- Mike Ayers
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Mike Ayers Sport(s) Football Current position Title Head coach Team Wofford Record 162–110–1 Biographical details Born May 26, 1948 Place of birth Georgetown, Kentucky Playing career ?? Georgetown College Position(s) Linebacker
Offensive tackleCoaching career (HC unless noted) 1974
1975
1976–1978
1979
1980–1982
1983–1984
1985–1987
1988–presentGeorgetown College (Asst.)
Georgetown College (DC)
Newberry (Asst.)
Richmond (Asst.)
Wofford (Asst.)
East Tennessee State (DC)
East Tennessee State
WoffordHead coaching record Overall 173–131–2 Statistics College Football Data Warehouse Accomplishments and honors Championships Southern Conference (2003, 2007, 2010) Awards Eddie Robinson Award (2003)
Southern Conference Coach of the Year (2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2010)Mike Ayers (born May 26, 1948[1]) is the current head football coach of the Wofford Terriers located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He has filled the position since 1988. Wofford College, with an enrollment of 1,550 students, is one of the smaller National Collegiate Athletic Association college football schools in Division I.[2] The Terriers compete in the Football Championship Subdivision as members of the Southern Conference.
Contents
Playing career
Ayers played linebacker and offensive tackle for the Bengals of Georgetown College. He also played for the baseball team and competed in gymnastics and wrestling.[1]
Coaching career
Ayers began his coaching career as a graduate assistant and defensive coordinator for Georgetown College in 1974 and 1975. He again performed the role of assistant during stops at Newberry and Richmond. In 1980 Ayers arrived at Wofford as defensive coordinator for the Terriers under head coach George F. "Buddy" Sasser. Ayers followed Sasser to East Tennessee State where he resumed his role as defensive coordinator before taking over the head coaching position in 1985. Ayers was hired as the head coach of the Terriers in 1988. Wofford moved up to Division I-AA in 1995 and joined the Southern Conference in 1997. Under Ayers, the Terriers have claimed three Southern Conference football championships, in 2003, 2007 and 2010, and participated in the playoffs five times.[1] Ayers won the Eddie Robinson Award, given to the most outstanding FCS head coach, in 2003 after guiding the Terriers to a 12–2 record.[3]He holds the black belt in karate, and is an accomplished artist and bass fisherman.
Head coaching record
Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs TSN[4]# East Tennessee State Buccaneers (Southern Conference) (1985–1987) 1985 East Tennessee State 0–10–1 1986 East Tennessee State 6–5 1987 East Tennessee State 5–6 East Tennessee State: 11–21–1 Wofford Terriers (Division II Independent) (1988–1994) 1988 Wofford 5–5 1989 Wofford 6–5 1990 Wofford 9–3 L 70–9 vs. Mississippi College Division II First Round 1991 Wofford 9–3 L 28–15 vs. Mississippi College Division II First Round 1992 Wofford 6–5 1993 Wofford 7–3–1 1994 Wofford 5–6 Wofford Terriers (I-AA Independent) (1995–1996) 1995 Wofford 4–7 1996 Wofford 6–5 Wofford Terriers (Southern Conference) (1997–present) 1997 Wofford 3–7 2–6 6th 1998 Wofford 4–7 3–5 T–5th 1999 Wofford 6–5 5–3 2nd 2000 Wofford 7–4 5–3 3rd 23 2001 Wofford 4–7 3–5 5th 2002 Wofford 9–3 6–2 T–2nd 14 2003 Wofford 12–2 8–0 1st L 24–9 vs. Delaware I-AA Semifinals 3 2004 Wofford 8–3 4–3 T–2nd 18 2005 Wofford 6–5 3–4 T–4th 2006 Wofford 7–4 5–2 3rd 23 2007 Wofford 9–4 5–2 1st L 21–10 vs. Richmond FCS Quarterfinals 10 2008 Wofford 9–3 7–1 2nd L 38–35 vs. James Madison FCS First Round 2009 Wofford 3–8 2–6 T–7th 2010 Wofford 10–3 7–1 T–1st L 23–20 vs. Georgia Southern FCS Quarterfinals 6 2011 Wofford 8–3 6–2 T–2nd vs. Northern Iowa FCS Second Round 12 Wofford: 162–110–1 71–45 Total: 173–131–2 National Championship Conference Title Conference Division Title References
- ^ a b c "Mike Ayers: Head Coach". Wofford Athletics. http://athletics.wofford.edu/coaches.aspx?rc=1&path=football. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
- ^ Joe Drape (2002-09-25). "Sports of The Times; At Little Wofford, Big Challenges". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E5DD1339F936A1575AC0A9649C8B63.
- ^ "Mike Ayers wins 2003 Eddie Robinson Award". The Sports Network. http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot2/misc/2003robinson_ayers.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
- ^ Final poll standings are from The Sports Network.
External links
East Tennessee State Buccaneers head football coaches Windes • Luck • Robinson • Batey • McMurray • Roberts • Littleford • Wood • Bell • Frazier • Carlisle • Sasser • Ayers • Riley • Cavan • Hamilton
Wofford Terriers head football coaches Edwin Kerrison (1889) • No coach (1890) • No team (1891–1892) • No coach (1893–1894) • Bill Wertenbaker (1895) • No coach (1896) • No team (1897–1899) • No coach (1900) • J. Norman Walker (1901) • No team (1902–1913) • Curtis McCoy (1914) • Harvey Hester (1915) • Lesley Moses (1916–1917) • Bernard Peters (1918) • Rip Major (1919) • John F. Gorsuch (1920) • Johnny Gilroy (1921) • Rip Major (1922–1926) • Tommy Scaffe (1927–1933) • Jules Carson (1934–1941) • Ted Petoskey (1942) • No team (1943–1945) • Ted Petoskey (1946) • Phil Dickens (1947–1952) • Conley Snidow (1953–1966) • Jim Brakefield (1967–1970) • Jack Peterson (1971–1973) • Steve Satterfield (1974–1976) • George F. "Buddy" Sasser (1977–1982) • Bill Parker (1983–1984) • Rick Gilstrap (1985–1987) • Mike Ayers (1988–)
Current head football coaches of the Southern Conference Jerry Moore (Appalachian State) • Russ Huesman (Chattanooga) • Kevin Higgins (The Citadel) • Jason Swepson (Elon) • Bruce Fowler (Furman) • Jeff Monken (Georgia Southern) • Pat Sullivan (Samford) • Dennis Wagner (Western Carolina) • Mike Ayers (Wofford)
Eddie Robinson Award winners 1987: Duffner | 1988: Russo | 1989: Russell | 1990: McDowell | 1991: Ault | 1992: Taaffe | 1993: Allen | 1994: Tressel | 1995: Nutt | 1996: Barbier | 1997: Talley | 1998: Johnson | 1999: Matthews | 2000: Glenn | 2001: Lembo | 2002: Tate | 2003: Ayers | 2004: Kill | 2005: McDonnell | 2006: Moore | 2007: Farley | 2008: Matthews | 2009: Frazier | 2010: Samuel
Categories:- 1948 births
- Living people
- American football linebackers
- East Tennessee State Buccaneers football coaches
- Georgetown Tigers football coaches
- Georgetown Tigers football players
- Wofford Terriers football coaches
- People from Georgetown, Kentucky
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