Dubuque Spartans football
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First season1909
Athletic directorDan Runkle
Head coachRyan Maiuri
2nd season, 9–11 (.450)
2nd season, 9–11 (.450)
StadiumChalmers Field
(capacity: 4,000)
(capacity: 4,000)
| Dubuque Spartans football | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First season | 1909 |
| Athletic director | Dan Runkle |
| Head coach | Ryan Maiuri 2nd season, 9–11 (.450) |
| Stadium | Chalmers Field (capacity: 4,000) |
| Location | Dubuque, Iowa |
| NCAA division | Division III |
| Conference | ARC |
| All-time record | 387–498–29 (.439) |
| Conference championships | |
| 11 | |
| Colors | Blue and white[1] |
| Mascot | Spartan |
| Website | udspartans.com |
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.[2]
Their head coach is Ryan Maiuri, who took over the position on December 28, 2023.[3]
- Hawkeye College Conference (1914–1917)
- Independent (1918–1924)
- Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1929–2017; rebranded)
- American Rivers Conference (2018–present)[4]
Championships
Conference championships
Dubuque claims 11 conference titles, the most recent of which came in 2015.
| Year | Conference | Overall Record | Conference Record | Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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.
| Season | Coach | Playoff | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
| General | Overall | Conference | Postseason[A 1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Order of coaches[A 2] | GC | Games coached | CW | Conference wins | PW | Postseason wins |
| DC | Division championships | OW | Overall wins | CL | Conference losses | PL | Postseason losses |
| CC | Conference championships | OL | Overall losses | CT | Conference ties | PT | Postseason ties |
| NC | National championships | OT | Overall ties[A 3] | C% | Conference winning percentage | ||
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage[A 4] | ||||
Coaches
| No. | Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DC | CC | NC | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benson[8] | 1909 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0.643 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | John Saathoff[8] | 1912–1913 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0.444 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 3 | John Chalmers[9] | 1914–1924 | 67 | 41 | 21 | 5 | 0.649 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4 | Clarence Peterson[8] | 1929–1930 | 13 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 0.269 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | Austin Griffen[8] | 1931–1933 | 20 | 2 | 18 | 0 | 0.100 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6 | John McCaffrie[10] | 1934–1936 | 21 | 6 | 13 | 2 | 0.333 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | Paul Fitzke[11] | 1937–1938 | 90 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0.594 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8 | Kenneth Mercer[12] | 1939–1942, 1945–1961 | 166 | 95 | 65 | 6 | 0.590 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 9 | Owen Evans[8] | 1962–1968 | 62 | 24 | 33 | 5 | 0.427 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10 | Maury Waugh[13] | 1969–1974 | 56 | 16 | 21 | 2 | 0.436 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 11 | Larry Pohlman[14] | 1975–1976 | 20 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 0.250 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 12 | Don Birmingham[15] | 1977–1983 | 69 | 42 | 26 | 1 | 0.616 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 13 | Myron Smith[8] | 1984–1986 | 31 | 5 | 26 | 0 | 0.161 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 14 | Don Turner[16] | 1987–1989 | 31 | 13 | 18 | 0 | 0.419 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 15 | Mike Messer[17] | 1990–1993 | 34 | 4 | 30 | 0 | 0.118 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 16 | Don Caves (interim) | 1993 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0.250 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 17 | Jim Collins[18] | 1994–1996 | 30 | 4 | 26 | 0 | 0.133 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 18 | Mike Murray[19] | 1997–2000 | 49 | 4 | 45 | 0 | 0.082 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 19 | Vince Brautigam[20] | 2001–2008 | 80 | 22 | 58 | 0 | 0.275 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 20 | Stan Zweifel[21] | 2009–2023 | 141 | 85 | 56 | 0 | 0.603 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 20 | Ryan Maiuri | 2024–present | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 0.450 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Year-by-year results
| National champions | Conference champions | Bowl game berth | Playoff berth |
| Season | Year | Head coach | Association | Division | Conference | Record | Postseason | Final ranking | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Conference | |||||||||||||
| Win | Loss | Tie | Finish | Win | Loss | Tie | ||||||||
| Dubuque Spartans | ||||||||||||||
| 1909 | 1909 | Benson | IAAUS | — | — | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | — | ||||
| No team from 1910–1911 | ||||||||||||||
| 1912 | 1912 | John Saathoff | NCAA | — | — | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1913 | 1913 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1914 | 1914 | John Chalmers | HCC | 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 | 1918 | Independent | 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 | 1929 | Clarence Peterson | NCAA | — | IIAC | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | |
| 1930 | 1930 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | |||||
| 1931 | 1931 | Austin Griffen | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1932 | 1932 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | |||||
| 1933 | 1933 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | |||||
| 1934 | 1934 | John McCaffrie | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | ||||
| 1935 | 1935 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | |||||
| 1936 | 1936 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | |||||
| 1937 | 1937 | Paul Fitzke | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3rd | 3 | 1 | 1 | — | — | |||
| 1938 | 1938 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4th | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1939 | 1939 | Kenneth E. Mercer | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4th | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1940 | 1940 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 7 | 0 | 0 | Conference champions | — | ||||
| 1941 | 1941 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3rd | 6 | 1 | 1 | — | — | ||||
| 1942 | 1942 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1st | 8 | 0 | 0 | Conference champions | — | ||||
| No team from 1943–1944 | ||||||||||||||
| 1945 | 1945 | Kenneth E. Mercer | NCAA | — | IIAC | 4 | 2 | 0 | T-4th | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — |
| 1946 | 1946 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 5th | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1947 | 1947 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 5th | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1948 | 1948 | 7 | 1 | 0 | T-1st | 5 | 0 | 0 | Conference champions | — | ||||
| 1949 | 1949 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2nd | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1950 | 1950 | 3 | 5 | 0 | T-4th | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1951 | 1951 | 3 | 4 | 0 | T-2nd | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1952 | 1952 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2nd | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1953 | 1953 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3rd | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1954 | 1954 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3rd | 4 | 1 | 1 | — | — | ||||
| 1955 | 1955 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 6th | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1956 | 1956 | College Division | 3 | 3 | 2 | T-5th | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | |||
| 1957 | 1957 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 8th | 1 | 5 | 2 | — | — | ||||
| 1958 | 1958 | 5 | 4 | 0 | T-4th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1959 | 1959 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 5th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1960 | 1960 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1961 | 1961 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 5th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1962 | 1962 | Owen Evans | 2 | 7 | 0 | 8th | 2 | 7 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1963 | 1963 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5th | 3 | 4 | 1 | — | — | ||||
| 1964 | 1964 | 3 | 5 | 1 | T-5th | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1965 | 1965 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3rd | 5 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1966 | 1966 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 5th | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1967 | 1967 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 7th | 1 | 4 | 2 | — | — | ||||
| 1968 | 1968 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5th | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1969 | 1969 | Maury Waugh | 1 | 7 | 0 | 8th | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1970 | 1970 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 6th | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1971 | 1971 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 7th | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | — | ||||
| 1972 | 1972 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4th | 3 | 3 | 1 | — | — | ||||
| 1973 | 1973 | Division III | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4th | 3 | 3 | 1 | — | — | |||
| 1974 | 1974 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 7th | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1975 | 1975 | Larry Pohlman | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1976 | 1976 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — | |||||
| 1977 | 1977 | Don Birmingham | 4 | 6 | 0 | T-6th | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1978 | 1978 | 7 | 2 | 0 | T-1st | 5 | 2 | 0 | Conference champions | — | ||||
| 1979 | 1979 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 7 | 0 | 0 | Playoff berth | — | ||||
| 1980 | 1980 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1st | 6 | 1 | 0 | Playoff berth | — | ||||
| 1981 | 1981 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 4th | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1982 | 1982 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 4th | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1983 | 1983 | 4 | 6 | 0 | T-4th | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1984 | 1984 | Myron Smith | 3 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1985 | 1985 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | ||||||
| 1986 | 1986 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — | |||||
| 1987 | 1987 | Don Turner | 6 | 5 | 0 | T-4th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1988 | 1988 | 3 | 7 | 0 | T-6th | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1989 | 1989 | 4 | 6 | 0 | T-6th | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1990 | 1990 | Mike Messer | 2 | 7 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 1991 | 1991 | 1 | 8 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1992 | 1992 | 1 | 9 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1993 | 1993 | Mike Messer (games 1–2) / Don Caves (remainder) | 2 | 8 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 1994 | 1994 | Jim Collins | 1 | 9 | 0 | 8th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1995 | 1995 | 2 | 8 | 0 | T-6th | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1996 | 1996 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9th | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1997 | 1997 | Mike Murray | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 1998 | 1998 | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1999 | 1999 | 1 | 9 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2000 | 2000 | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2001 | 2001 | Vince Brautigam | 2 | 8 | 0 | 10th | 1 | 8 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2002 | 2002 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 10th | 0 | 9 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2003 | 2003 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10th | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2004 | 2004 | 2 | 8 | 0 | T-8th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2005 | 2005 | 2 | 8 | 0 | T-8th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2006 | 2006 | 6 | 4 | 0 | T-3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2007 | 2007 | 7 | 3 | 0 | T-3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2008 | 2008 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 8th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2009 | 2009 | Stan Zweifel | 5 | 5 | 0 | T-5th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2010 | 2010 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 6th | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2011 | 2011 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1st | 7 | 1 | 0 | Playoff berth | — | ||||
| 2012 | 2012 | 5 | 5 | 0 | T-2nd | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2013 | 2013 | 5 | 5 | 0 | T-3rd | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2014 | 2014 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 5th | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2015 | 2015 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1st | 7 | 0 | 0 | Playoff berth | — | ||||
| 2016 | 2016 | 8 | 2 | 0 | T-2nd | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2017 | 2017 | 6 | 4 | 0 | T-4th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2018 | 2018 | A-R-C | 7 | 3 | 0 | T-2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2019 | 2019 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3rd | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2020–21 | 2020–21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | T-2nd | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 2021 | 2021 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 4th | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2022 | 2022 | 6 | 4 | 0 | T-2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2023 | 2023 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4th | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2024 | 2024 | Ryan Maiuri | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4th | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2025 | 2025 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 5th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
