The Eastern Michigan Eagles football program is a college football team that represents Eastern Michigan University in the Mid-American Conference, a part of the NCAA Division I. The team has had 40 head coaches, including four interim head coaches who each served less than one full season (Bob LaPointe, Jan Quarless, Tony Lombardi, and Al Lavan), since its first recorded football game in 1891. The current coach is Chris Creighton, who took the position for the 2014 season.[1]
Many of EMU's head coaches have had brief tenures with the program; 18 head coaches served for one season or less.[2] Among the more notable head coaches at EMU have been Clayton Teetzel (1900–1902), Henry Schulte (1906–1908), Elton Rynearson (1917, 1919–1920, 1925–1948), Fred Trosko (1952–1964), Dan Boisture (1967–1973), Mike Stock (1978–1982), and Jim Harkema (1983–1992). Rynearson was the longest-serving and winningest coach, with a record of 114-58-15 over 26 seasons, while Vern Bennett (1894) posted the highest winning percentage, 71.4%. Tony Lombardi was the shortest-tenured coach, both in time and number of games, leading the team only for five days,[3] and only for the final game of the 1999 season.[1]
The most recent head coach to leave Eastern Michigan with a winning record was Dan Boisture, who left after the 1973 season; only Boisture and Elton Rynearson coached more than two seasons and retired with winning records.
- ^ a b DeLassus, David. "Eastern Michigan Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on December 5, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
- ^ "Eastern Michigan Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on February 15, 2010. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
- ^ "EMU's Rasnick Releived(sic) of Duties; Lombardi Named Interim Coach". MACSports.com. November 16, 1999. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved August 9, 2013.