Douds Achieves Top Ten,Raises Awareness for MD

From left to right: Sam Benson, Joe Welk, Coach Denny Douds, Matt Soltes, and Steven Jones. Photo Credit / Jamie Reese
From left to right: Sam Benson, Joe Welk, Coach Denny Douds, Matt Soltes, and Steven Jones. Photo Credit / Jamie Reese
From left to right: Sam Benson, Joe Welk, Coach Denny Douds, Matt Soltes, and Steven Jones.
Photo Credit / Jamie Reese

By John Reed
SC Staff Writer

On Saturday, September 27, the ESU Warriors football team crushed the Lock Haven Bald Eagles 48-21.

This strong performance highlighted head coach Denny Douds entering the top 10 on the NCAA’s all-division list of games coached.

This is Douds’ 41st season as the head football coach and his 422nd career game — which ties him for 10th all-time with former Delaware coach Tubby Raymond.

By October 18, Douds will be in the company of a legend. Next up on the list is the venerable coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant — who is considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of college football — at 425 games coached.

Bryant emphatically stated, “I ain’t never been nothing but a winner.”

For Douds, this mantra exists in the performance of his teams over his illustrious coaching career at ESU. After the victory over Lock Haven, his overall record as the Warrior’s coach is 247-172-3.

With two more victories, Douds will tie Lou Holtz (249 wins) for 20th on the all-division victories list — and it will put him in striking distance of 250 career victories.

Three more Warrior victories will allow Douds to reach yet another milestone at 250 victories. With these victories, he will become the 20th NCAA football coach to ever reach that mark.

What is even more impressive is that all these games — both played and won — have been at ESU. Even the revered Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant and Bobby Bowden cannot lay claim to this feat.

There are only five others who have coached more games at one school than Douds: Bob Ford (425 games), Roy Kidd (446 games), Joe Paterno (548 games), Eddie Robinson (588 games), and John Gagliardi (607 games).

Unlike these five coaches, Douds is still an active collegiate-level head coach.

Douds — now 73 years old — has compiled 47 victories since his 65th birthday. This is an incredible number considering his win total surpasses 10 of the 15 current PSAC head football coaches during their entire careers.

Douds didn’t let his fame take priority at the game.

The ESU coaching staff — including head coach Denny Douds — supported the seventh annual “Coach to Cure MD” program. The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) sponsors this event.

“Coach to Cure MD” is a charity that takes place on gameday through the partnership between AFCA and Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD). Douds — and more than 600 other coaching staffs — are participating to focus attention on Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which is the most prolific genetic predator diagnosed in childhood.

All participating AFCA members will wear a patch on the sidelines that reads, “Coach to Cure MD.” Football fans across the nation are asked to donate to PPMD, which is the largest nonprofit in the United States whose sole focus is the research of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Douds and ESU’s coaching staff made a point to bring awareness to this cruel disorder by talking about the cause in all interviews and media appearances during the weekend of September 25 to September 27.

Fans are encouraged to donate to the life-saving research on Duchenne muscular dystrophy by going online at www.coachtocuremd.org or by texting the word CURE to 90999 on their mobile devices — a five-dollar charge will be added to their next cell phone bill.

With so many college coaches and institutions like Douds and East Stroudsburg University participating in “Coach to Cure MD” events, the program has hit a fundraising total of roughly $1 million.

Email John at:
jreed18@live.esu.edu