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- The Lehigh Mountain Hawks football program represents Lehigh University in college football. Lehigh competes as the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level as members of the Patriot League. The Mountain Hawks play their home games at Goodman Stadium in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Tom Gilmore has served as the team's head coach since 2019. The program ranks 40th all-time in terms of wins with 680 (out of 1,312 games played) for a winning percentage of 56%. Since 1945, the modern era, Lehigh has won at a 60% pace. Their win–loss record against Lafayette since this time is also 60%. The Lehigh football program officially began in 1883 when student J. S. Robeson organized a football team to play against the University of Pennsylvania's sophomore class team. Athlete and future journalist Richard Harding Davis was a part of that squad. "J. S. Robeson is the father of football at Lehigh," Davis recalled for the Lehigh Quarterly of 1891. "It was he who induced the sophomores at the University of Pennsylvania to send their eleven up to play an eleven from the class of '86 on December 8th, 1884, and it was he who captained the Varsity team the following year." In 1884, Lehigh's intercollegiate team was formed, and Lafayette team captain Theodore Welles immediately approached Robeson to challenge them, establishing a rivalry which continues to today. At the start of the 2011 season, Lehigh is ranked among the institutions that have played the most games (1,241), compiled the most victories (637). Since 1986, Lehigh has been a charter member of the Patriot League, formerly called the Colonial League. Lehigh has won ten Patriot League titles and has played in 20 postseason games, winning 10 of the contests. Along the way, Lehigh has won a Division II National Championship (1977) and has been national runner up in the I-AA tournament in 1979. (en)
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