Dave McClain (coach)
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| Dave McClain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title | Head coach | |
| Sport | Football | |
| Born | 1938 | |
| Died | April 28, 1986 | |
| Career highlights | ||
| Overall | 92-67-6 | |
| Coaching stats | ||
| College Football DataWarehouse | ||
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||
| 1971-77 1978-85 |
Ball State Wisconsin |
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Dave McClain (1938 — April 28, 1986) was an American football coach. He was head coach at Ball State University from 1971 to 1977. During his seven seasons there, he compiled a 46-25-3 (.642) record [1]. During his tenure, Ball State joined Division I and the Mid-American Conference (MAC). He was the MAC Coach of the Year in 1975 [2]. The 1976 team captured the school's first MAC title in only its second year in the conference.
A native of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, McClain was a 1960 graduate of Bowling Green State University, where he played both quarterback and safety. He started his coaching career at Crestline, Ohio High School with an 8-1 record and then returned to Bowling Green as a graduate assistant in 1961, where he served as freshmen offensive coach. He then served as an assistant coach at Cornell University under Tom Harp in 1962; at Miami University under Bo Schembechler, 1963-66; at the University of Kansas under Pepper Rodgers, 1967-68; and at Ohio State University under Woody Hayes in 1969-70 before accepted the head coaching job at Ball State.
Following his successful run at Ball State, McClain was hired as the head football coach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he served from 1978 to 1985. During his tenure he compiled a 46-42-3 (.522) record, including a 1-2 record in post-season bowl games. He led the Badgers to back to back seven win seasons in 1981 and 1982.
He was the first coach in Badger football history to win the first four games of his head coaching tenure at Wisconsin. [3] He also recorded Wisconsin football's first post-season bowl victory, a 14-3 win over the Kansas State Wildcats in the 1982 Independence Bowl [4].
His coaching career was cut short when he died on April 28, 1986 of cardiac arrest. He was 48 years of age.
Following his death, he was inducted into the Bowling Green State University Athletic Hall of Fame. Also, the Dave McClain Athletic Facility was built at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in his memory. [5] In 1986, the Big Ten Conference dedicated its football Coach of the Year award in honor of McClain.
[edit] Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State Cardinals (Mid-American Conference) (1971 – 1977) | |||||||||
| 1971 | Ball State | 4-5-1 | |||||||
| 1972 | Ball State | 5–4-1 | |||||||
| 1973 | Ball State | 5–5-1 | |||||||
| 1974 | Ball State | 6-4 | |||||||
| 1975 | Ball State | 9-2 | 4-2 | T-3rd | |||||
| 1976 | Ball State | 8-3 | 4-1 | 1st | |||||
| 1977 | Ball State | 9-2 | 5-1 | 3rd | |||||
| Ball State: | 46-25-3 | 13-4 | |||||||
| Wisconsin Badgers (Big Ten Conference) (1978 – 1985) | |||||||||
| 1978 | Wisconsin | 5-4-2 | 3-4-2 | 6th | |||||
| 1979 | Wisconsin | 4-7 | 3-5 | T-7th | |||||
| 1980 | Wisconsin | 4-7 | 3-5 | T-6th | |||||
| 1981 | Wisconsin | 7-5 | 6-3 | T-3rd | L 21-28 Garden State Bowl | ||||
| 1982 | Wisconsin | 7-5 | 5-4 | 5th | W 14-3 Independence Bowl | ||||
| 1983 | Wisconsin | 7-4 | 5-4 | T-4th | |||||
| 1984 | Wisconsin | 7-4-1 | 5-3-1 | T-4th | L 19-20 All-American Bowl | ||||
| 1985 | Wisconsin | 5-6 | 2-6 | 8th | |||||
| Wisconsin: | 46-42-3 | 32-34-3 | |||||||
| Total: | 92-67-6 (.576) | ||||||||
| National Championship Conference Title Conference Division Title | |||||||||
| †Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll of the season. °Rankings from final AP Poll of the season. |
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[edit] External links
| Preceded by Wave Myers |
Ball State University Head Football Coach 1971–1977 |
Succeeded by Dwight Wallace |
| Preceded by John Jardine |
University of Wisconsin-Madison Head Football Coach 1978–1985 |
Succeeded by Jim Hilles |
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