Field Sansom Field Seating capacity 21,000 Arena/Stadium Johnson Hagood Stadium Division Division I (NCAA) Athletic director Jim Senter | Year built 1948 Field surface Natural Grass Conference Southern Conference Mascot Bulldog Colors Citadel Blue, White | |
 | ||
First season 1905 (112 years ago) (1905) Head coach Brent Thompson
1st year, 10–2 (.833) Marching band The Regimental Band and Pipes Profiles | ||
The Citadel Bulldogs Football represent The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I FCS. The Bulldogs play in the Southern Conference, as they have since 1936. The Bulldogs are coached by Brent Thompson, who was hired on January 19, 2016 to replace Mike Houston, who departed on January 18, 2016 for James Madison.
Contents
Facilities
The Bulldogs first recorded stadium was College Park, located in the northeast corner of Hampton Park in Charleston, South Carolina. This field predated the current College Park at the same site, which is used as a practice facility for The Citadel Bulldogs baseball. Due to increasing attendance and the poor state of the stadium, the Bulldogs moved to the original Johnson Hagood Stadium in 1927. This stadium was replaced with the current Johnson Hagood Stadium in 1948.
Home stadium
The Bulldogs play their home games in Johnson Hagood Stadium, which lies just to the south of The Citadel's gates in Charleston. Johnson Hagood is a 21,000 seat stadium, in which The Citadel routinely ranks in the top 25 in attendance at the FCS level. In 2001, the Altman Athletic Center opened in the south end zone, complete with new home and visitor's locker rooms, official's locker rooms, and an upstairs hospitality area for donors. In 2008, The Citadel completed a re-construction of the west stands and West Side Tower. The stands contain reserved premium seats and bleacher seats, while the tower, shared with the South Carolina National Guard, contains twelve suites, a club level, and state of the art press box. During preparation for construction, workers discovered the remains of sailors from failed test runs of the H.L. Hunley. These remains were reinterred in Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston.
Beginning in 2012, The Citadel implemented a points system for parking and seat selection in Johnson Hagood Stadium, joining many large programs who use similar systems. The program is designed to reward long-time and large donors to The Citadel athletics by giving them preference in selecting seat and parking locations.
In 2016, The Citadel determined that lead paint needed remediation on the east (visitor's) side of the stadium. The work resulted in the entire east side being closed for the first game of the 2016 season and some sections being opened for subsequent games. The capacity was thus 10,500 for the first game and about 15,000 for later games. The Board of Visitors decided to fully renovate the east side of the stadium, announcing that decision on December 2, 2016.
Practice and on-campus facilities
Practices are held at the Maybank Triplets Practice Facility, an artificial turf field at the north edge of campus. The Bulldogs utilize Seignious Hall, located across from McAlister Field House for weightlifting, locker rooms, team meeting and video space, and academic tutoring. The Citadel Sports Medicine Department also utilizes Seignious Hall.
Coaches and staff
Coaches from The Citadel have often been targeted for larger programs. Notable former head and assistant coaches at The Citadel include Bobby Ross, Charlie Taaffe, Ellis Johnson, Frank Beamer, Al Davis, and Ralph Friedgen.
Head Coaches
Current Staff
The current coaching staff at the Citadel is:
Conference championships
The Citadel has claimed 4 championships in the Southern Conference. The 2015 title was the first co-championship in school history.
Postseason appearances
Following the 1960 season, the Bulldogs played in the 1960 Tangerine Bowl defeating Tennessee Tech 27-0. Conference champion VMI did not participate in bowl games. The Bulldogs declined a bid to play in the 1961 Tangerine Bowl.
The Bulldogs appeared in the FCS Playoffs in 1988, 1990, 1992, 2015, and 2016, posting a 2–5 record. They lost in the first round twice to Georgia Southern and in the Quarterfinals to Youngstown State in 1992 after defeating North Carolina A&T in the first round. They defeated Coastal Carolina in the first round of the 2015 playoffs, and fell to Charleston Southern in the second round. In 2016, they fell in the second round to Wofford after earning a first round bye.
Rivalries
The Citadel's primary rivals are the VMI Keydets football and Furman Paladins football. The game with VMI is known as the Military Classic of the South. The Citadel and Furman have been heated, annual rivals since both joined the Southern Conference in 1936. The Citadel is 151-174-9 all-time against in-state opponents.
Record vs. Current SoCon opponents
Record vs instate opponents
Bulldogs in the Pros
Many Citadel alumni have played in various professional leagues, including the National Football League, Canadian Football League and Arena Football League. Sixteen players have been drafted in the NFL Draft and AFL Draft, and other players have signed as undrafted free agents. Likely the most famous Citadel alumni in professional football are Running back Stump Mitchell and broadcaster Paul Maguire. Currently, Andre Roberts is a member of the Detroit Lions and Cortez Allen recently played with the Pittsburgh Steelers for 5 seasons.
Individual honors
All-Americans
This list includes selected First Team All-Americans at The Citadel
Retired Jerseys
14 - Jack Douglas
15 - Lester Smith
35 - Stump Mitchell
51 - Brian Ruff
59 - Marc Buoniconti
66 - John Small
Future schedules
This represents the most recent verified future non-conference games. The upcoming season schedule can be found at 2017 The Citadel Bulldogs football team.