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The History of Fighting Scots Football
College football certainly has changed a lot since The College of Wooster’s fourth-ever game, when the Fighting Scots routed Ohio State 64-0 in 1890. That was one of seven contests Wooster played in its first two seasons and all seven resulted in victory for the Scots, starting with a 48-0 shutout of Denison in 1889. However, football and all other athletic programs at the College came to a halt the next year, when President Scovel banned intercollegiate sports from campus due to his opinion that they created an unruly and often profane atmosphere. When varsity teams were finally re-instituted in 1901, Wooster had lost some of its momentum from the previous decade. The Scot gridders lost three of their four games that fall and saw only three winning seasons over the next 14 years. Wooster got back on track in 1916 and rapidly became one of the nation’s top teams under the direction of legendary head coach L.C. Boles. In fact, between 1916 and 1927, the Scots had their greatest success in school history, as Boles guided Wooster to 12-straight winning seasons and three Ohio Athletic Conference championships — 1919 (8-0), 1920 (8-0), and 1923 (8-0). Boles, who also led Wooster to an OAC title in 1934 (8-0), continued to coach until 1939, when he gave way to John Swigart, but not before he had compiled an all-time record of 134-50-19. Today, Boles still stands as the Scots’ winningest and longest tenured (24 years) coach. Swigart coached during the time period of World War II, registering a mark of 27-36 between 1940 and 1948, highlighted by a 6-3 season in 1942. Then, in 1949, a new winning era began when Phil Shipe took over the reins as head coach. Shipe began a 17-year run that would end with him being second only to Boles in career victories, as he coached Wooster to a mark of 84-61-6. The Scots’ best year under Shipe’s administration came in 1959 when Wooster went 7-1-1 and shared the OAC crown with Heidelberg. Jack Lengyel succeeded the legendary Shipe, who now has a walkway on campus named in his honor. Lengyel spent five years as the head coach at Wooster and directed the team to a total of three winning seasons, including an 8-1 mark and share of the 1970 OAC regular season championship. After a solid 6-2 record in 1971, the Scots struggled to a combined mark of 14-28 over the next five years before Tom Hollman took over and recorded four consecutive winning seasons from 1977-80. In his final year, the Scots came close to a perfect season, tying Denison (14-14) and dropping heartbreakers to Wittenberg (9-7) and Capital (13-0). After Hollman left, the program struggled for its longest period of time. Wooster recorded just two winning seasons from 1981-94, while making the transition to the newly-formed North Coast Athletic Conference in 1984. In fact, the Scots won a mere 27 percent of their games during that stretch before Jim Barnes and Mike Schmitz arrived on campus as head coach and offensive coordinator, respectively, and kick-started the program. They inherited a team that had finished 1-9 in 1994, but quickly brought respectability back by guiding the Scots to a 5-5 record in 1995. The following year Wooster compiled a 7-3 mark — its best in 25 years. In 1997, the Scots finished with a 9-1 record — their best since 1923 — and a share of their first NCAC title. Prior to leaving to be the head coach at his alma mater, Barnes guided Wooster to matching 8-2 marks in 1998 and 1999 — the 100th and 101st seasons of football at Wooster. Schmitz was the easy choice to take over at the helm of the program, and the Scots’ 21st head football coach has continued the program’s recent resurgence. In particular, Schmitz helped orchestrate the historic 2004 season, when Wooster went undefeated through regular season play, captured the NCAC title, and advanced to the Div. III Playoffs for the first time in school history. Adding in his 36-16 record as head coach, Wooster has gone 73-29 during Schmitz’s entire tenure, marking the second-most winningest stretch in school history. Throughout the years, there have been a number of outstanding players to don the Black and Old Gold for the aforementioned coaches. In fact, there are 76 football players — more than any other sport — as well as five gridiron coaches in the "W" Association Hall of Fame. Former Wooster greats to put on the pads include Blake Moore, who went on to play professionally for the Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers; Bob Macoritti, who is tied for the all-time lead in field goals (18) and was invited to play in the Hula Bowl; Tom Dingle, who was the career leader in touchdowns (45); John Ramsier, who owns the single-game record for pass completions (34) and the single-season mark for passing yards (2036); Brian Grandison, who is the all-time leader in rushing with 4042 yards in his career; Brandon Good, who owns nearly every Scot reception record and; Seth Duerr, a three-time All-American at linebacker and the school’s career leader in tackles (432).
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