Buffalo Football: A Brief History

Buffalo Bulls:

First Season: 1894

Head Coach: Jeff Quinn (2 seasons, 8-26)

All-Time Record: 360-478-28

Bowl Record: 0-1 (International Bowl)

Playing Field: University of Buffalo Stadium (Capacity of 30,000)

Conference Affiliations:

• Independent: 1894-1903, 1915-1925, 1935-1942, 1946-1970, 1977-1998
• No Team: 1904-1914, 1943-1945, 1971-1976
• New York State Conference: 1926-1934
• Mid-American Conference: 1999-Current

Attendance:  15,425 (5-year average)

Claimed National Titles: None

Conference Titles: 1

• 2008 Mid-American Conference

Record Versus Rivals (10+ meetings):

• Akron: 4-9
• Bowling Green: 3-7
• Connecticut: 5-14
• Kent State: 9-10
• Miami OH: 3-12
• Ohio: 7-12
• Temple: 7-4

Year-By-Year Record:

• 1890s: 19-4-4
• 1900s: 10-10-3
• 1910s: 13-18-3
• 1920s: 16-49-5
• 1930s: 23-49-4
• 1940s: 39-18-2
• 1950s: 43-39-2
• 1960s: 52-39-4
• 1970: 2-9-1
• 1971: No team
• 1972: No team
• 1973: No team
• 1974: No team
• 1975: No team
• 1976: No team
• 1977: 0-3-1
• 1978: 3-6
• 1979: 4-5
• 1980: 6-5
• 1981: 5-5
• 1982: 5-5
• 1983: 8-2
• 1984: 6-4
• 1985: 4-6
• 1986: 9-2
• 1987: 3-7
• 1988: 2-8
• 1989: 4-6
• 1990: 2-8
• 1991: 3-7
• 1992: 4-6
• 1993: 1-10
• 1994: 3-8
• 1995: 3-8
• 1996: 8-3
• 1997: 2-9
• 1998: 4-7
• 1999: 0-11
• 2000: 2-9
• 2001: 3-8
• 2002: 1-11
• 2003: 1-11
• 2004: 2-9
• 2005: 1-10
• 2006: 2-10
• 2007: 5-7
• 2008: 8-6
• 2009: 5-7
• 2010: 2-10
• 2011: 3-9
• 2012: 4-8

Coaching/Team History:

The Buffalo Bulls have a long history of college football despite starting and stopping on multiple occasions. The Bulls started in 1894 and did not have a head coach for 8 of the first 9 years of the program. Ray Turnbull led the program in 1903 to a 4-4 record before the Buffalo program folded for the first time.

After going from 1904-1914 with no program, the Bulls brought in Frank Mount Pleasant to head the program. He only lasted one season going 4-3 in 1915. With Pleasant leaving after one season of restarting the program, the Bulls hired Art Powell who ended up being the first coach in school history to last more than one season. Powell lasted 6 seasons with the Bulls going 13-17-5 during his six seasons running the program.

Buffalo again struggled to hired a coach wanting to stay as Jim Batterson and James Bond both lasted one season before moving on to other opportunities. The Bulls then hired Russ Carrick who lasted 5 years as head coach struggling to a 5-31-2. Carrick left after the 1928 season.

After Carrick's departure, the Bulls saw Jay Lee, Bill Pritchard, James Wilson, and George Van Bibber all take command of the program from 1929-1935 with none lasting any more than two seasons. Lee was the only coach to lead the Bulls to a winning record during that time going 5-2 in 1929.

Wanting some stability within the program, Buffalo hired Jim Peelle as their new head coach with Peelle lasting 9 seasons with the program even holding the program together while the team disbanded during World War II. The Bulls went 38-34-1 during that time with Peelle.

After nine seasons with the same head coach, Buffalo struggled again for stability again with Frank Clair (2 seasons, 12-4-1), James Wilson again (2 seasons, 9-7), and Fritz Febel (3 seasons, 4-19-1) all coaching the program during that time period. After Febel leaving the program following the 1954 season, Buffalo hired Dick Offenhamer as head coach.

Offenhamer ended up being one of the most successful coaches in school history with a 58-37-5 overall record with Buffalo including 7 winning seasons during his 11 years with the Bulls. The Bulls went 16-2 during the 1958 and 1959 seasons.

Offenhamer left after the 1965 season leaving the program in the hands of Richard Urich and then Bob Deming who combined for a 26-24 overall record between the two with Deming struggling to a 2-9 record in 1970.

After the 1970 season, the Buffalo football program was disbanded yet again with no football program associated with the school from 1971-1976. After the 1976 season, Buffalo brought back football in 1977 with coach Bill Dando taking the reins. Dando will always be known as the coach that brought the Bulls back to football but struggled during his 13 years with the program. Dando had great years in 1983 (8-2) and 1986 (9-2) but failed to win any more than 6 games during the rest of his tenure with the program. Dando left Buffalo after going 4-6 in 1989.

Needing a replacement for Dando, Buffalo hired CFL assistant Sam Sanders who struggled significantly during his 2-year stint with the Bulls. The Bulls went 2-8 in 1990 and 3-7 in 1991 before being let go after the 1991 season. Buffalo decided to stay in-house hiring offensive coordinator Jim Ward who also struggled with the Bulls going 8-24 in three seasons with Buffalo before being let go.

With two consecutive disappointments in the hiring department, the Bulls went to the Big Ten hiring Penn State assistant Craig Cirbus. Cirbus struggled to a 3-8 record in his first year with the program before turning around to an 8-3 record in 1996. After the high of the 1996 season, Cirbus went downhill with 4 straight losing seasons including losing 20 of his final 22 games coaching the program. Cirbus was let go after the 2000 season.

Desperately wanting to become more successful, Buffalo hired Syracuse assistant Jim Hofher to take the place of Craig Cirbus. In a huge disappointment, Hofher was nothing short of a disaster leading the Buffalo program going 8-49 in 5 seasons with three seasons of double digit losses and losing 19 of his last 22 games coached for the program. Hofher was let go after the 2005 season.

With very little success since reactivating the football program in 1977, Buffalo again tried an unproven head coach to lead the program. The Bulls struggled to a 2-10 season in 2006 before improving to 5-7 in 2007 and 8-6 in 2008 capped by a MAC east division title and MAC conference title. The Bulls lost in their only bowl game, falling 38-20 to Connecticut. After dropping back to 5-7 in 2009, Gill moved on to Kansas leaving a gap at the top for Buffalo.

Needing to replace Gill, Buffalo hired Jeff Quinn who had no head coaching experience except for being the interim head coach for Central Michigan and Cincinnati in bowl games. Quinn has struggled running the program but has improved by one win per season, going from 2 wins in 2010 to 3 wins in 2011 and 4 wins in 2012. Quinn enters his fourth season as Buffalo head coach with a 9-27 overall record but an improving team.

All-Americans:

• 1961 John Stofa, QB East-West All-American Game
• 1962 Gerry Philbin, OT/DT North-South All-American Game
• 1966 Gerald LaFountain, DE Associated Press
• 1981 Marty Barrett, QB AP Small College Honorable Mention
• 1982 Bernie Weber, K CoSIDA Small College 2nd Team
• 1983 John Bernard, DB Pizza Hut Div. III 1st Team
• 1983 Marty Barrett, QB Pizza Hut Div. III 2nd Team AP Small College Honorable Mention
• 1983 Chris D’Amico, WR Pizza Hut Div. III 3rd Team
• 1984 Gerry Quinlivan, LB Kodak Small College 1st Team AP Small College 1st Team College Div. Academic 1st Team Pizza Hut Div. III Honorable Mention
• 1984 Andy Hurley, DB Pizza Hut Div. III, 3rd Team
• 1985Jim Dunbar, C College Div. Academic 1st Team Pizza Hut Div. III Honorable Mention
• 1985 Mike Laipple, LB AP Small College Honorable Mention Pizza Hut Div. III Honorable Mention
• 1985 Dave May, DT Pizza Hut Div. III Honorable Mention
• 1986 Jim Dunbar, C College Div. Academic 1st Team
• 1986 Doug Majeski, OT Football News Div. III 1st Team
• 1986 Steve Nappa, DB Pizza Hut Div. III 1st Team
• 1986 Mike Laipple, LB Pizza Hut Div. III 2nd Team
• 1986 O.D. Underwood, RB Pizza Hut Div. III 3rd Team AP Small College Hon. Mention
• 1987 Steve Wojciechowski, LB Kodak Small College 1st Team
• 1988 Jon Williams, DB Pizza Hut Div. III Honorable Mention
• 1990 Chaz Ahmed, WR Pizza Hut Div. III Honorable Mention
• 1995 Pete Conley, LB Football Gazette 1st Team
• 1995 Craig Guest, LB Football Gazette, Hon. Mention
• 1996 Mike Chichester, DB Football Gazette 1st Team
• 1996 Craig Guest, LB Football Gazette 3rd Team
• 1996 Edward Ellis, OT Football Gazette Honorable Mention
• 1996 Anthony Swan, RB Football Gazette Honorable Mention
• 1997 Drew Haddad, WR Football Gazette Honorable Mention
• 1997 Chad Salisbury, QB Football Gazette Honorable Mention
• 1997 Ted McDuffie, FS Football Gazette Honorable Mention
• 1997 Keith Hansen, NG Football Gazette Honorable Mention
• 1998 Drew Haddad, WR Football Gazette Honorable Mention
• 1998 Joe Hattendorf, OT Football Gazette Honorable Mention
• 1998 Dan Poulsen GTE Academic All-American
• 2007 Jamey Richard, C Pro Football Weekly Honorable Mention
• 2008 Naaman Roosevelt, WR Sports Illustrated Honorable Mention
• 2008 James Starks, RB Sports Illustrated Honorable Mention
• 2011 Khalil Mack, LB Sports Illustrated Honorable Mention

NFL Players:

• James Ailinger 1925-28 OL Buffalo All-Americans
• Matt Ferrentino 1947-50 OL/LB Toronto Argonauts
• Les Molnar 1947-50 OT/DT Dallas Texans
• Bob Leipler 1948, 50 OT/DT Toronto Argonauts
• William Rudick 1946-48 HB/LB Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• Gerry Philbin 1961-63 DE New York Jets
• John Stofa 1961-63 QB Miami Dolphins/Cincinnati Bengals
• Don Gilbert 1962-64 HB Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• Edgar Greenard Poles 1963-66 LB Edmonton Eskimos
• Larry Gergley 1961-63 LB Orlando Panthers
• Ron Pugh 1963-65 DE Orlando Panthers
• Ted Gibbons 1965-67 DT Toronto Argonauts
• Tom Hurd 1965-67 DB Orlando Panthers
• Ed Ellis 1993-96 OL New England/Washington/San Diego/NY Giants
• Craig Guest 1993-96 LB New York Jets/Buffalo Bills
• Anthony Swan 1994-97 WR/DB Buffalo Destroyers
• Hardy Mitchell 1994-97 OL/DL Grand Rapids Rampage/LV Gladiators
• Chad Salisbury 1997-98 QB Chicago Rush/Grand Rapids Rampage
• Drew Haddad 1996-99 WR Indianapolis /Buffalo/San Diego
• Josh Roth 1996-99 FB Buffalo Bills/Kansas City Chiefs
• Noah Burroughs 1999-00 DB NY Jets/Jacksonville Jaguars
• David Pruce 1997-00 OT New England Patriots/Buffalo Bills
• Bob Dzvonick 1998-01 DT Pittsburgh Steelers
• Omari Jordan 2000-01  DT Carolina Panthers
• Chad Bartoszek 1999-02 TE Indianapolis Colts
• Andre Forde 1999-02 WR Chicago Bears
• Mark Graham 2000-03 DB Buffalo Bills
• Dahnel Singfield 1998-02 DB NY Dragons/Las Vegas Gladiators/Utah Blaze
• Adam Johnson 2001-03 TE/LS Carolina/Kansas City/Tampa Bay
• Gemara Williams 2002-05 DB New England Patriots
• Rob Schroeder 2002-05 DT Hamilton Tiger Cats/Austin Wranglers/Orlando Predators
• Ramon Guzman 2002-06 LB Indianapolis Colts/Montreal Alouettes*
• Chad Upshaw 2003-06 TE Carolina Panthers
• James Judges 2004-07  DL Montreal Alouettes
• Jamey Richard 2004-07 C Indianapolis Colts/New England Patriots*
• Trevor Scott 2004-07 DE Oakland Raiders/New England Patriots*
• Ronald Hilaire 2005-08 DL Calgary Stampeders
• Drew Willy 2005-08 QB Ravens/Colts/Jets/ Saskatchewan Roughriders*
• James Starks 2006-08 RB Green Bay Packers*
• Naaman Roosevelt 2006-09 WR Buffalo Bills*
• Mike Newton 2006-09 DB Indianapolis Colts*
• Bruno Lapointe 2007-08 DL Saskatchewan Roughriders
• Josh Thomas 2007-10 DB Dallas Cowboys/Carolina Panthers*
• Davonte Shannon 2007-10 DB Washington Redskins
• Domonic Cook 2007-10 DB Buffalo Bills
• Marcus Rivers 2008-11 WR Green Bay Packers