The VMI Keydets football team competes in the Southern Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Football Championship Subdivision, representing the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. Since its inception in 1891, the program has had 33 head coaches.
Although the origins of VMI football date back to 1873, the first organized football team did not appear until 1891. The first head coach was Walter Taylor, the son of Walter H. Taylor, a prominent banker, lawyer, and aide-de-camp to Robert E. Lee.Miller, John A. "Lee's Famous Staff Officer Walter Taylor Jr." Emmitsburg Area Historical Society. Retrieved June 24, 2014. Notable coaches include Blandy Clarkson, who spent seven seasons with the Keydets and led the team to their first undefeated season in 1920; John McKenna, the school's all-time most victorious coach who compiled a record of 62–60–8 in thirteen seasons with VMI while winning four Southern Conference championships; and Bob Thalman, the second most victorious coach who led the team to the 1974 and 1977 conference titles. The most recent Keydet head coach was Sparky Woods, who coached seven seasons for the Keydets before being let go by the school in 2014. In over 120 years of football, VMI has an all-time record of 485–718–42 (.406).
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Coaches + List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards # Name Season(s) GC W L T W% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT CCs NCs National awards 1 Walter Taylor 4 3 0 1 — — — — — — — — — — 2 George Bryant 13 8 5 0 — — — — — — — — — — 3 R. N. Groner 5 3 2 0 — — — — — — — — — — 4 Samuel Boyle, Jr. 7 5 2 0 — — — — — — — — — — 5 Sam Walker 21 11 7 3 — — — — — — — — — — 6 William Roper[ Bill Roper] – Hall of Fame Biography† 11 5 6 0 — — — — — — — — — — 7 Ira Johnson 16 6 9 1 — — — — — — — — — — 8 Charles Roller 13 8 5 0 — — — — — — — — — — 9 William C. Gloth 14 7 6 1 — — — — — — — — — — 10 Alpha Brummage 16 14 2 0 — — — — — — — — — — 11 Henry Poague 10 7 1 2 — — — — — — — — — — 12 Frank Gorton 26 14 16 1 — — — — — — — — — — 13 Earl Abell 9 4 4 1 — — — — — — — — — — 14 Earl AbellMose Goodman 4 1 3 0 — — — — — — — — — — 15 Red Fleming 8 6 2 0 — — — — — — — — — — 16 Blandy Clarkson 67 45 20 2 5 12 1 — — — — — — 17 W. C. Raftery 98 38 55 5 18 33 3 — — — — — — 18 Allison Hubert 96 43 45 8 29 24 7 — — — — — — 19 Arthur Morton 18 9 8 1 7 4 1 — — — — — — 20 Tom Nugent 39 19 18 2 15 6 1 — — — 1 — — 21 John McKenna 130 62 60 8 44 27 5 — — — 4 — — 22 Vito Ragazzo 51 10 41 0 5 18 0 — — — — — — 23 Bob Thalman 151 54 94 3 25 43 2 — — — 2 — — 24 Eddie Williamson 44 10 33 1 5 18 1 — — — — — — 25 Jim Shuck 55 14 40 1 6 37 1 — — — — — — 26 Bill Stewart 33 8 25 0 7 17 0 — — — — — — 27 Ted Cain 21 1 20 0 16 — — — — — — 28 Cal McCombs 79 19 60 9 35 — — — — — — 29 Jim Reid 22 3 19 0 8 — — — — — — 30 Sparky Woods 79 17 62 9 32 — — — — — — 31 Scott Wachenheim 86 24 62 16 46 — 1 — 1 — — 32 Danny Rocco — — — — — — — — 33 Ashley Ingram — — — — — — — —
Notes
References General 2013 VMI Football Record Book
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