Trojan Football History hISTORICAL timeline 1900-1919
1909 Troy begins playing football with V.P. McKinley serving as the first head coach. The team faced a variety of opponents in the early years, from community teams and high schools to universities. 1910 The Association constructed an athletic field on the north side of the old college campus. Prior to this field, most “home” games were played at the old Orion Street playing field. Dan Herren served as head coach. 1911 George Penton takes over as head coach and leads Troy to a 8-01 record over two seasons. 1913 No records for teams from 1913-1920.
1920s
1921 The program resumes with Professor J.W. Campbell at the helm. 1924 Ross V. "Flivver" Ford heads the program for a season. 1925 Football was played on the current campus on the site of what is now Shackleford Hall. Otis Bynum takes over the program as head coach for the next two seasons. 1926 Bynum leads Troy to a 7-1-1 record, the most wins in a season for the program until the 1967 team won eight. 1927 All high schools and community teams are dropped from the football schedule. This was Troy’s first fully “intercollegiate” team, with Gladwin Gaumer, a professor at the college, as the head coach. 1928 Troy's first night game was held against Maxwell Field, played at Montgomery's Cramton Bowl. 1929 The school does not field a team.
1930s
1931 Former Alabama star Albert Elmore takes the reins as head football coach. Under his direction, the program gained stability and organization. He helped form the Southern Intercollegiate Association and Dixie Conference. 1936 Tickets for Troy home games cost 55 cents each, and the team has just 19 players. Six of the 19 were ineligible under freshman eligibility rules. 1938 Troy joins the Alabama Intercollegiate Conference with Livingston, Jacksonville State, St. Bernard, Marion Institute and Snead College. Albert Choate takes over as head coach. 1939 Troy wins the AIC Championship by defeating archrival Jacksonville State, 27-0. The team was then known as the "Red Wave," "Trojans" or "Teachers." Pass-catching sensation Sherrill Busby, a 198-pound end, became Troy's first All-American (AP) and NFL player (Brooklyn Dodgers).
1940s
1941 Troy wins its second AIC championship, posting a 5-4 record. 1942 Troy wins its third AIC Championship in four years with a 4-3 record. The program was suspended after the season due to World War II. 1946 Fielding the first team since World War II, led once again by Choate, the school records a 3-4 mark. 1947 Buddy McCollum takes over as head coach, and the program wins its 100th game. 1948 Troy makes its first postseason appearance at the inaugural Paper Bowl in Pensacola, Fla. The Trojans were 6-4 in the regular season but lost 19-0 to Jacksonville State in the postseason.
1950s
1950 The school's home field is moved to its present site and becomes Memorial Stadium. It is so named in honor of the University's students and Pike County citizens who died in World War II. Previously, the team played on the ground where Smith Hall now stands and in a field that is now the outfield at Riddle-Pace Field. 1951 Jim Grantham becomes the program’s 11th head coach. 1955 William Clipson becomes head coach. He is the first Troy alumnus to lead the program.
1960s
1966 Billy Atkins takes over the program as head coach and leads it to heights previously unseen. His first team registers a 5-5 record. 1967 Troy wins its first AIC Championship since 1942, compiling an 8-2 record. 1968 Atkins leads the Red Wave to the NAIA national championship en route to an 11-1 mark. Troy topped Texas A&I, 43-35, in Montgomery, Ala., at Cramton Bowl before a then NAIA title game record crowd of 15,000. 1969 Troy wins its third straight Alabama Collegiate Conference title with an 8-1-1 overall record.
The 1911 "Teachers," the earliest known picture of a Troy football team.
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