Aug. 6, 2007

University of Dayton head football coach Mike Kelly and his staff will welcome 102 players back to campus Monday, August 6 as the Flyers prepare for the 2007 football season.

This will be Kelly's 27th season as Dayton's head coach, the longest tenure of any UD head coach in any sport.

A total of 43 letterwinners and 15 starters (nine on offense, five offense, and one specialist) are back from last year's team. The Flyers were 4-6, their first sub-.500 season in 30 years. Dayton has not been shutout in an NCAA-leading 340 games. UD was picked to finish fourth in the pre-season poll of the Pioneer Football League's coaches.

The Flyers will be led by team captains Kevin Hoyng, Brian Kelly and Brandon Cramer. Back for his third season as the starting quarterback, Hoyng is already UD's career record holder in passing yardage (4,545), completions (279) and total offense (5,425). He is only the third two-time captain in Flyer football history. Kelly led the PFL in tackles (10.1 per game) and was tied for 19th in the nation last year. Cramer is a two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American. He was third on the team in tackles the last two seasons.

The 2006 Flyers set the UD single-season team record for passing in a season (2,472 yards). Seven of the ten players who caught passes (including four of the top five) are back. Senior wideout Nick Ruhe set a school record for receiving yardage (49 catches for 977 yards) in 2006.

Dayton will open the season on Saturday, September 1 at Robert Morris. Game time will be 1:00 p.m. ET. UD's home opener is Saturday, September 8 against Urbana at 1:00 p.m. ET. The Flyers PFL opener will be Saturday, September 29 at Morehead State. Other Pioneer Football League teams visiting Welcome Stadium in 2007 are Jacksonville (October 6), Davidson (October 13), San Diego (October 27) and Butler (November 3).

After reporting, attending meetings, getting their equipment and undergoing physicals Monday, the team will undergo fitness tests Tuesday morning. First practice for the 2007 Flyers will be Tuesday afternoon, August 8, at 2:30 p.m. Practices will be conducted at Welcome Stadium and the Jerry Von Mohr practice field adjacent to Welcome Stadium.

UD is 139-34 over the last 16 years, and has the second-best winning percentage in NCAA Division I-AA since the turn of the century (.773, 58-17).

The Flyers enter the season with the second-best best winning percentage in FCS football since 2000 (.773) AND has produced the most football Academic All-Americans at any level of competition in the (13) in the same time frame.

GRIDIRON CLASSIC IS SET The champions of the Pioneer Football League and the Northeast Conference will meet on November 17 in the second annual "Gridiron Classic" bowl game. The game will be hosted by the PFL.

TICKETS NOW ON SALE Season tickets are only $60 for adults. Single game tickets are $10.00 for adults. In addition, children eighth grade and younger who sign up for the Future Flyer Kids Club will receive free tickets to all UD football games. Call 229-4433 for info on group rates.

STAYING POWER The 2007 campaign is UD coach Mike Kelly's 27th season as Dayton's head coach, the longest tenure of any UD head coach in any sport.

NO ONE'S DOING IT BETTER The Flyers enter the season with the second-best best winning percentage in FCS football since 2000 (.773) AND has produced the most football Academic All-Americans at any level of competition in the (13) in the same time frame.

STREAKING UD has not been shut out in 340 straight games, the best such active string in all of college football. The last team to shut out the Flyers was Marshall, 9-0, on October 16, 1976.

HOYNG REPORT Kevin Hoyng has enters his senior season already holding three UD career records - passing yardage (4,545), completions (279) and total offense (5,425). Last season, he was second in the PFL in passing efficiency (146.46), and third in total offense (219.8). For the year, he was 131 of 221 (.593) for 2,052 yards and 11 touchdowns,

NOW THAT'S A BULLPEN Backup quarterback Rob Florian made his first career start last season at Jacksonville in place of Kevin Hoyng, who was out with an injured knee. Not only was Florian's first start, but the first pass he threw in the game (16-yard completion to Carlton McFadgen) was the first of his college career. All Florian did was throw for the second-highest single-game passing total in UD history. His 411 yards (308 in the second half) were second only to Kevin Johns' 414 against San Diego in 1996.

AERIAL CIRCUS The 2006 Flyers set the UD single-season team record for passing in a season (2,472 yards). Both quarterbacks are back from that team, as are seven of the ten players who caught passes (including four of the top five). The Flyers were the only team with two receivers in the NCAA I-AA Top 15 in receiving yards per game (Nick Ruhe was fourth, and the now-graduated Carlton McFadgen was 14th.)

THE GOOD HANDS PEOPLE Dayton returns two of the top three receivers from last year, two players who had exceptional seasons at their respective positions. Wideout Nick Ruhe set the school record in for receiving (977 yards) and his 49 receptions were the fourth-best total in Flyer football history. Matt Champa had the best season by a Dayton tight end since Fred Dugan's All-America season in 1957. Champa was UD's third-leading receiver in 2006, catching 29 passes for 400 yards (13.8 yards a catch). Dugan had 37 receptions for 546 yards. A wild card for the 2007 season is flanker Jack O'Dell, who started ahead of Ruhe two seasons ago before sitting out last season

MANY HAPPY RETURNS Senior wideout Nick Ruhe led the PFL in punt returns (11.3) and all-purpose yardage (167.3). He was also fourth nationally in all-purpose yardage. He is a two-time All-PFL selection, and was the Associated Press named him to their All-America Third Team as an all-purpose player last year.

SOMETHING ABOUT THE NAME, AND BEING A LEADER Senior linebacker Brian Kelly (no relation) led the PFL in tackles per game and was tied for 19th nationally (10.1).

TOPS IN I-AA NON-SCHOLARSHIP In the 13 years I-AA Non-Scholarship has been an option, UD has the best winning percentage (.786, 125-34) of the 21 schools playing at this level. Duquesne's .738 (110-39) is second, followed by Drake (.677, 101-48-1), Robert Morris (.622, 81-49-1) and Albany (.583, 81-58).

PFL POWER The Flyers' 49-14 PFL record is the best in the history of the league. UD has won eight league championships in the 14 years the PFL has existed.

WELCOME MAT The UD Flyers moved to Welcome Stadium in 1974. The word "Welcome" implies hospitality, but Dayton has been anything but hospitable to its opponents at home. UD is 181-37-2 (.827) at home. The "Welcome" in Welcome Stadium is not a greeting, but honors the late Percival Welcome, longtime Director of Athletics for the Dayton Public Schools. UD has won 38 of its last 47 home games, and 20 of its last 25 road games.

GRAB A PAINT BRUSH The University of Dayton, Dayton Public Schools and the Dayton-Montgomery County Port Authority have signed a letter of agreement to work together to renovate Welcome Stadium. Thanks to the agreement, the Port Authority was able to acquire funding from the State of Ohio. Safety improvements, painting and new seating occurred in the program's first phase, with a new FieldTurf playing surface and a new press box scheduled to follow.

GREAT GRAD RATES UD'S 96 score in the latest GSR (Graduation Success Rate) is the fifth-best in NCAA Division I football. Fellow PFL member Davidson was atop the rankings with 100, followed by Navy and William & Mary (98), and Furman (97). Boston College and UD were next at 96. Other schools with APR's above 90 were Bucknell (95), Stanford (94), Air Force, Duke and Villanova (93).

GOTTA PLAY SMART The University of Dayton placed a league-best 14 players on the 2006 Academic All-Pioneer Football League team. It was the fourth straight year UD had the most players on the PFL Academic team. Since the league's origin in 1993, over a quarter (138 of 509) of the PFL All-Academic selections have been Dayton Flyers. UD also had 64 players on the PFL Academic Honor Roll (3.0 GPA or better). That was 24 better than the next-best school.

HITTING THE BOOKS The Dayton football program has produced 13 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans since the 2000 season. That's most at any level of college football. Safety Brandon Cramer was named a First Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America in 2006, after being named to the second team in 2005. In the history of the Academic All-America program, UD has had 45 football Academic All-Americans. Among schools currently playing Division I football, only Nebraska (81) and Notre Dame (46) have had more. UD has had at least one football player named Academic All-American in 15 of the last 16 years. UD had five players named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team, the most of any school in the district for the fifth straight year. Twelve Flyers were nominated for Academic All-America in each of the last four years.

THE CREAM DOES RISE TO THE TOP UD's 2007 roster includes a number of what some might call "over-achievers." Forty-nine current Flyers were in the National Honor Society, and 99 were team captains in some sport. Twenty-six captained two different teams, and 13 were three-sport captains.

SUPER STAT When Jon Gruden coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the Super Bowl championship in 2003, he became the second UD grad to coach a Super Bowl winner. Former UD co-captain and 1993 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Chuck Noll won four Super Bowls (IX, X, XII & XIV) as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Noll started at center and linebacker for the Flyers and graduated from the University in 1953. Gruden played quarterback at Dayton and earned his degree in 1986. UD became only the third school to have two alumni coach Super Bowl winners. The others San Jose State, with grads Bill Walsh (XIV, XIX, XXIII) and Dick Vermeil (XXXIV), and Arkansas with grads Jimmy Johnson (XXVII, XXVIII) and Barry Switzer (XXX). Gruden is the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl, and Noll is the fourth youngest. As a matter of fact, UD has ties to 18 Super Bowl rings. In addition to Noll's four and Gruden's one, five former members of Dayton coaching staff own a total of 13 Super Bowl rings between them. They are the late Len Fontes (New York Giants, Super Bowl XXI), Jon's father Jim Gruden (San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowls XXII & XXIV), John McVay (49ers, XVI, XIX, XXII, & XXIV), Tom Moore (Pittsburgh Steelers, XIII & XIV) and George Perles (Steelers, IX, X, XII & XIV). McVay was the Flyers' head coach from 1965-72. The other four were assistants.