Saturday: ESU Game Notes vs. Lock Haven (3:05 p.m.)

EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University head coach Denny Douds will join 10 legends of college football on the NCAA's all-division list for games coached when the Warriors host Lock Haven on Saturday at 3:05 p.m. at Eiler-Martin Stadium.
 
Douds, in his 41st season at ESU (2-1), will coach his 422nd career game - tying former Delaware head coach Tubby Raymond for 10th-most in college football history.
 
Douds set the Division II record for games coached in 2011 and holds the PSAC record for career wins, set in 2008. He enters Saturday with a career record of 246-172-3 and has led the Warriors to nine PSAC titles and four NCAA Playoff appearances since taking over as head coach in 1974 following eight seasons as an assistant.
 
He has coached more games than any active NCAA football coach and ranks third among active coaches in career wins. He can become the 20th coach in NCAA history to reach 250 career victories later this season.
 
On Saturday, Douds joins a list that is headed by John Gagliardi, who coached 637 games in 64 seasons from 1949-2012 - including the final 60 years as head coach at Division III St. John's (Minn.).

Other coaches on the list are Eddie Robinson (588 games), Amos Alonzo Stagg and Joe Paterno (both 548), Bobby Bowden (510), Pop Warner (482), Bob Ford, who retired last fall (457), Roy Kidd (446), Bear Bryant (425) and Tubby Raymond (422).
 
Douds will tie Bryant for ninth on October 18 at Millersville.
 
Only six coaches - Gagliardi (St. John's - 607), Robinson (Grambling - 588), Paterno (Penn State - 548), Kidd (Eastern Kentucky - 446), Ford (Albany - 425) and Raymond (Delaware - 422) - have coached as many games at one institution as Douds has coached at East Stroudsburg.
 
He is just the fifth head football coach in NCAA history to coach at least 40 seasons and spend his entire career at one school, joining Robinson (Grambling - 55 years), John E. Dornan (Upper Iowa - 50), Paterno (Penn State - 46) and Jim Malosky (Minn.-Duluth - 40).

Douds' 246 career wins are three from tying Lou Holtz (249) for 20th on the all-division victories list. Of note, Douds (73 years old) has won 47 games since turning 65, more than 10 of the other 15 current PSAC coaches have won in their careers.

Entering Saturday's game against Lock Haven, redshirt junior quarterback Matt Soltes ranks second in Division II in passing yards (394.3 ypg) and total offense (437.0) and is coming off his fourth career game with 500+ yards of total offense in last week's 47-34 win at Edinboro.
 
Soltes threw for 502 yards and had 532 total yards against the Fighting Scots, and the Warriors had their 100th game with 300+ yards passing in Douds' tenure.

The 3:05 p.m. kickoff on Saturday is part of Family Weekend at ESU, which includes a full slate of events available online at www.esu.edu.
 
 
NCAA Football Games Coached, All Divisions
1. 638 - John Gagliardi (1949-2012) - Carroll (Mont.), St. John's (Minn.)
2. 588 - Eddie Robinson (1941-42, 45-97) - Grambling
t-3. 548 - Amos Alonzo Stagg (1890-1946) - Springfield, Chicago, Pacific
t-3. 548 - Joe Paterno (1966-2011) - Penn State
5. 510 - Bobby Bowden (1959-62, 70-2009) - Samford, West Virginia, Florida State
6. 482 - Pop Warner (1895-1938) - Georgia, Iowa State, Cornell, Carlisle, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Temple
7. 457 - Bob Ford (1965-68, 73-2013) - St. Lawrence, Albany
8. 446 - Roy Kidd (1964-2002) - Eastern Kentucky
9. 425 - Bear Bryant (1945-82) - Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Alabama
10. 422 - Tubby Raymond (1966-2001) - Delaware
11. 421 - Denny Douds (1974-present) - East Stroudsburg