Joe Smith has best Linfield football coach win-loss record

Chart/info from Wildcatville contributor Gerry Painter, Linfield grad, Wildcat football researcher/season ticket holder. The chart (click on it to see a larger rendition) and Gerry’s analysis focus on Linfield’s present and previous four head football coaches. In reverse order they are Joe Smith, Jay Locey, Ed Langsdorf, Ad Rutschman and Paul Durham. They are the five coaches of "The Streak."

• Coach Joe Smith (2006-present) now has Linfield’s best win-loss record as a Wildcat head football coach having passed Coach Jay Locey (1996-2005) by .4 of a percentage point. Smith's percentage 82.8 in nine seasons and Locey's 82.4 in 10 seasons.

• It took Coach Paul Durham (1948-1967) several years to develop a consistently winning team. He became coach in 1948 and “The Streak” did not begin until 1956. However, in those eight years prior to 1956, his teams did have winning seasons in 1950, 1952, and 1953. Guess what? Those were three of the four seasons (1950-1953) Ad Rutschman was playing for him.

• Prior to Durham, Coach Henry Lever (1930-1938, 1940-1942) had three winning seasons (1934, 1935, 1942) out of 12 coached. Lever was the first “real coach” as prior to him coaches were primarily faculty, just filling in. Seasons then were usually eight games at most, and in the early 20th century for many seasons there were only three or four games.

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Here is link to Linfield Wildcats Football Record Book compiled by Linfield Athletics Sports Info.