 season. Some opponents in early years were high school teams; for example, the 1895 team did not face any college teams in its six-game schedule. Other opponents into the 1920s were military teams (different from service academy programs, such as Army); an example being the 1926 team facing the Quantico Marines.
The school was not a member of any conference prior to the 1923 season. Since 1973, the team has played in NCAA classifications with postseason tournaments (playoffs).
Updated through the abbreviated 2020 season, when the team played a single conference game in the Spring of 2021.[12][13]
† The 1944 schedule was limited to four games, with players restricted to 17-year-olds and returning veterans.[15]
‡ McDonnell began a medical leave at the start of the 2019 season, with Santos named interim head coach; McDonnell returned the following season.
Postseason appearances
Bowl games
The team has appeared in one bowl game during its history:[16]
While listed in NCAA records, the Glass Bowl is not considered an NCAA-sanctioned bowl game.
The Wildcats also played in one Division II playoff game that was known, for historical reasons, by a bowl name. As that game was part of a tournament bracket, it is not listed in this section (see below).
Division II playoffs
The team made the postseason twice during the time it competed in Division II (1973–1977), compiling an overall record of 1–2:
The football programs of New Hampshire and the Maine Black Bears first met in 1903, and have met annually since 1922, except for two season during World War II and during the 2020 season due to impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 1948, the winning team gets possession of an antique musket until the next season's game. The teams met for the 100th time in 2010.
The football programs of New Hampshire and the UMass Minutemen first met in 1897, and most recently met in 2011. Since 1986, the most outstanding player of the matchup has been awarded the Bill Knight Trophy. However, the future of the rivalry is in question, as the two programs are now in different NCAA football classifications. The teams met for the 70th time in 2007.
The football programs of New Hampshire and the Dartmouth Big Green first met in 1901, and most recently met in 2022. The teams met for the 35th time in 2007.
Donation controversy
A longtime UNH librarian, Robert Morin, died in 2015 and left $4 million to the University; $1 million of that money was spent on a new video scoreboard for the football stadium, and the decision to spend so much of the donation on a scoreboard became a controversial topic. University officials explained that there was no instruction on how to spend the money, other than $100,000 for the library. It was also noted that Morin started watching and became particularly interested in football towards the end of his life.[25]
^New Hampshire's media guide lists Edward Herr as head coach for the 1905 season, in addition to the 1906 and 1907 seasons. However, this is not corroborated by contemporary sources, as Herr was a student at Dartmouth through the 1905–06 academic year, and upon his hiring at Vermont for the 1908 season it was noted that he had been coach at New Hampshire for the prior two years.[14]
References
^"Athletics Branding". University of New Hampshire Brand & Visual Guidelines. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
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