RIT football makes a limited 'comeback'

Emily Olney, third-year industrial engineering major, models a T-shirt that harkens back to the days of pigskin play at RIT. The shirts are being sold as part of a student fund-raiser.

RIT's student chapter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers is selling T-shirts that are sure to cause some quizzical looks around campus.

Rather than boastful, the shirts, emblazoned with the phrase, "RIT Football, Undefeated Since 1978," commemorate a lamentable occasion to some—the sacking of RIT's football team following a non-illustrious 0-8-1 record in the 1977-78 season. The Tigers had played eight uneventful seasons, beginning as a football club in 1970 and becoming a varsity squad a year later.

While the short-lived program produced no Namaths or Fluties, a notable "graduate" is Tom Coughlin, head coach from 1971-74 who compiled a 16-15-2 record. The Waterloo native went on to become a successful coach at Syracuse University and Boston College and in the National Football League where, since 1994, he's been head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

But, back to those T-shirts, they can be purchased for $10 by contacting iiewww@rit.edu (for more information, visit http://www.rit.edu/kgcoe/ise/student/organizations.html). The gray shirts are available in a choice of black or orange lettering and a variety of sizes. Proceeds will benefit travel to student conferences . . . and the T-shirt will never be outdated.