[Zeus69]

Since it is the off - season and football is still too far away, lets give our opinion as to which teams were the best in program history. This list will in all likelyhood change because the Big South gets an automatic invite to the tournament, but what do yall think?

My top 3:
1. 2008 - 10 and 2, 1 horrible loss, beat the #25 and #12 team in the country, first ten win season in program history, back to back conference champions.
2. 2007 - 8 and 3, an extremely talented team that could not close out the tight game, first ever Big South Conference championship.
3. 2009 - 8 and 3, played tough against WVU, had a close loss to JMU, shared the conference championship.

I was not around for the 80's and 90's so I cannot comment on those teams.

[JK37]

I think some on here will nail you to the wall for naming these ahead of the 9-2 team ('97, I think) that had every right to the playoffs and got hosed.

Whether around for them or not, do some research.

[PAmedic]

I think some on here will nail you to the wall for naming these ahead of the 9-2 team ('97, I think) that had every right to the playoffs and got hosed.

Whether around for them or not, do some research.

I see a beating in your near future

[flameshaw]

1973
1974.

[PAmedic]

don't have a specific ranking but I'd vote for the 1989 team that went 7-3 under then new coach Rut.

included that 2 wins vs. top-20 teams and a signature win that we're STILL talking about at E. Michigan

featured: Paul Johnson/Robbie Justino, Eric Green, Charles McCray, Leroy Kinard and my friend Ernie Antolik

[Rooster Cogburn]

don't have a specific ranking but I'd vote for the 1989 team that went 7-3 under then new coach Rut.

included that 2 wins vs. top-20 teams and a signature win that we're STILL talking about at E. Michigan

featured: Paul Johnson/Robbie Justino, Eric Green, Charles McCray, Leroy Kinard and my friend Ernie Antolik

I agree, best team yet!

[SuperJon]

1) 2008
2) 1997
3) 1989/2009

[jcmanson]

2008 is clearly the best season, for now

2007 and 2009 are close.

2007: 2 D2 wins, outright conference champ, 0 conference losses, 30.75 average win margin against conference, 1 point loss to low FBS, 0 wins against winning D1 teams, blowout loss to 7-4 Elon team

2009: 1 D2 wins, shared conference champ, 25 point average win margin against conference, 1 conference loss, 13 point loss to mid FBS, 2 wins against winning D1 teams, no bad losses

97 team has to be up there too: 9-2, 2 wins over ranked opponents (#15 & 19)

[Stevev]

This is how I would rank them in relation to strength of schedule.

1989 Ironically our first year of eligiblility in the 1AA playoffs, first year with Sam R and mostly Morgan Hout recruits. Finished 7-3 with victories over top 25 1A team Eastern Michigan, #13 Eastern Illinois, and JMU. Close losses at C Florida and SW Missouri. Eric Green got drafted in the 1st round and that was the year Williams stadium first opened (then known as Willard May stadium)

1997 9-2 record. We got beat by 2 playoff teams in Hofstra and Hampton (in OT) but knocked Appy State and Cal Poly out of the playoffs. A soft overall schedule kept us out of the playoffs and the Hofstra loss was a killer due to them being an independent which the commitee was determined to only take 2 independents so they took Hofstra and W Kentucky

1992 7-4 record but tough schedule and wins over Troy State, Central Florida, and JMU, losses to NC A$T, Furman, N Illinois, and Maine. NC A and T was heartbreaking.

Honorable mention to the 10-2 team of a year ago had 1 quality win (Elon), one bad loss Preby and a lot of blowouts of subpar competition and 2 division 2 teams. The win at Youngtown St deserves recognition even with their subpar record and are tough to beat at Stambaugh

[Zeus69]

Man I really took a beating.. HA! Good discussion and Youngstown state was ranked #25 at the time the 2008 team beat them.

[BJWilliams]

Id go 2008 then 1997 then 2009. 1989 was well before my time in Lynchburg but Id probably have that as a close 4th

[jcmanson]

Id go 2008 then 1997 then 2009. 1989 was well before my time in Lynchburg but Id probably have that as a close 4th

but you were here in in 97

[BJWilliams]

Very funny...

[SuperJon]

Shouldn't you be paying attention in class?

[Schfourteenteen]

Shouldn't you be paying attention in class?

D B A G

[Champion]

Man I really took a beating.. HA! Good discussion and Youngstown state was ranked #25 at the time the 2008 team beat them.

True, but YSU was 2-2 when LU beat them 31-28 and ended up with a 4-8 record. At the time it was a thought of as a huge win. In the end it looked like a win over a bad team with a bad record.

[Cider Jim]

Morgan Hout's last year as head coach, he had 8 wins and was named Virginia Coach of the Year. Anybody with a press guide know what year that was? (It was the year before Coach Sam came on board).

[Stevev]

Morgan Hout's last year as head coach, he had 8 wins and was named Virginia Coach of the Year. Anybody with a press guide know what year that was? (It was the year before Coach Sam came on board).

That was 1988. That was a good year and our first in 1AA. The schedule was a little soft but may be tougher than what we have been playing lately. All 3 losses were by a combined total of 5 points and lost by 1 to the No. 2 team in the country in Western Illinois. Beat Youngstown 29-0 but YSU was a bit down. It was a shame to see Morgan forced out after that breakthrough year.

[flamehunter]

It was a shame to see Morgan forced out after that breakthrough year.

+1

I've often wondered where the football program would have been through the next 15 years or so if he had been the coach. He was a really good coach who was sold out on the school. He took us to I-AA and not as a doormat in the first years either.

[Stevev]

From what I hear Morgan Hout was a class guy and very well respected by everyone. He did one heck of a job in getting the football program to where it was at that time not only at the 1AA level but a team capable of competing with anyone at that level. He set the stage for some of Sam R's successes early in his tenure. I guess that the admin was looking for that "big name" to bring the program to an even higher level but that didn't quite work out as planned partly due to LU's poor financial condition it was in at that time.

[olldflame]

From what I hear Morgan Hout was a class guy and very well respected by everyone. He did one heck of a job in getting the football program to where it was at that time not only at the 1AA level but a team capable of competing with anyone at that level. He set the stage for some of Sam R's successes early in his tenure. I guess that the admin was looking for that "big name" to bring the program to an even higher level but that didn't quite work out as planned partly due to LU's poor financial condition it was in at that time.

The finances were really bad when coach Sam arrived. I remember stories about him charging hotels and meals for the team on the road to his personal Amex card and praying he would be reimbursed eventually. Nothing against Sam, but the way Hout was cut loose was not one of the more illustrious moments in LU sports history.

[Stevev]

I was informed that Morgan was not officially fired but offered a position at LU as an Assistance Athletic Director which he turned down since he considered it a demotion of sorts then headed on to Baylor. From what I heard.

[olldflame]

I was informed that Morgan was not officially fired but offered a position at LU as an Assistance Athletic Director which he turned down since he considered it a demotion of sorts then headed on to Baylor. From what I heard.

Yes, and Jeff Meyer wasn't fired either. He was given a position as "special assistant to the president", which he did for a year because it was too late to get a coaching job, and then he left to play a key role in helping Gregg Marshall and Winthrop dominate our league for years.

My point is that Hout was a football coach, not an assistant AD, and it wasn't that he considered it a demotion, it was that it was not coaching, and he was a coach. I know it's kind of hard for some of us to be too critical of this one, because by all accounts it was Doc's decision all the way; but it was what it was.

[Cider Jim]

Baylor? I thought he was coaching a Christian high school team & being an AD somewhere in Kentucky and/or Florida.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Hout

[jcmanson]

Baylor? I thought he was coaching a Christian high school team & being an AD somewhere in Kentucky and/or Florida.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Hout

I know he did start the football program in the early to mid 2000s at my former high school- Highlands Christian Academy in Pompano Beach, FL.