page_title: History of Maryland Terrapins football
section_title: Tom Nugent (1959–1965)
hierarchical_section_title: History of Maryland Terrapins football / Tom Nugent (1959–1965)
caption_attribution_description: English: Navy quarterback, Roger Staubach (#12), attempts a forward pass as Maryland defenders close in.
context_page_description: The Maryland Terrapins football team represents the University of Maryland, College Park in the sport of American football. The Terrapins compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. The Terrapins joined the Big Ten Conference on July 1, 2014, following 62 years in the Atlantic Coast Conference as a founding member. The Terrapins are currently coached by D. J. Durkin. Since 1950, the Terrapins have played their home games at Maryland Stadium in College Park, Maryland with occasional home games from time to time in Baltimore, making them one of two FBS football teams in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area and the closest Football Bowl Subdivision team to Washington, D.C. The team's official colors of red, white, black, and gold have been in use in some combination since the 1920s and are taken from Maryland's state flag, and the Terrapins nickname — often abbreviated as "Terps" — was adopted in 1933 after a turtle species native to the state.
context_section_description: At the first practice before the 1959 season, new Terps head football coach Tom Nugent addressed his team, "Hi, I'm Tom Nugent and I hate West Virginia." The Mountaineers were Maryland's first opponent of the season, and Nugent guided the Terrapins to a 27–7 victory in that game.
  In 1961, Nugent's Maryland team became the first college football program in the nation to put players' names on the back of their jerseys. That season, he led the Terrapins to the best season of his tenure and finished with a 7–3 record. The Terrapins also defeated seventh-ranked Syracuse, 22–21.
  Nugent amassed a 36–34 record during his tenure at Maryland. He remained the last Maryland coach to win his inaugural game with the team until Ralph Friedgen matched that feat in 2001.
  Under Nugent, in 1962, Maryland integrated its football team after Darryl Hill caught the eye of Maryland assistant coach Lee Corso. who had been encouraged by Nugent to find a black athlete to play for his team. Hill became not only the first African-American football player at Maryland but the first in the Atlantic Coast Conference and at any college or university in "the old South."
caption: Roger Staubach of Navy tosses a pass against Maryland, 1964.
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