The Dubuque Spartans football team represents the University of Dubuque in college football at the NCAA Division III level. The Spartans are members of the American Rivers Conference (ARC), fielding its team in the ARC since 1929 when it was the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC). The Spartans play their home games at Chalmers Field in Dubuque, Iowa.
Their head coach is Ryan Maiuri, who took over the position on December 28, 2023.
Conference affiliations Hawkeye College Conference (1914–1917) Independent (1918–1924) Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1929–2017; rebranded) American Rivers Conference (2018–present)
Championships Conference championships Dubuque claims 11 conference titles, the most recent of which came in 2015.
1915 Hawkeye College Conference 7–0 N/A John Chalmers 1916 5–1 N/A 1917 5–0–1 N/A 1940 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 7–1 7–0 Kenneth E. Mercer 1942 8–0 8–0 1948† 7–1 5–0 1978† 7–2 5–2 Don Birmingham 1979 9–1 7–0 1980 8–2–1 6–1 2011 9–2 7–1 Stan Zweifel 2015 8–3 7–0 † Co-champions
Postseason games
NCAA Division III playoff games The Spartans have appeared in the Division III playoffs four times with an overall record of 0–4. 1979 Don Birmingham Quarterfinals Ithaca L 0–37 1980 Quarterfinals Minnesota Morris L 35–41 2011 Stan Zweifel First round North Central (IL) L 13–59 2015 First round Saint John's (MN) L 7–51
List of head coaches Key
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 DC CC NC Awards 1 Benson 1909 7 4 2 1 – – – – – – – – – – – 2 John Saathoff 1912–1913 9 4 5 0 – – – – – – – – – – – 3 John Chalmers 1914–1924 67 41 21 5 – – – – – – – – – – – 4 Clarence Peterson 1929–1930 13 3 9 1 – – – – – – – – – – – 5 Austin Griffen 1931–1933 20 2 18 0 – – – – – – – – – – – 6 John McCaffrie 1934–1936 21 6 13 2 – – – – – – – – – – – 7 Paul Fitzke 1937–1938 90 8 5 3 – – – – – – – – – – – 8 Kenneth Mercer 1939–1942, 1945–1961 166 95 65 6 – – – – – – – – – – – 9 Owen Evans 1962–1968 62 24 33 5 – – – – – – – – – – – 10 Maury Waugh 1969–1974 56 16 21 2 – – – – – – – – – – – 11 Larry Pohlman 1975–1976 20 4 14 2 – – – – – – – – – – – 12 Don Birmingham 1977–1983 69 42 26 1 – – – – – – – – – – – 13 Myron Smith 1984–1986 31 5 26 0 – – – – – – – – – – – 14 Don Turner 1987–1989 31 13 18 0 – – – – – – – – – – – 15 Mike Messer 1990–1993 34 4 30 0 – – – – – – – – – – – 16 Don Caves (interim) 1993 8 2 6 0 – – – – – – – – – – – 17 Jim Collins 1994–1996 30 4 26 0 – – – – – – – – – – – 18 Mike Murray 1997–2000 49 4 45 0 – – – – – – – – – – – 19 Vince Brautigam 2001–2008 80 22 58 0 – – – – – – – – – – – 20 Stan Zweifel 2009–2023 141 85 56 0 – – – – – – – – – – – 20 Ryan Maiuri 2024–present 20 9 11 0 – – – – – – – – – – –
Year-by-year results National championsConference championsBowl game berthPlayoff berth SeasonYearHead coachAssociationDivisionConferenceRecordPostseasonFinal rankingOverallConferenceWinLossTieFinishWinLossTieDubuque Spartans 1909 1909BensonIAAUS—— 4 2 1 ——No team from 1910–1911 1912 1912John SaathoffNCAA—— 2 2 0 —— 1913 1913 2 3 0 —— 1914 1914John ChalmersHCC 1 1 0 —— 1915 1915 7 0 0 Conference champions— 1916 1916 5 1 0 Conference champions— 1917 1917 5 0 1 Conference champions— 1918 1918Independent 2 1 1 —— 1919 1919 6 1 0 —— 1920 1920 4 1 1 —— 1921 1921 4 2 1 —— 1922 1922 3 4 0 —— 1923 1923 3 4 1 —— 1924 1924 1 6 0 ——No team from 1925–1928 1929 1929Clarence PetersonNCAA—IIAC 1 4 1 0 20—— 1930 1930 2 5 0 0 50—— 1931 1931Austin Griffen 0 7 0 0 40—— 1932 1932 1 5 0 0 30—— 1933 1933 1 6 0 0 30—— 1934 1934John McCaffrie 2 3 1 0 21—— 1935 1935 3 4 0 2 20—— 1936 1936 1 6 1 0 60—— 1937 1937Paul Fitzke 3 4 1 3rd 3 11—— 1938 1938 5 1 2 4th 4 10—— 1939 1939Kenneth E. Mercer 4 4 0 4th 4 20—— 1940 1940 7 1 0 1st 7 00Conference champions— 1941 1941 6 1 1 3rd 6 11—— 1942 1942 8 0 0 1st 8 00Conference champions—No team from 1943–1944 1945 1945Kenneth E. MercerNCAA—IIAC 4 2 0 T-4th 2 20—— 1946 1946 5 4 0 5th 4 30—— 1947 1947 5 2 0 5th 4 10—— 1948 1948 7 1 0 T-1st 5 00Conference champions— 1949 1949 6 2 0 2nd 4 10—— 1950 1950 3 5 0 T-4th 1 40—— 1951 1951 3 4 0 T-2nd 3 20—— 1952 1952 4 4 0 2nd 3 10—— 1953 1953 4 3 0 3rd 2 20—— 1954 1954 4 3 1 3rd 4 11—— 1955 1955 2 5 0 6th 2 40—— 1956 1956College Division 3 3 2 T-5th 3 32—— 1957 1957 1 5 2 8th 1 52—— 1958 1958 5 4 0 T-4th 4 40—— 1959 1959 5 4 0 5th 4 40—— 1960 1960 4 4 0 5th 4 40—— 1961 1961 5 4 0 5th 4 40—— 1962 1962Owen Evans 2 7 0 8th 2 70—— 1963 1963 3 4 1 5th 3 41—— 1964 1964 3 5 1 T-5th 3 50—— 1965 1965 6 2 1 3rd 5 20—— 1966 1966 5 4 0 5th 3 40—— 1967 1967 1 6 2 7th 1 42—— 1968 1968 4 5 0 5th 3 40—— 1969 1969Maury Waugh 1 7 0 8th 0 70—— 1970 1970 2 7 0 6th 2 50—— 1971 1971 1 7 1 7th 0 61—— 1972 1972 5 4 1 4th 3 31—— 1973 1973Division III 5 4 1 4th 3 31—— 1974 1974 2 8 0 7th 1 60—— 1975 1975Larry Pohlman 3 5 2 3 40—— 1976 1976 1 9 0 1 60— — 1977 1977Don Birmingham 4 6 0 T-6th 2 50—— 1978 1978 7 2 0 T-1st 5 20Conference champions— 1979 1979 9 1 0 1st 7 00Playoff berth— 1980 1980 8 2 1 1st 6 10Playoff berth— 1981 1981 4 6 0 4th 4 30—— 1982 1982 6 3 0 4th 4 30—— 1983 1983 4 6 0 T-4th 3 40—— 1984 1984Myron Smith 3 7 0 2 50— — 1985 1985 0 10 0 0 0— — 1986 1986 2 9 0 2 60— — 1987 1987Don Turner 6 5 0 T-4th 4 40— — 1988 1988 3 7 0 T-6th 3 50— — 1989 1989 4 6 0 T-6th 3 50— — 1990 1990Mike Messer 2 7 0 — — 1991 1991 1 8 0 — — 1992 1992 1 9 0 — — 1993 1993Mike Messer (games 1–2) / Don Caves (remainder) 2 8 0 — — 1994 1994Jim Collins 1 9 0 8th 1 70— — 1995 1995 2 8 0 T-6th 2 60— — 1996 1996 1 9 0 9th 0 80— — 1997 1997Mike Murray 3 7 0 — — 1998 1998 0 10 0 — — 1999 1999 1 9 0 — — 2000 2000 0 10 0 — — 2001 2001Vince Brautigam 2 8 0 10th 1 80— — 2002 2002 1 9 0 10th 0 90— — 2003 2003 0 10 0 10th 0 80— — 2004 2004 2 8 0 T-8th 1 70— — 2005 2005 2 8 0 T-8th 1 70— — 2006 2006 6 4 0 T-3rd 5 30— — 2007 2007 7 3 0 T-3rd 5 30— — 2008 2008 2 8 0 8th 1 70— — 2009 2009Stan Zweifel 5 5 0 T-5th 4 40— — 2010 2010 4 6 0 6th 3 50— — 2011 2011 9 2 0 1st 7 10Playoff berth— 2012 2012 5 5 0 T-2nd 4 30— — 2013 2013 5 5 0 T-3rd 4 30— — 2014 2014 4 6 0 5th 3 40— — 2015 2015 8 3 0 1st 7 00Playoff berth— 2016 2016 8 2 0 T-2nd 6 30— — 2017 2017 6 4 0 T-4th 4 40— — 2018 2018A-R-C 7 3 0 T-2nd 6 20— — 2019 2019 7 3 0 3rd 6 20— —2020–212020–21100T-2nd100 2021 2021 6 4 0 4th 5 30—— 2022 2022 6 4 0 T-2nd 6 20—— 2023 2023 5 5 0 4th 5 30 —— 2024 2024Ryan Maiuri 5 5 0 4th 5 30— — 2025 2025 4 6 0 5th 4 40— —
Notes
References
External links