Kent State Golden Flashes football

Kent State Golden Flashes football
2011 Kent State Golden Flashes football team
First season	1920
Athletic director	Joel Nielsen
Head coach	Darrell Hazell
	1st year, 5–7  (.417)
Home stadium	Dix Stadium
Year built	1969
Stadium capacity	20,500
Stadium surface	FieldTurf
Location	Kent, Ohio
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	East
Past conferences	Ohio Athletic Conference
All-time record	311–498–28 (.388)
Postseason bowl record	0–2
Conference titles	1
Consensus All-Americans	39
Current uniform
Colors	Blue and Gold
Marching band	Marching Golden Flashes
Rivalries	Akron Zips
Website	KentStateSports.com

The Kent State Golden Flashes football team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. The team is a member of the Mid-American Conference East division, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A). The Golden Flashes played their first game in 1920 and since 1969 have played their home games at Dix Stadium. Darrell Hazell, the former assistant head coach at Ohio State, was hired as head coach in 2010.

History

The team was founded in 1920 and played their first game against Ashland College, a 6-0 loss under coach Paul Chandler. Kent State would record their first win that year, but it would be in the form of a forfeit. The team would not record their first true victory until November 14, 1925, a 7-6 win over West Liberty State College. Outside the forfeited win in 1920, Kent State would fail to score in their first 14 games, posting a record of 0-13-1 before finally putting points on the board in a 7-6 loss to West Liberty in 1923. During that streak, Kent State would suffer the worst loss in school history, a 118-0 loss to Baldwin-Wallace College, also in 1923. Following the 7-6 loss to West Liberty, a new shutout streak began which lasted 8 games, in which the Flashes, then known as the "Silver Foxes" went 0-6-2. The streak began with the second most lopsided loss in school history, an 82-0 loss to Slippery Rock. The streak finally ended with a 6-6 tie with the Indiana (PA) Normal School in 1925, the game which preceded Kent State's first true victory. Kent State posted their first winning season in 1928, going 4-2-2.

Ohio Athletic Conference

Kent State would join the Ohio Athletic Conference beginning in the 1931 season, playing in the OAC through the 1950 season except for the 1943-1945 seaons, which were cancelled due to American involvement in World War II. Under coach G. Donald Starn, who coached Kent State from 1935-1942, the Flashes would begin to taste success, posting winning seasons in 1938 (6-2), 1940 (8-1), and 1942 (5-3). During their time in the OAC, the Flashes never won a conference title, but did finish second in 1940 with a 4-0 conference record. The team finished third in both 1948 and 1949 going 3-0 and 2-0 respectively in conference play.

Coach Trevor Rees

In 1946, the program was revived after the conclusion of World War II under coach Trevor Rees, who would coach the Flashes to their first era of consistent success. During his tenure, which lasted 18 seasons, the Flashes would post winning seasons in all but 5 of them. In 1950, the team opened their first true stadium, Memorial Stadium, by defeating Marietta College 57-0. The next season saw the Golden Flashes join the Mid-American Conference. Rees would guide the team to its first bowl appearance in the 1954 Refrigerator Bowl. Rees coached Kent State from 1946-1963, posting a record of 92-63-5 (.591).

MAC Championship

East stands (student section) in a 2008 game at Dix Stadium against the Ohio Bobcats.

In 1971, Don James took over as head coach. Under James, and with notable players such as Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee and former Pittsburgh Steelers middle linebacker Jack Lambert, current Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban, and current Missouri Tigers football coach Gary Pinkel, Kent State was finally able to celebrate its first—and so far only—Mid-American Conference title in 1972 followed by a trip to the 1973 Tangerine Bowl. James would coach at Kent State four seasons (1971-1974), posting an overall record of 25-19-1 (.567) which included a 9-2 record in 1973. James left after the 1974 season to accept the head coaching job at the University of Washington, where he would ultimately win the 1991 national championship.

Inconsistencies

Following the departure of Don James, the team's fortunes began to decline. Although James' successor Dennis Fitzgerald, who coached for three seasons (1975–77), was able to lead the team to a 8–4 record and second-place MAC finish in 1976 and a winning 1977 season, by 1979 the team was once again at the bottom of the MAC, going 1–10. From 1975–1993 Kent State went had 7 different coaches with no coach lasting beyond three seasons. Also during that time period, the Flashes had three winless seasons and two 1-win seasons. Glen Mason was hired in 1986 and in his two seasons in Kent posted two consecutive 2nd place MAC finishes including a 7-4 overall mark in 1987, the Flashes' first winning season since 1977. Former Flashes standout Jim Corrigall began in 1994 and became the first coach since Don James to coach more than three seasons, though he lasted only four. Dean Pees was hired in 1998 and suffered through the Flashes' most recent winless season (0–11 in 1998) before leading the team to a slow recovery. In 2001 Kent State posted their first winning season since 1987 when they were led by quarterback Joshua Cribbs to a 6–5 overall record, 5–3 in the MAC. Pees would leave Kent State after the 2003 season to take a job with the New England Patriots; Pees is now the linebackers coach for the Baltimore Ravens. Head coach Doug Martin began his tenure in 2004. His best season was the 2006 season, which saw Kent State go 6–6 overall and 5–3 in the MAC, finishing second in the East division. Kent State began the 2010 season with hopes of contending for a MAC title, but early losses at Miami and Toledo ended any hope for a title. The team did record its first-ever sell-out at Dix Stadium on October 9 when a crowd of 24,211 watched the Flashes defeat the arch-rival Akron Zips 28–17 to reclaim the Wagon Wheel. In the days following a 38–3 loss at Western Michigan, which dropped the team's record to 4–7 and 3–4, Doug Martin announced his resignation, effective at the conclusion of the season. The team responded with a 28–6 upset win over the first-place Ohio Bobcats at Dix Stadium to finish with a record of 5–7 overall and 4–4 in the MAC. Martin finished his tenure with a record of 29–53 (.354) overall and 21–35 (.375) in the MAC. Darrell Hazell, an assistant coach at Ohio State, was hired December 20, 2010, as the team's 20th head coach.

Notable players

West stands in a 2008 game at Dix Stadium against the Ohio Bobcats.

Despite the overall lack of success in the program, Kent State has produced a number of standouts including several prominent figures in college football, the Canadian Football League and in the National Football League.

College football

• Lou Holtz, former head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and South Carolina Gamecocks
• Gary Pinkel, current head football coach of the Missouri Tigers
• Nick Saban, current football head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide

Canadian Football League

• Jim Corrigall, former Toronto Argonauts player and member of Canadian Football Hall of Fame
• Jim Goss, former Ottawa Rough Riders player

United Football League

• Shawn Bayes, Hartford Colonials

National Football League

40 Kent State alumni have either played in or are currently playing in the National Football League—although as noted below, not all of them played football at the school.

Former players

• Jack Lambert, former Pittsburgh Steelers player and member of Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Don Nottingham, former player for Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Colts
• O.J. Santiago, former tight end for the Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots

Current players

Eight former Kent State football players are currently on active NFL rosters, and two other current NFL players are Kent State alumni. In 2007, two former Flashes football players and a former Flashes basketball player were named to the Pro Bowl. Current NFL players from Kent State include:

Former Golden Flashes football players

• Joshua Cribbs, Cleveland Browns
• Julian Edelman, New England Patriots
• Abram Elam, Dallas Cowboys
• James Harrison, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Daniel Muir, Indianapolis Colts
• Rico Murray, Cincinnati Bengals
• Jack Williams, Denver Broncos
• Usama Young, Cleveland Browns
• Jameson Konz, Seattle Seahawks

Other Kent State products in the NFL

• Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers — played basketball at KSU
• Jermail Porter, Kansas City Chiefs — an All-American wrestler at KSU

Retired numbers

Kent State Golden Flashes retired numbers
Josh Cribbs QB, 2001–04	Eric Wilkerson RB, 1985–88	Jim Corrigall DE, 1967–69	Jack Lambert LB, 1971–73

Future Non-Conference Opponents

2012	2013	2014	2015
vs Towson	vs Liberty	vs South Alabama	at Illinois
at Kentucky	at Clemson	at Ohio State	vs Coastal Carolina
at Rutgers	at Penn State	at Virginia
at Army	at South Alabama	vs Army