Roy Lester E . Roy Lester ( born c . 1923 ) is an American former college and high school football coach . As head coach of Richard Montgomery High School , his teams compiled an 86 – 10 – 1 record and six undefeated seasons . After a successful career at the high school level , he served as the head coach of the University of Maryland football team from 1969 to 1971 . Lester was the school ' s fourth head coach in five years , and compiled a 7 – 25 record during his tenure . He was fired after the 1971 season when Maryland finished at the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference for the second consecutive year . Lester returned to coach interscholastic football at Paint Branch High School and Magruder High School . His teams won three Maryland state championships . Lester attended West Virginia University where he was a three - sport athlete and earned letters in football , baseball , and basketball . He was inducted into the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 . Early life . Lester grew up in Spencer , West Virginia and attended college at West Virginia University , where he lettered in football , basketball , and baseball . In basketball , he played as a center and recorded 27 points in 21 games during his career . In baseball , he played as an outfielder from 1947 to 1949 , and as a senior recorded 53 hits and a . 339 batting average . He played college football as an end in 1948 and participated in the 1949 Sun Bowl . Lester was named to the West Virginia 1940 – 1949 Team . Record Book Supplement ( PDF ) , " 2009 West Virginia Football Media Guide " , West Virginia University , 2009 . He graduated in 1949 with a degree in political science . In 1949 , Lester played football for the Paterson Panthers of the American Association , a farm team of the Philadelphia Eagles . High school and assistant coach . In 1950 , Lester began his coaching career at Walton High School in Walton , West Virginia from 1950 to 1951 . The following season , he moved on to Allegany High School in Cumberland , Maryland . From 1956 to 1958 , Lester served under Tommy Mont as the University of Maryland ' s ends coach and freshman team coach for three seasons . Lester served the head football coach at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville , Maryland from 1959 to 1968 . During his tenure , Richard Montgomery compiled an 86 – 10 – 1 record , which included six undefeated seasons . R . Montgomery To Honor Lester , The Washington Post , September 20 , 2002 . In a time before Maryland hosted high school football playoffs , Lester ' s teams were considered some of the best in the state . At the end of his stint at Richard Montgomery in 1968 , he held a 25 - game winning streak , and his 1968 team was ranked third in the nation . Future NFL linebacker Mike Curtis was among the players under Lester at Richard Montgomery . Maryland . In 1969 , Lester was hired as Maryland ' s fourth head coach in five years . His embattled predecessor , Bob Ward , had been forced out in the face of a player rebellion and a combined 2 – 17 record . Lester had previously twice applied for the Maryland head coach position . The " Daytona Beach Morning Journal " speculated that Lester ' s undisclosed salary probably matched that of Ward : $ 20 , 000 . Lester reintroduced the split - T formation at Maryland , which Jim Tatum had used to great effect there in the 1950s . Lester ' s philosophy was explained by the Maryland sports information director Jack Zane : " the pass should open up the defense for the running game . " In the sixth game of his first season , Maryland ' s starting quarterback , junior Dennis O ' Hara , was injured in a loss at South Carolina , and was replaced by sophomore Jeff Shugars . In the season ' s penultimate game , Maryland lost to Penn State , 48 – 0 . Penn State halfback Lydell Mitchell had been recruited by Lester and originally intended to go to Maryland before he opted for Penn State instead . Lester was bothered by a similar situation with fullback Franco Harris , whose high school coach was a friend of Lester ' s . Lester attributed Maryland ' s football woes to the turnover at head coach and lack of depth because of recruitment shortcomings . Maryland won the finale against Virginia to finish the season with a 3 – 7 record . In 1970 , Lester ' s Terrapins finished with a 2 – 9 record . After an upset loss in the season opener against Villanova , 21 – 3 , Lester shuffled the roster . He switched the positions of eight players , which included Tom Miller from fullback to linebacker . The season prior , Miller had gained 629 yards , the second - most ever by a Maryland sophomore . After losing their first five games , Maryland beat South Carolina on Homecoming weekend , 21 – 15 , which prompted Maryland fans to tear down the goalposts in celebration . In the 25 - mile per hour winds , the Terrapins capitalized on the Gamecocks ' poor punting game , which included one blocked punt . Two weeks later , Maryland was beaten by Clemson , which scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to win , 24 – 11 . With the loss , Maryland slid to a 1 – 7 record , and Lester said he was giving serious consideration to stepping down before the next season . He said , " If I ' m not doing the proper job I ' m willing to relinquish the job . I took this loss very personally . " In 1971 , some observers considered Maryland , which returned 37 lettermen , to be the dark horse in the Atlantic Coast Conference ( ACC ) . Lester said he expected a winning season and that " a lot of people may be surprised . " However , the Terrapins dropped the season opener to underdog Villanova once again , 28 – 13 . " Star - News " called it the most stunning of five upsets in the ACC teams ' opening weekend , rating it ahead of NC State ' s loss to Kent State , Virginia ' s loss to Navy , South Carolina ' s win against Georgia Tech , and Duke ' s win against Florida . Maryland won the following week against NC State , but then dropped five straight before beating the Virginia Military Institute on Homecoming . Maryland closed the season with losses to Penn State , Clemson , and Virginia to again finish with a 2 – 9 record . Lester was fired at the conclusion of the 1971 season . Athletic director Jim Kehoe cited Maryland ' s worst record in the ACC for two consecutive years and stated his goal of making Maryland a " nationally ranked caliber " team . Kehoe also said , " financial factors are a serious consideration , " and that home game attendance had fallen to its lowest point , which threatened the financial well - being of the athletic department . Lester was replaced by Jerry Claiborne , who later went on to considerable success in the position . In September 1973 , Maryland All - American guard Paul Vellano , then playing under Claiborne , said of the past coaches ' difficulties : " A lot of the kids said that Ward was a good coach but that he had a lot of bad apples . Lester was a high school coach and nobody had ever heard of him . I can ' t understand it . We had nine freshman who were All - Americans my first year here under Lester . Maybe if they had let him stay he could have done the job . One of Lester ' s lasting contributions was the recruitment of future Maryland and NFL star Randy White . At the end of his tenure , Lester had a combined collegiate coaching record of 7 – 25 . Return to high school coaching . In 1972 , Lester returned to the interscholastic ranks as a head coach at Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville , Maryland , which awarded him a ten - year contract . It was Paint Branch ' s third year of varsity football , and their first two campaigns had ended with 3 – 7 records . About the move , Lester said , " I spent too long treating college players nice and making sure they were happy . . . I don ' t have to do that now . I can coach here . If they want to quit , fine . " In 1975 , he led Paint Branch to the Class B state championship . From 1979 to 1993 , Lester served as head coach at Magruder High School in Rockville , Maryland . In 1984 , Lester led Magruder to capture the Class B state championship , and repeated the feat with the Class A state championship in 1986 . In 1989 , he earned his 200th win as a high school coach when Magruder defeated Einstein , 24 – 0 , to bring his interscholastic record to 200 – 61 . Lester finished his tenure with a 107 – 47 record at Magruder . Upon the conclusion of his coaching career , he had won 260 games at Montgomery County schools . Later life . In 1996 , the Maryland Football Coaches Association inducted Lester into its Hall of Fame . In 2002 , Richard Montgomery High School renamed its athletic field Roy Lester Stadium in his honor . In 2008 , the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame inducted Lester as a member of its 18th class . As of 2008 , Lester resided in Gaithersburg , Maryland and had four children – three sons and a daughter .