BEREA, OHIO --- For the past 35 years, the Baldwin-Wallace College football program has produced a winning record. The active seasonal winning streak is the third longest in NCAA Division III (B-W is surpassed by only Central College of Iowa and Linfield College of Oregon) and the fourth longest in all of college football. With a victory today against Capital, the Yellow Jackets can achieve their 36th straight winning season.
"We would like to continue this tradition of excellence," said first-year Head Coach John Snell. "Beginning with Coach Watts, continuing with Coach Tressel and again with Coach Packard, the B-W program has set a standard that few programs will ever have an opportunity to match. It is my job to continue that tradition of building winners at B-W both in the classroom and on the football field."
During "The Streak," B-W has compiled a 265-78-5 overall won-loss-tie record with an impressive .771 winning percentage. The Yellow Jackets have made five trips to the Division III National Playoffs, and won the Division III National title in 1978 when they defeated then fellow Ohio Athletic Conference foe Wittenberg University, 24-10.
Although two head coaches are credited with leading B-W during "The Streak," it was the legendary Ray E. Watts who began the tradition of winning football at Baldwin-Wallace.
"Coach Watts was a great influence on Coach Tressel who in turn was a great influence on Bob Packard," said Snell. "Coach Packard was a great influence on me. I know somewhere along the line in my philosophy I have some of what Coach Watts taught Coach Tressel."
The late legendary Lee Tressel mentored B-W from the beginning of "The Streak" in 1967 until his retirement in 1980. Tressel had a 155-52-6 mark and .742 winning percentage. Coach Bob Packard produced a 156-54-2 mark and a .741 winning percentage from 1981-2002.
B-W's best season during "The Streak" was its national championship season of 1978 when the Yellow Jackets were 11-0-1 overall. Two other undefeated regular season records, in 1982 and 1991, have been posted since 1968.
Twice during "The Streak," B-W had to win its final four games of the year to preserve the feat, including four years ago when the Yellow Jackets upset Cleveland cross town rival John Carroll University, 31-3.
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