About the School and Program:
Massachusetts State, located in Canton, Massachusetts, was founded by a group led by Paul Revere back in 1803. It was a male-only school until the women’s suffrage act was passed by President Wilson in 1920. African-Americans and other minorities were first admitted into the school in 1930, before the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the South.
Legendary coach James Harper, with the guidance of longtime A.D. Kevin Allen, started the Mountaineers football program from scratch in 1980 with a rag-tag team of misfits and castoffs from other FBS and FCS programs, and the first few years in the Atlantic 10 conference were rough. They finally made the FCS playoffs for the first time in 1994. However, they were never able to break through and win their first championship until the late 90’s when they became contenders. In 1999, they advanced to their first FCS championship, defeating Stephen F. Austin 24-10 in the semis. They lost a heartbreaker to Jim Tressel-coached Youngstown State, the dynasty of the 90’s, 31-28 on a game winning field goal.
Their fortunes changed in the 2000’s though. In 2001, they finally won their first FCS title, 45-28 over Wofford. After again dominating the FCS competition in 2002 en route to another FCS title, they earned a promotion to the FBS and moved into the Big East in 2003, reuniting with arch-rival Luke U for 2 years. In 2005, Luke U moved to the ACC with Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech, with Wake Forest off to the Big East while Mass State stayed put in the Big East. USF’s football program disbanded after the 2005 season.
Being ineligible for postseason play until 2006 per NCAA rules, the Mountaineers finished 6-6 in 2003 and ‘04 and then 8-4 in 2005. It has been rumored that Mass State could be on the move to the ACC in the coming years.
One of coach Harper’s trademarks was uncovering gems in the recruiting field and was a guru at getting guys to play and act how he wanted, similar to 3 time Super Bowl Champion coach Bill Belichick and legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno. Harper often had standout players fall into his lap after being snubbed over by the bigger FBS schools, have guys with unfulfilled potential reach that or troubled recruits with lots of talent straighten themselves out. That’s the big reason the Mountaineers were competitive in the 90’s and early 2000's.
Over the years, Paul Revere Stadium has transformed from a 20,000 capacity field to a sort of luxury bowl shaped stadium, holding 75,000 with scoreboards on both ends, well-kept grass and a Big House feel for this football-crazed town.
