# Bridgewater State Bears football

The Bridgewater State Bears football team represents Bridgewater State University in college football at the NCAA Division III level. The Bears are members of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC), fielding its team in the MASCAC since 2013. The Bears play their home games at Swenson Field in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.
Their head coach is Joe Verria, who took over the position for the 2016 season.

## History

Known as Bridgewater Normal, the team played throughout the 1890s and 1920s before being disbanded in 1925. In 1959, athletic director and basketball coach Ed Sweeney announced that football would return as a varsity sport after students voluntarily taxed themselves seven dollars per year to fund the restart of the team.
The team began play in 1960 with a four game schedule.

## Conference affiliations

* NAIA independent (1960–1964)
* New England Football Conference (1965–2012)
* Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (2013–present)

## Championships
### Conference championships

Bridgewater State claims 7 conference titles, the most recent of which came in 2023.
| Year | Conference | Overall Record | Conference Record | Coach |
| 1989 | New England Football Conference | 9–1 | 6–0 | Peter Mazzaferro |
| 1992 | New England Football Conference | 9–1–1 | 8–0 | Peter Mazzaferro |
| 1997† | New England Football Conference | 7–3 | 7–1 | Peter Mazzaferro |
| 1999 | New England Football Conference | 10–1 | 6–0 | Peter Mazzaferro |
| 2000 | New England Football Conference | 8–3 | 5–1 | Peter Mazzaferro |
| 2016 | Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference | 8–3 | 8–0 | Joe Verria |
| 2023† | Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference | 7–3 | 7–1 | Joe Verria |
† Co-champions

### Division championships

Bridgewater State claims 7 division titles, the most recent of which came in 2008.
| Year | Division | Coach | Overall Record | Conference Record | Opponent | CG result |
| 1989 | NEFC South | Peter Mazzaferro | 9–1 | 6–0 | Maine Maritime | W 14–10 |
| 1990 | NEFC South | Peter Mazzaferro | 8–2 | 6–0 | Plymouth State | L 7–26 |
| 1991 | NEFC South | Peter Mazzaferro | 8–2 | 6–0 | UMass Lowell | L 7–10 |
| 1998† | NEFC Red | Peter Mazzaferro | 7–3 | 5–1 | N/A lost tiebreaker to Maine Maritime | N/A lost tiebreaker to Maine Maritime |
| 1999 | NEFC Red | Peter Mazzaferro | 10–1 | 6–0 | No championship game held | No championship game held |
| 2000† | NEFC Bogan | Peter Mazzaferro | 8–3 | 5–1 | Salve Regina | W 27–24 |
| 2008† | NEFC Bogan | Chuck Denune | 7–3 | 6–1 | N/A lost tiebreaker to Maine Maritime | N/A lost tiebreaker to Maine Maritime |
† Co-champions

## Postseason games
### NCAA Division III playoff games

Bridgewater State has appeared in the Division III playoffs four times, with an overall record of 0–4.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
| 1999 | First Round | Ursinus | L, 38–43 |
| 2000 | First Round | Hobart | L, 0–25 |
| 2012 | First Round | Widener | L, 14–44 |
| 2016 | First Round | Alfred | L, 27–33 |

### Bowl games

Bridgewater State has participated in nine bowl games, and has a record of 4–5.
| Season | Coach | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
| 1989 | Peter Mazzaferro | ECAC Bowl | Alfred | L 27–30 |
| 1992 | Peter Mazzaferro | ECAC Bowl | RPI | L 25–28 |
| 2005 | Chuck Denune | ECAC Bowl | Fitchburg State | W 34–17 |
| 2006 | Chuck Denune | ECAC Bowl | Coast Guard | W 41–22 |
| 2007 | Chuck Denune | ECAC Bowl | Plymouth State | L 21–24 |
| 2011 | Chuck Denune | ECAC Bowl | Alfred | L 10–41 |
| 2015 | Chuck Denune | ECAC Bowl | Carnegie Mellon | L 13–48 |
| 2018 | Joe Verria | New England Bowl | Salve Regina | W 34–19 |
| 2022 | Joe Verria | New England Bowl | Catholic | W 34–24 |

## List of head coaches
### Key

Key to symbols in coaches list :
| General | General | Overall | Overall | Conference | Conference | Postseason | Postseason |
| No. | Order of coaches | 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 | C% | Conference winning percentage | | |
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage | | | | |

### 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 | Ed Swenson | 1960–1967 | 47 | 14 | 33 | 0 | 0.298 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | Peter Mazzaferro | 1968–1986, 1988–2004 | 339 | 195 | 137 | 7 | 0.586 | 148 | 82 | 0 | 0.643 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 0 | – |
| 3 | Jim Crowley | 1987 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0.444 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.600 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 4 | Chuck Denune | 2005–2015 | 112 | 75 | 37 | 0 | 0.670 | 55 | 24 | 0 | 0.696 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 5 | Joe Verria | 2016–present | 63 | 37 | 26 | 0 | 0.587 | 48 | 24 | 0 | 0.667 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | – |

## Year-by-year results

| National champions | Conference champions | Division champions | Bowl game berth | Playoff berth |
| Season | Year | Head Coach | Association | Division | Conference | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Postseason | Final ranking |
| Season | Year | Head Coach | Association | Division | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | | | Postseason | Final ranking |
| Season | Year | Head Coach | Association | Division | Conference | Win | Loss | Tie | Finish | Win | Loss | Tie | Postseason | Final ranking |
| Bridgewater State Bears |||||||||||||||
| 1960 | 1960 | Ed Swenson | NAIA | — | NAIA Independent | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1961 | 1961 | Ed Swenson | NAIA | — | NAIA Independent | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1962 | 1962 | Ed Swenson | NAIA | — | NAIA Independent | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1963 | 1963 | Ed Swenson | NAIA | — | NAIA Independent | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1964 | 1964 | Ed Swenson | NAIA | — | NAIA Independent | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1965 | 1965 | Ed Swenson | NCAA | College Division | NEFC | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1966 | 1966 | Ed Swenson | NCAA | College Division | NEFC | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1967 | 1967 | Ed Swenson | NCAA | College Division | NEFC | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1968 | 1968 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | College Division | NEFC | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1969 | 1969 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | College Division | NEFC | 3 | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1970 | 1970 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | College Division | NEFC | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1971 | 1971 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | College Division | NEFC | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1972 | 1972 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | College Division | NEFC | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5th | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — |
| 1973 | 1973 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 5 | 5 | 0 | T–3rd | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — |
| 1974 | 1974 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–5th | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — |
| 1975 | 1975 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 7 | 3 | 0 | T–4th | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — |
| 1976 | 1976 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 6 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — |
| 1977 | 1977 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 6 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd | 5 | 3 | 0 | | — |
| 1978 | 1978 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 3 | 6 | 0 | 7th | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — |
| 1979 | 1979 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 3 | 5 | 1 | 8th | 3 | 5 | 1 | — | — |
| 1980 | 1980 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 5 | 3 | 1 | T–4th | 5 | 3 | 1 | — | — |
| 1981 | 1981 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 3 | 6 | 0 | T–7th | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | — |
| 1982 | 1982 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4th | 5 | 3 | 1 | — | — |
| 1983 | 1983 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 4 | 5 | 0 | T–5th | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | — |
| 1984 | 1984 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 2 | 7 | 0 | T–7th | 2 | 7 | 0 | — | — |
| 1985 | 1985 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3rd | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | — |
| 1986 | 1986 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4th | 6 | 1 | 2 | — | — |
| 1987 | 1987 | Jim Crowley | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 4 | 5 | 0 | T–2nd (South) | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — |
| 1988 | 1988 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 5 | 4 | 0 | T–4th (South) | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — |
| 1989 | 1989 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1st (South) | 6 | 0 | 0 | L ECAC North Bowl | — |
| 1990 | 1990 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1st (South) | 6 | 0 | 0 | Division champions | — |
| 1991 | 1991 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1st (South) | 6 | 0 | 0 | Division champions | — |
| 1992 | 1992 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1st | 8 | 0 | 0 | L ECAC Northeast Bowl | — |
| 1993 | 1993 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 5 | 5 | 0 | T–3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — |
| 1994 | 1994 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–3rd | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — |
| 1995 | 1995 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — |
| 1996 | 1996 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 5 | 5 | 0 | T–5th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — |
| 1997 | 1997 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 7 | 3 | 0 | T–1st | 7 | 1 | 0 | Conference Champions | — |
| 1998 | 1998 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1st (Red) | 7 | 1 | 0 | Conference Champions | — |
| 1999 | 1999 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1st (Red) | 6 | 0 | 0 | L NCAA Division III First Round | — |
| 2000 | 2000 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 8 | 3 | 0 | T–1st (Bogan) | 5 | 1 | 0 | L NCAA Division III First Round | — |
| 2001 | 2001 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3rd (Bogan) | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — |
| 2002 | 2002 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 4 | 5 | 0 | 4th (Bogan) | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — |
| 2003 | 2003 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3rd (Bogan) | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — |
| 2004 | 2004 | Peter Mazzaferro | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 6 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd (Bogan) | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — |
| 2005 | 2005 | Chuck Denune | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2nd (Bogan) | 5 | 1 | 0 | W ECAC Northeast Bowl | — |
| 2006 | 2006 | Chuck Denune | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2nd (Bogan) | 6 | 1 | 0 | W ECAC North Atlantic Bowl | — |
| 2007 | 2007 | Chuck Denune | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2nd (Bogan) | 5 | 2 | 0 | L ECAC North Atlantic Bowl | — |
| 2008 | 2008 | Chuck Denune | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 7 | 3 | 0 | T–1st (Bogan) | 6 | 1 | 0 | Division champions | — |
| 2009 | 2009 | Chuck Denune | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 7 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd (Bogan) | 5 | 2 | 0 | — | — |
| 2010 | 2010 | Chuck Denune | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 5 | 5 | 0 | T–5th (Bogan) | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — |
| 2011 | 2011 | Chuck Denune | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 7 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd (Bogan) | 5 | 2 | 0 | L ECAC Northeast Bowl | — |
| 2012 | 2012 | Chuck Denune | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2nd (Bogan) | 6 | 1 | 0 | L NCAA Division III First Round | — |
| 2013 | 2013 | Chuck Denune | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — |
| 2014 | 2014 | Chuck Denune | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 4 | 6 | 0 | T–6th | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — |
| 2015 | 2015 | Chuck Denune | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 7 | 4 | 0 | T–2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | L ECAC Legacy Bowl | — |
| 2016 | 2016 | Joe Verria | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1st | 8 | 0 | 0 | L NCAA Division III First Round | — |
| 2017 | 2017 | Joe Verria | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 2 | 8 | 0 | T–7th | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — |
| 2018 | 2018 | Joe Verria | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 8 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | W New England Bowl | — |
| 2019 | 2019 | Joe Verria | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — |
| Season canceled due to Covid-19 |||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2021 | Joe Verria | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — |
| 2022 | 2022 | Joe Verria | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 7 | 4 | 0 | T–2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | W New England Bowl | — |
| 2023 | 2023 | Joe Verria | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | | | | | | | | — | — |

## Notable former players

* Christopher Dijak – Professional wrestler
* Joe Domingos – Former head coach for Massachusetts Maritime
* Paul Melicharek – Former defensive lineman
* Andrae Murphy – Current head coach for Dean, former defensive back and linebacker
* Joe Verria – Current head coach for Bridgewater State, former defensive tackle