The Muhlenberg Mules football team represents Muhlenberg College in college football at the NCAA Division III level. The team, known as the Muhlenberg Mules, have been members of the Centennial Conference since 1983. The Mules play their home games at Scotty Wood Stadium in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Muhlenberg Mules football program was founded in 1900.

The team's current head coach is Nate Milne, who took over the position beginning in the 2018 season.

Muhlenberg was known as the Cardinal and Grey until 1923, Cardinals from 1924 to 1928, and Mules 1929 onward.

History

1900 to 1945 In 1900, Muhlenberg launched its football program, which was the college's first varsity sport. In 1925, Haps Benfer became Muhlenberg head football coach, and the team finished the 1925 season 6-3-1.

From 1936 to 1945, Doggie Julian was head coach. He recorded a career record of 56–49–2. Julian was also head basketball coach during this time and, from 1942 to 1944, head baseball coach."Doggie Julian" at Coaches Database, retrieved October 2, 2022

1946 to 1997

In 1946, Ben Schwartzwalder became head football coach. In his first season, he guided the Mules to a 9–1 record and a national championship with Muhlenberg defeating St. Bonaventure University in the Tobacco Bowl. The following year, in the 1947 season, Schwartzwalder again led the Mules to a 9–1 record; the season's only loss came by one point, in a 7–6 loss at Temple. The Mules declined an invitation that season to appear in the Tangerine Bowl. In 1949, Schwartzwalder departed to coach Syracuse.

1997 to 2018 Mike Donnelly became the head football coach in 1997. Despite a 1–9 inaugural season, Donnelly turned the team around; from 2000 to 2004, the Mules won five straight Centennial Conference championships and earned five straight postseason berths. In 2007, the Mules again won the Centennial Conference and received another berth in the NCAA playoffs, winning their first-round game before falling in the second round. Donnelly's team won the Centennial Conference again in 2008 and earned a playoff berth, but lost in the playoff's first round. In 2010, they returned to the playoffs with the same result.

Since the 2000 season, Muhlenberg has compiled a 66–28 overall record in the Centennial Conference, second best among all active and former members behind only Johns Hopkins University. Seven times in the 2000s, the Muhlenberg football team won the Centennial Conference championship.

2018 to present

Nate Milne became Muhlenberg's head football coach in the 2018 season. He has a 35–5 record over his first three seasons."Nate Milne" at Muhlenberg Sports, retrieved October 2, 2022 In 2019, he was named AFCA Coach of the Year Award for NCAA Division III.

Conference affiliation Independent (1900–1925) Eastern Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference (1926–1942) Independent (1943–1957) Middle Atlantic Conferences (1958–1982) Centennial Conference (1983–present)

Former NFL players Since the start of the Muhlenberg football program in 1900, at least three Muhlenberg players have gone on to play in the National Football League: Sisto Averno, 1950 to 1954 with the Baltimore Colts, Dallas Texans, and New York Yanks Charlie Copley, 1920 to 1922 with the Akron Pros and Milwaukee Badgers Tony Zuzzio, 1942, Detroit Lions

List of head coaches

Coaches + List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards No. Name Season(s) GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT CC 1 Charles Schmidt 1900 5 1 3 1 – – – – – – – – 2 Walter Beck 1901 4 1 2 1 – – – – – – – – 3 William Grey 1902 7 0 4 3 – – – – – – – – 4 Walter Singmaster 1905 6 2 3 1 – – – – – – – – 5 Alfred Raub 1906 9 5 4 0 – – – – – – – – 6 George Barclay 1907 10 7 3 0 – – – – – – – – 7 Alfred E. Bull 1908–1910 24 8 12 4 – – – – – – – – 8 Thomas Kelley 1911–1913 27 17 9 1 – – – – – – – – 9 George McCaa 1914–1915 19 6 11 2 – – – – – – – – 10 John B. Price 1916–1917 17 10 4 3 – – – – – – – – 11 Guy Brubaker 1918 5 3 2 0 – – – – – – – – 12 Bill Ritter 1919–1920 18 6 11 1 – – – – – – – – 13 Johnny Spiegel 1921–1922 21 11 8 2 – – – – – – – – 14 Walter W. Wood 1923–1924 20 10 9 1 – – – – – – – – 15 Haps Benfer 1925–1928 38 19 18 1 6 5 0 – – – 1 16 George Holstrom 1929–1933 48 20 25 3 8 10 2 – – – 2 17 John Utz 1934–1935 19 3 15 1 0 7 1 – – – 0 18 Doggie Julian 1936–1944 89 42 46 1 15 8 1 – – – 3 19 Larry Rosati 1945 5 0 5 0 – – – – – – – – 20 Ben Schwartzwalder 1946–1948 30 25 5 0 – – – – – – – – 21 Howard Baughman 1949–1950 17 4 11 2 – – – – – – – – 22 Tom Triplett 1951–1955 41 14 25 2 – – – – – – – – 23 Ray Whispell 1956–1969 121 50 69 2 27 45 2 – – – 0 24 Frank P. Marino 1970–1980 99 53 40 6 51 46 6 – – – 0 25 Ralph Kirchenheiter 1981–1989 85 52 32 1 42 22 1 – – – 2 26 Francis Meagher 1990–1993 39 10 28 1 9 19 0 – – – 0 27 Greg Olejack 1994–1996 30 3 26 1 2 18 1 – – – 0 28 Mike Donnelly 1997–2017 225 148 77 0 109 52 0 2 5 0 7 29 Nate Milne 2018–present 85 69 16 0 45 10 0 8 4 0 3

Year-by-year results National championsConference championsBowl game berthPlayoff berth SeasonYearHead coachAssociationDivisionConferenceRecordPostseasonFinal rankingOverallConferenceWinLossTieFinishWinLossTieMuhlenberg Mules 1900 1900Charles Schmidt——Independent 1 3 1 —— 1901 1901Walter Beck 1 2 1 —— 1902 1902William Grey 0 4 3 ——No team from 1903 to 1904 1905 1905Walter Singmaster——Independent 2 3 1 —— 1906 1906Alfred RaubIAAUS 5 4 0 —— 1907 1907George Barclay 7 3 0 —— 1908 1908Alfred E. Bull 2 5 1 —— 1909 1909 3 4 2 —— 1910 1910NCAA 3 3 1 —— 1911 1911Thomas Kelley 5 4 0 —— 1912 1912 6 3 0 —— 1913 1913 6 2 1 —— 1914 1914George McCaa 2 6 2 —— 1915 1915 4 5 0 —— 1916 1916John B. Price 5 3 1 —— 1917 1917 5 1 2—— 1918 1918 Guy Brubaker 3 2 0—— 1919 1919 Bill Ritter 3 5 0—— 1920 1920 3 6 1 —— 1921 1921Johnny Spiegel 7 2 1 —— 1922 1922 4 6 1 —— 1923 1923Walter W. Wood 3 6 1 —— 1924 1924 7 3 0 —— 1925 1925Haps Benfer 6 3 1 —— 1926 1926Eastern Pennsylvania 7 3 0 1st 3 0 0—— 1927 1927 5 4 0 3rd 2 2 0—— 1928 1928 1 8 0 T–4th 1 3 0—— 1929 1929George Holstrom 3 6 0 4th 1 3 0—— 1930 1930 5 4 1 T–2nd 2 1 1—— 1931 1931 2 8 0 5th 0 4 0—— 1932 1932 3 4 2 T–1st 2 1 1—— 1933 1933 6 3 0 T–1st 3 1 0—— 1934 1934John Utz 2 6 1 5th 0 3 1—— 1935 1935 1 9 0 5th 0 4 0—— 1936 1936Doggie Julian 2 6 1 T–3rd 1 2 1—— 1937 1937 5 5 0 T–2nd 2 2 0—— 1938 1938 7 3 0 T–1st 3 1 0—— 1939 1939 6 4 0 2nd 2 1 0—— 1940 1940 4 6 0 2nd 2 1 0—— 1941 1941 6 4 0 T–1st 2 1 0—— 1942 1942 7 3 0 1st 3 0 0—— 1943 1943Independent 1 10 0 —— 1944 1944 4 5 0 —— 1945 1945Larry Rosati 0 5 0 —— 1946 1946Ben Schwartzwalder 9 1 0 —— 1947 1947 9 1 0 —— 1948 1948 7 3 0 —— 1949 1949Howard Baughman 1 7 1 —— 1950 1950 3 4 1 —— 1951 1951Tom Triplett 1 8 0 —— 1952 1952 2 5 1 —— 1953 1953 3 5 0 —— 1954 1954 4 3 1 —— 1955 1955 4 4 0 —— 1956 1956Ray WhispellCollege Division 4 4 0 —— 1957 1957 4 4 0 —— 1958 1958MAC 4 4 0 8th (University) 1 20—— 1959 1959 3 6 0 8th (University) 1 20—— 1960 1960 6 3 0 8th (University) 1 20—— 1961 1961 2 7 0 8th (University) 0 40—— 1962 1962 2 7 0 7th (University) 0 40—— 1963 1963 5 3 0 2nd (College–Southern) 4 10—— 1964 1964 5 4 0 3rd (College–Southern) 5 30—— 1965 1965 1 8 0 9th (College–Southern) 1 80—— 1966 1966 2 6 1 7th (College–Southern) 2 61—— 1967 1967 2 5 1 9th (College–Southern) 2 51—— 1968 1968 6 3 0 3rd (College–Southern) 6 30—— 1969 1969 4 5 0 6th (College–Southern) 4 50——19701970Frank P. Marino7202nd (Southern)720—— 1971 1971 5 4 0 8th (Southern) 5 40—— 1972 1972 1 8 0 T–8th (Southern) 1 70—— 1973 1973Division III 7 1 1 3rd (Southern) 7 11—— 1974 1974 2 7 0 7th (Southern) 2 60—— 1975 1975 2 6 2 7th (Southern) 2 52—— 1976 1976 5 3 1 4th (Southern) 5 31—— 1977 1977 6 3 0 4th (Southern) 5 30—— 1978 1978 6 2 1 4th (Southern) 5 21—— 1979 1979 4 3 1 T–4th (Southern) 5 31—— 1980 1980 8 1 0 2nd (Southern) 7 10—— 1981 1981Ralph Kirchenheiter 3 5 0 8th (Southern) 3 50—— 1982 1982 4 5 0 5th (Southern) 4 40—— 1983 1983Centennial 6 3 0 T–1st 5 20Conference co-champions— 1984 1984 6 3 0 3rd 5 20—— 1985 1985 7 3 0 3rd 5 20—— 1986 1986 7 3 0 T–1st 6 10Conference co-champions— 1987 1987 7 3 0 T–2nd 5 20—— 1988 1988 7 3 0 3rd 5 20—— 1989 1989 5 4 1 3rd 4 21—— 1990 1990Francis Meagher 2 8 0 8th 1 60—— 1991 1991 3 7 0 T–4th 3 40—— 1992 1992 1 8 1 8th 1 60—— 1993 1993 4 5 0 T–3rd 4 30—— 1994 1994Greg Olejack 2 8 0 7th 1 60—— 1995 1995 0 9 1 8th 0 61—— 1996 1996 1 9 0 7th 1 60—— 1997 1997Mike Donnelly 1 9 0 7th 1 60—— 1998 1998 5 5 0 5th 3 40—— 1999 1999 6 4 0 T–3rd 3 40—— 2000 2000 9 2 0 T–2nd 5 20W ECAC Southwest Bowl— 2001 2001 7 4 0 T–1st 5 10L ECAC Southeast Bowl— 2002 2002 10 2 0 T–1st 5 10L NCAA Division III Second Round— 2003 2003 7 3 0 T–1st 5 10Conference co-champions— 2004 2004 8 3 0 T–1st 4 20Conference co-champions— 2005 2005 3 7 0 T–5th 2 40—— 2006 2006 5 5 0 T–5th 2 40—— 2007 2007 11 1 0 1st 8 00L NCAA Division III Second Round8 2008 2008 9 2 0 1st 7 10L NCAA Division III First Round25 2009 2009 3 7 0 T–7th 2 60—— 2010 2010 7 4 0 T–1st 7 20L NCAA Division III First Round— 2011 2011 7 3 0 2nd 7 20—— 2012 2012 8 3 0 2nd 7 20L ECAC South Atlantic Bowl— 2013 2013 8 3 0 2nd 7 20L ECAC South Atlantic Bowl— 2014 2014 9 2 0 2nd 8 20L NCAA Division III First Round23 2015 2015 8 3 0 T–2nd 7 20L Centennial-MAC Bowl Series— 2016 2016 9 2 0 2nd 8 10L Centennial-MAC Bowl Series— 2017 2017 8 3 0 T–3rd 6 30W Asa S. Bushnell Bowl— 2018 2018Nate Milne 11 2 0 T–1st 8 10L NCAA Division III Quarterfinal9 2019 2019 13 1 0 1st 9 00L NCAA Division III Semifinal7No team in 2020 due to COVID-19. 2021 2021Nate MilneNCAADivision III Centennial 11 2 0 T–1st 8 10L NCAA Division III Quarterfinal7 2022 2022 7 4 0 3rd 6 30W Centennial-MAC Bowl Series— 2023 2023 10 1 0 2nd 510W Centennial-MAC Bowl Series22202420248303rd420W Centennial-MAC Bowl Series—202520259303rd520L NCAA Division III Second Round—

Gallery

Notes

References

External links