# Fitchburg State Falcons football

The Fitchburg State Falcons football team represents Fitchburg State University in college football at the NCAA Division III level. The Falcons are members of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, fielding its team in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference since 2013. The Falcons play their home games at Elliot Field in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.
Fitchburg State is known for the longest college football losing streak at the time, which ended in 1989 after thirty-plus losses. The school was featured in many news sources, such as The New York Times, ESPN, and many local newspapers. Fitchburg State defeated Southeastern Massachusetts on October 14, 1989, by the score of 33–7. Thanks to notable plays by the defence, including a recovered fumble by Paul Camick a sophomore at the time, It was the first Fitchburg State win in over four years. In the ensuing celebrations at Fitchburg, five people were arrested.
On September 9, 2023, Taylor Crout became the first female football player to play a non-kicking position in an NCAA game at any level, which she did for the Falcons.
The Falcons’ head coach is Izzy Abraham, who took over the position for the 2024 season.

## Conference affiliations

* New England Football Conference (1986–2012)
* Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (2013–present)

## Championships
### Division championships

Fitchburg State claims 2 division titles, the most recent of which came in 2005.
| Year | Division | Coach | Overall Record | Conference Record | Opponent | CG result |
| 2004 | NEFC Bogan | Patrick Haverty | 8–4 | 6–0 | Curry | L 7–17 |
| 2005 | NEFC Bogan | Patrick Haverty | 8–3 | 6–0 | Curry | L 7–14 |

### Bowl games

Fitchburg State has participated in three bowl games, and has a record of 0–3.
| Season | Coach | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
| 2004 | Patrick Haverty | ECAC Bowl | Springfield | L 7–53 |
| 2005 | Patrick Haverty | ECAC Bowl | Bridgewater State | L 17–34 |
| 2015 | Patrick Haverty | ECAC Bowl | Alfred | L 10–11 |

## 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, and conference records :
| No. | Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% |
| 1 | Dave Secino | 1984–1989 | 53 | 4 | 49 | 0 | 0.058 | 2 | 24 | 0 | 0.058 |
| 2 | Vin Keough | 1990–1992 | 27 | 4 | 23 | 0 | 0.148 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 0.150 |
| 3 | Mike Woessner | 1993–1995 | 47 | 4 | 22 | 1 | 0.167 | 3 | 21 | 0 | 0.125 |
| 4 | Chris Nugai | 1996–1997 | 19 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 0.158 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 0.063 |
| 5 | Dave Flynn | 1998–2001 | 38 | 16 | 22 | 0 | 0.421 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 0.458 |
| 6 | Patrick Haverty | 2002–2006, 2011–2017 | 121 | 62 | 59 | 0 | 0.512 | 44 | 41 | 0 | 0.518 |
| 7 | Paul McGonagle | 2007–2010 | 39 | 12 | 27 | 0 | 0.308 | 10 | 18 | 0 | 0.357 |
| 8 | Jim McGuire | 2018–2019 | 20 | 4 | 16 | 0 | 0.200 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0.188 |
| 9 | Scott Sperone | 2021–2022 | 15 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0.067 | 0 | 10 | 0 | .000 |
| 10 | Mark Sullivan | 2022 (interim) | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 |
| 11 | Zach Shaw | 2023 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .000 |
| 12 | Izzy Abraham | 2024–present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 8 | 0 | – |

## Year-by-year results

| National champions | Conference 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 |
| Fitchburg State Falcons |||||||||||||||
| 1984 | 1984 | Dave Secino | NCAA | Division III | Independent | 0 | 9 | 0 | | | | | — | — |
| 1985 | 1985 | Dave Secino | NCAA | Division III | Independent | 1 | 7 | 0 | | | | | — | — |
| 1986 | 1986 | Dave Secino | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 0 | 9 | 0 | 11th | 0 | 9 | 0 | — | — |
| 1987 | 1987 | Dave Secino | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 0 | 8 | 0 | 6th (South Div.) | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — |
| 1988 | 1988 | Dave Secino | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 0 | 9 | 0 | 7th (South Div.) | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — |
| 1989 | 1989 | Dave Secino | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 3 | 7 | 0 | T–5th (South Div.) | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — |
| 1990 | 1990 | Vin Keough | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 2 | 7 | 0 | T–4th (South Div.) | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — |
| 1991 | 1991 | Vin Keough | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 2 | 7 | 0 | T–6th (South Div.) | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — |
| 1992 | 1992 | Vin Keough | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9th | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — |
| 1993 | 1993 | Mike Woessner | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 0 | 8 | 1 | 9th | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — |
| 1994 | 1994 | Mike Woessner | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 3 | 6 | 0 | 7th | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — |
| 1995 | 1995 | Mike Woessner | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 1 | 8 | 0 | 9th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — |
| 1996 | 1996 | Chris Nugai | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9th | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — |
| 1997 | 1997 | Chris Nugai | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 3 | 7 | 0 | 8th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — |
| 1998 | 1998 | Dave Flynn | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 3 | 7 | 0 | T–5th (Red Div.) | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — |
| 1999 | 1999 | Dave Flynn | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 6 | 4 | 0 | 3rd (Red Div.) | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — |
| 2000 | 2000 | Dave Flynn | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3rd (Bogan Div.) | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — |
| 2001 | 2001 | Dave Flynn | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 2 | 7 | 0 | 7th (Bogan Div.) | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — |
| 2002 | 2002 | Patrick Haverty | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3rd (Bogan Div.) | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — |
| 2003 | 2003 | Patrick Haverty | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4th (Bogan Div.) | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — |
| 2004 | 2004 | Patrick Haverty | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1st (Bogan Div.) | 6 | 0 | 0 | L North Atlantic Bowl | — |
| 2005 | 2005 | Patrick Haverty | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1st (Bogan Div.) | 6 | 0 | 0 | L Northeast Bowl | — |
| 2006 | 2006 | Patrick Haverty | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 4 | 5 | 0 | T–4th (Bogan Div.) | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — |
| 2007 | 2007 | Paul McGonagle | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 3 | 6 | 0 | T–5th (Bogan Div.) | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — |
| 2008 | 2008 | Paul McGonagle | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 4 | 6 | 0 | T–3rd (Bogan Div.) | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — |
| 2009 | 2009 | Paul McGonagle | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 4 | 6 | 0 | T–6th (Bogan Div.) | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | — |
| 2010 | 2010 | Paul McGonagle | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 1 | 9 | 0 | T–7th (Bogan Div.) | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — |
| 2011 | 2011 | Patrick Haverty | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 2 | 8 | 0 | 8th (Bogan Div.) | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — |
| 2012 | 2012 | Patrick Haverty | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 2 | 8 | 0 | 7th (Bogan Div.) | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — |
| 2013 | 2013 | Patrick Haverty | NCAA | Division III | NEFC | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — |
| 2014 | 2014 | Patrick Haverty | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–4th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — |
| 2015 | 2015 | Patrick Haverty | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 8 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | L Robert M. "Scotty" Whitelaw Bowl | — |
| 2016 | 2016 | Patrick Haverty | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 5 | 5 | 0 | T–6th | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — |
| 2017 | 2017 | Patrick Haverty | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 3 | 7 | 0 | T–7th | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — |
| 2018 | 2018 | Jim McGuire | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 2 | 8 | 0 | 7th | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — |
| 2019 | 2019 | Jim McGuire | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 2 | 8 | 0 | 8th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — |
| Season canceled due to Covid-19 |||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2021 | Scott Sperone | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 0 | 10 | 0 | 9th | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — |
| 2022 | 2022 | Scott Sperone (games 1–5) Mark Sullivan (games 6–10) | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9th | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — |
| 2023 | 2023 | Zach Shaw | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 0 | 10 | 0 | 9th | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — |
| 2024 | 2024 | Izzy Abraham | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 2 | 8 | 0 | 10th | 1 | 8 | 0 | — | — |