TIMELINE 1900-1919
1909 - Troy begins playing football with Vergil Parks McKinley serving as the first head coach. The team faced a variety of opponents in the early years, from community teams and high schools to universities. 1910 - The Association constructed an athletic field on the north side of the old college campus. Prior to this field, most “home” games were played at the old Orion Street playing field. Dan Herren served as head coach. 1911 - George Penton takes over as head coach and leads Troy to an 8-0-1 record over two seasons. 1913 - No records for teams from 1913-1920 due to World War I
1920s
1921 - The program resumes with Professor J.W. Campbell at the helm. 1924 - Ross V. “Flivver” Ford heads the program for a season. 1925 - Football was played on the current campus on the site of what is now Shackleford Hall. Otis Bynum takes over the program as head coach for the next two seasons. 1926 - Bynum leads Troy to a 7-1-1 record, the most wins in a season for the program until the 1967 team won eight. 1927 - All high schools and community teams are dropped from the football schedule. This was Troy’s first fully “intercollegiate” team, with Gladwin Gaumer, a professor at the college, as head coach. 1928 - Troy’s first night game was held against Maxwell Field, played at Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl. 1929 - The school does not field a team.
1930s
1931 - Former Alabama star Albert Elmore takes the reins as head football coach, and under Elmore, the program gained stability and organization. He helped form the Southern Intercollegiate Association and Dixie Conference. 1936 - Tickets for Troy home games cost 55 cents each, and the team has just 19 players. Six of the 19 were ineligible under freshman eligibility rules. 1938 - Troy joins the Alabama Intercollegiate Conference with Livingston, Jacksonville State, St. Bernard, Marion Institute and Snead College. Albert Choate takes over as head coach. 1939 - Troy wins the AIC championship by defeating arch-rival Jacksonville State, 27-0. The team was then known as the “Red Wave”, “Trojans” or “Teachers.” Pass-catching sensation Sherrill Busby, a 198-pound end, became Troy’s first All-American (AP) and NFL player (Brooklyn Dodgers).
2022 TROY FOOTBALL
1940s
1941 - Troy wins its second AIC championship, posting a 5-4 record. 1942 - Troy wins its third AIC championship in four years with a 4-3 record. The program was suspended after the season due to World War II. 1946 - Fielding the first team since World War II, led once again by Choate, the school records a 3-4 mark. 1947 - Buddy McCollum takes over as head coach, and the program won its 100th game. 1948 - Troy makes its first postseason appearance at the inaugural Paper Bowl in Pensacola. The Trojans were 6-4 in the regular season but lost 19-0 to Jacksonville State in the postseason.
1950s
1950 - The school’s home field is moved to its present site and becomes Memorial Stadium. It is so named in honor of the University’s students and Pike County citizens who died in World War II. Previously, the team played on the ground where Smith Hall now stands and in a field that now is the outfield of Riddle-Pace Field. 1951 - Jim Grantham becomes the program’s 11th head coach. 1955 - William Clipson becomes head coach. He is the first Troy alumnus to lead the program.
1960s
1960 - Moved from the Alabama Intercollegiate Conference to the Alabama Collegiate Conference 1966 - Billy Atkins takes over the program as head coach and leads it to heights previously unseen. His first team registers a 5-5 record. 1967 - Troy wins it first ACC championship compiling an 8-2 record. 1968 - Atkins leads the Red Wave to the NAIA national championship en route to an 11-1 mark. Troy topped Texas A&I, 43-35, in Montgomery, Ala., at Cramton Bowl before a then NAIA title game record crowd of 15,000. 1969 - Troy wins its third straight Alabama Collegiate Conference title with an 8-1-1 overall record.
1970s
1970 - Troy joins the Gulf South Conference as it moves up to NCAA Divison II. 1971 - Troy claimed the first Gulf South Conference crown, finishing with a 5-1 league mark and holding the tiebreaker over in-state rival Livingston (now West Alabama) by defeating the Tigers, 21-20, in the regular season. 1972 - Tom Jones becomes the program’s 14th head coach.
200
@TROYTROJANSFB | #RISETOBUILD
