DAYTON -- University of Dayton football coach Rick Chamberlin announced today that he is stepping down as UD's football coach, ending a 48-year Dayton football era that spanned his time as a player, assistant coach and head coach at the Hilltop.

"After graduation most UD students have to leave the school that they love," Chamberlin said.  "But for me, I was the lucky one who got to stay and enjoy another 43 years at Dayton.  And for that I will always be grateful.

"But now it's time for someone else to have the privilege of being the University of Dayton's head football coach and learn how special it is to be a FLYER! "

Chamberlin's retirement comes just after a season that the Flyer football program won its 700th game, extended a scoring streak past 500 games, and missed making the NCAA FCS playoffs by one point.

Personally, Chamberlin won his 100th game this season, he is just the third D-I coach (out of 429 with 100 career wins) to play for his alma mater, immediately join (and never leave) the coaching staff, and then become the head coach while staying at only one school.

The first two were Knute Rockne, and the man who succeeded John Heisman at Georgia Tech, William A. Alexander.

"Coach Chamberlin is literally defined by the teams that he has put on the field over the last 14 years -- smart, tough, loyal, high-integrity, and a winner," UD President Dr. Eric Spina said.  "Rick's values are fully aligned with UD's values, and our football student-athletes have benefited as a result -- they are doctors, lawyers, engineers, educators, public servants -- each and every one contributing mightily to society. Make no doubt about it, Rick Chamberlin will be dearly missed, but his legacy at UD as a coach, mentor, and person is forever secure."

Flyer Vice-President and Director of Athletics Neil Sullivan sums it up.  "The University of Dayton has been blessed for nearly five decades to have Rick Chamberlin on our campus. He embodies the vision of education by connecting athletics to learning, leadership and service. He represents all that is UD. We will miss his leadership and presence, but are excited for Rick and his wife Jayne to experience the next chapter of life with their family.  On behalf of everyone he impacted in his 48 years, we thank him and  look forward to the Chamberlin family remaining part of our campus community."

Chamberlin's record at UD was 107-48, with a .690 winning percentage in 14 seasons as head coach.  He is third all-time in wins at UD, behind two College Football Hall of Fame members-- Mike Kelly (246 wins) and Harry Baujan (124).   His .690 winning percentage is second behind Kelly's .819 (and ahead of Baujan's .653).

He is the Pioneer Football League record holder in career victories with 80.  No other PFL coach has 60.

Chamberlin has been a part of 401 of UD's 701 wins – 26 as a player, 268 as an assistant coach, and 107 as a head coach.  He has also been a part of 523 of UD's 1,116 games.

Chamberlin, 65, was named the Dayton head football coach on January 23, 2008. A 1980 UD graduate and a member of the University's Athletic Hall of Fame, he was the 23rd head football coach since the program began in 1905. He was the first of the 11 modern era coaches to have lettered for the Flyers, and the second to be a graduate of the University of Dayton (Pete Ankney was the first when he coached in 1963 and 1964).

Chamberlin's head coaching tenure at UD included eight first-or-second-place finishes in the PFL.  It also included three firsts for the Flyer football program.  In 2010, the Flyers finished ranked 25th in both the AFCA and Sports Network polls, marking the first time in school history UD was nationally ranked in a Division I poll.  He was the school's first AFCA District Coach of the Year when he led the Flyers to the first FCS playoff appearance in 2015.

Dayton has had 65 football Academic All-Americans since 1970, and 20 of them came in Chamberlin's first 13 years as UD's head coach.

He had been on the Flyer coaching staff for 28 seasons before being named head coach. First as linebackers coach and then as defensive coordinator, Chamberlin helped mold the Dayton D's reputation for its preparation and execution as a unit. 

One of the hallmarks of the Dayton defense in the last five decades has been great play at linebacker. Not only has Chamberlin nurtured that as a coach, but he was one of the players who started that tradition in the late 1970's. A four-year letterwinner (1975-78) for the Flyers, Chamberlin was named to the Football Coaches Association Small College All-America team. He was the third Dayton player to be named a First Team All-American, and was the first defensive player.

He still holds the Dayton records for tackles in a career (419)  and in a single season (152) in 1978.

A native of Springfield, Ohio and a 1975 graduate of Springfield North High School, Chamberlin was a three-time all-city selection and Springfield Player of the Year as a senior. In four years at Dayton, he was credited with 385 tackles and led the team as a junior (115) and senior (121). He was the first two-time winner of the Chief Toscani Hitter Award and a member of UD's first NCAA Division III Playoff team in 1978.

He was inducted into the University of Dayton Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989.