With time to digest Saturday?s heartbreaking loss to James Madison, Towson University athletic director Mike Hermann gave the football program a nod of approval Monday afternoon.
“For me, it was very exciting to get to seven wins,” Hermann said. “Just because of the caliber of the league.”
The Tigers, whose playoff hopes ended with Saturday?s loss, are in their third year in the Atlantic 10 Conference ? arguably the best Division I-AA conference in the nation ? and went 7-4 overall with a 4-4 conference mark, good for third in the A-10 South Division.
The Tigers spent six weeks in the top-25 rankings and continued an 11-game non-conference winning streak ? all with just 80 percent of scholarship capacity.
“Despite the way the last game ended up in terms of the score … the achievement of the football program was nothing short of remarkable,” Hermann said.
Hermann also gave a thumbs-up to Towson coach Gordy Combs, who was under scrutiny after the Tigers? inaugural A-10 season (3-8, 0-8) in 2004.
“I don?t think he can do any more than he has as our head coach, and I?m very happy with the job he?s done,” Hermann said.
Combs, who has spent his entire head-coaching career at Towson, is now 86-73 in 15 seasons. He has spent 37 years with the program, includingthree as a player and 19 as an assistant. He has two seasons left on a three-year deal and feels the program is headed in the right direction.
“I think we made tremendous progress, and we just took another step forward,” Combs said.
The Tigers were in the I-AA playoff hunt up until Saturday?s 38-3 loss to James Madison, the 2004 NCAA champion.
TOWSON IN 2006
» The Tigers won seven games for the first time since 2000 and won four conference games for the first time since 1999, when they played in the Patriot League.
» Sophomore quarterback Sean Schaefer has thrown for 3,033 yards and 19 touchdowns and is sixth on the school?s all-time passing yardage list (5,805) with two seasons remaining.
» This spring, Towson graduates its final Patriot League recruiting class of 16 seniors, including captains Andrae Brown, Jermon Bushrod, Tony Lumpkin and George Mitchell.
