Saint Mary's College to Name New Football Coach
3/9/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Tim Landis Begins New Era of Gael Football
Moraga, CA - Saint Mary's College Athletic Director Rick Mazzuto announced the hiring of Tim Landis as the Gaels' new football coach at a press conference today.
"Tim Landis took over program at Davidson College that was struggling to win more than a game or two a year and developed it into an outstanding program with outstanding athletes. We are hoping he will quickly bring the type of success he had at Davidson to Saint Mary's College," commented Mazzuto.
Landis will take over the Saint Mary's football program after serving a seven year stint as head coach at Davidson College (Davidson, N.C.), where he accumulated a career record of 35-36-1 (.493). The past two seasons he has guided the team to historical proportions, posting an 8-2 mark in 1998 and 8-3 in 1999 - matching the school's highest win total in the 102-year history of the program.
Prior to Landis' tenure at Davidson, the school had never won more than seven games in a single season. In the 10 years prior to his arrival, the program only totaled 23 wins, posting a record of 23-76 from 1983-92. The program has competed at the Division I-AA level since 1993 and will begin play in the Pioneer League in 2001.
"The last thing I want to talk about is building a program, I want to talk about a program that can win immediately," said Landis. "I feel like there is enough talent at Saint Mary's right now to be successful. The time is now and I am confident we can do that."
Last year's Davidson team finished the season as the 9th ranked I-AA Non-Scholarship team in the nation after winning the final seven games of the season. The defense recorded a school-record 28 interceptions to lead the country, eight of which were picked off by junior All-American Ryan Crawford. The team gave up just 188 yards per game, ranking eighth in the country, and blocked a school-record 13 kicks.
The 1998 Davidson team finished 5th in the I-AA Non-Scholarship poll. Landis' defense was nothing shy of dominating that year, ranking in the top 12 in four categories. The defense led the country in I-AA pass efficiency defense, ranked second in scoring defense (10.4 points per game), ranked fourth in total defense (231.9 yards per game) and finished 12th in rushing defense (108 yards per game). In addition, the unit totaled 24 interceptions.
"The tradition of football at Saint Mary's really impressed me," added Landis "This is certainly the most prestigious appointment I have received."
The 35-year old Landis originally joined the Davidson staff in 1991 as a restricted earnings coach and took over the program just two years later. Off the field, he also served as the school's athletics facility director.
Prior to Davidson, Landis was the Athletics Director, head football coach and head baseball coach at Morrisville High School (Morrisville, Pa). In 1989, he led his team to an 8-2 mark and was named Coach of the Year by the Bucks County Times, the Bicentennial Athletic League and the Independence Football League.
In addition to his coaching duties, Landis serves as the chairman of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Summer Manual Committee. He graduated from Randolph Macon College (Ashland, Va) in 1986. He was a first team all-conference selection as a quarterback in football and pitcher in baseball. He began his coaching career in 1986 with the Yellow Jackets and was recently elected for induction into the school's Hall of Fame.
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