Bucknell University Athletics
Tim Landis Named Head Football Coach at Bucknell University
12/3/2002 7:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 3, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Seeking a leader with a proven record of achievement both on the gridiron and in molding quality student-athletes, Bucknell University director of athletics and recreation John Hardt today announced the successful completion of a comprehensive national search with the appointment of Tim Landis, a 10-year veteran of the collegiate head coaching profession, as Bucknell's next Bob Odell Head Football Coach.
Landis, 38, brings to the Bison football program an impressive cache of head coaching experience at the Division I-AA level. He becomes Bucknell's 25th head football coach since the program's inception in 1883, and he takes over the helm of a Bison squad that has enjoyed winning seasons in seven of the last eight years.
"I have worked a very long time in this profession to earn a tremendous opportunity such as this," said Landis. "To coach at a quality educational institution like Bucknell that also has a long and proud history of football is the culmination of a lifelong dream of mine."
"Not only has Tim Landis shown that he is an outstanding football coach, but he has achieved an impressive track record of recruiting and developing student-athletes at highly selective academic institutions," said Hardt. "Bucknell places great emphasis on developing the highest caliber student-athletes, both on and off the playing field, and we believe that Coach Landis is a perfect fit to lead our football program and successfully build on our established traditions."
Following a seven-year tenure as head coach at Davidson College, Landis has spent the last three seasons building a winning program at St. Mary's (Calif.) College. In both positions, he garnered national accolades for turning modestly successful programs into winners.
Upon his arrival at St. Mary's in the spring of 2000, the Gaels had been just 4-17 over the previous two seasons. Landis quickly forged a 6-5 season in his first year at the Moraga, Calif., school, marking the program's best one-year turnaround since football was reinstated at St. Mary's in 1967. The Gaels finished 6-5 again in 2001, and Landis was honored as the Division I-AA Independent Coach of the Year.
Landis helped Davidson to a school-record eight victories in both 1998 and 1999, while laying the groundwork for a perfect 10-0 season the year after his departure to St. Mary's. Prior to Landis' arrival, Davidson had enjoyed just one winning campaign since 1980, but the Wildcats promptly went 6-4 in 1993 under the then first-year coach, and they would go on to enjoy four winning seasons in his seven years at the North Carolina institution.
Landis, who has a career head coaching record of 53-52-1, is very familiar with Bucknell and the Patriot League, having coached against league teams at both Davidson and St. Mary's. The Bison and Gaels met in each of the last two seasons, with St. Mary's winning 23-22 in overtime this fall and Bucknell capturing a 38-3 decision in 2001.
St. Mary's 2000 team gained acclaim for its victories over nationally ranked Colgate and a talented Towson squad. All told, Landis enjoyed a 4-3 record against the Patriot League during his tenure at St. Mary's. He also posted a win over recent Patriot League newcomer Georgetown during his stint at Davidson.
"Having so many roots in the East, I have followed the Patriot League for a long time and it is becoming one of the premier conferences in Division I-AA football," Landis said. "Just look at the success that Patriot League teams have had in the I-AA playoffs. Every school in the league has academic prestige and football prestige. That is a great combination."
Landis' offensive attack posted some prolific numbers at St. Mary's. In his first season the Gaels spread option ranked fourth nationally in rushing at 309.5 yards per game and 24th nationally in total offense at 434.4. The team broke school records for total yards (4778) and touchdowns (50) in a season. Defensively, the Gaels were equally opportunistic, ranking 12th in Division I-AA in turnovers forced (32). St. Mary's also ranked fourth in the country in rushing offense in 2001 and fifth in 2002.
At St. Mary's, Landis coached an Associated Press First Team All-American in defensive end Travis White, and he mentored a total of seven Verizon Academic All-District honorees in the last three years.
In his final season at Davidson, the Wildcats defense led the nation with a school-record 28 interceptions, including eight by All-American Ryan Crawford. Landis' special teams unit blocked a Division I-AA record 13 kicks in 1999, and the defense allowed only 101 rushing yards per game to rank 13th in the nation.
In 1998, Davidson ranked first nationally in pass efficiency defense, second in scoring defense (a stingy 10.4 points per game allowed), fourth in total defense (231.9 yards per game) and 12th in rushing defense.
Landis originally joined the Davidson staff as its defensive line coach in 1991, and two years later, at the age of 29, he became one of the nation's youngest head football coaches.
A native of Yardley, Pa., and a 1982 graduate of The Hun School in Princeton, N.J., Landis went on to earn a bachelor of arts degree in English from Randolph-Macon College in 1986. A First Team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference honoree both as a quarterback in football and a pitcher in baseball, Landis was inducted into the Randolph-Macon Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. He was the ODAC Baseball Player of the Year in 1986, and he also earned the school's Compton Award for excellence in academics and athletics. This past May, he was inducted into The Hun School's Hall of Fame.
Landis took his initial steps into the coaching profession in 1986, when he remained at Randolph-Macon to coach his alma mater's wide receivers. In 1988, he began a three-year stint as head football and baseball coach at Morrisville (Pa.) High School, where he led the grid squad to an 8-2 record, a state ranking and coach of the year honors by the Bucks County Courier Times, the Bicentennial Athletic League and the Independence Football League. He also guided the baseball team to a conference championship. During his final two years at the school, he served as director of athletics.
Landis returned to the collegiate level in 1991, when he was hired as an assistant at Davidson.
Off the field, Landis is a member of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), where he serves as the chairman of that organization's Division I-AA All-America Selection Committee. He is also a member of the I-AA AFCA Board of Directors Executive Committee.
Landis and his wife Karen have two children - 10-year-old son T.J. and one-year-old daughter Jordan.
After recording seven straight winning seasons from 1995-2001, including a Patriot League championship in 1996 and a school-record 10-win season in 1997, Bucknell slipped to 2-9 in 2002. Still, the Bison led the Patriot League in total defense and accumulated a school-record 10 blocked kicks this fall, and the team is expected to return 14 starters in 2003.
Landis succeeds Tom Gadd, who won a school-record 48 games in seven seasons before stepping aside prior to the 2002 season to wage a battle with cancer.
Bucknell sponsors 26 intercollegiate sports, 14 each for women and 12 for men, at the Division I level (1-AA in football). It is a charter member of the Patriot League and has won the league's all-sports championship in nine of the 12 years it has been contested. Bucknell continually ranks among the top institutions in student-athlete graduation rate in Division I every year, and ranks third in Division I in producing Academic All-Americans.
