Rensselaer’s winningest head football coach of all time, Joe King returns to the sidelines for his 21st season at the helm.
During his tenure, King has taken the program, which began in 1886, to new heights. He has compiled a 146-55-2 record for a .724 winning percentage, making him the most successful football coach in terms of wins and winning percentage in the 122-year history of Rensselaer football.
Over the past 17 seasons he has a combined 137-39 (.778) mark, including two perfect regular seasons (9-0 i
n 1999, 8-0 in 2001), five league championships (1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2007), eight ECAC Bowl appearances – all wins (1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008) – and four NCAA Playoff appearances (1999, 2001, 2003, 2007), highlighted by a trip to the National Semifinals in 2003.
In the past six years the Engineers have earned 47 wins and have played in eight playoff games — boasting a 6-2 record in the post-season.
The Engineers posted an 8-2 record in 2008 — the 15th time RPI has won at least seven games in a season under King — and captured the ECAC North Atlantic Championship. The offense led the Liberty League in scoring (29.8 points per game) and passing (265.5 yards per game) and ranked second in total offense (372.7). Defensively, RPI held its opponents to league-bests of 16.3 points and 118.8 rushing yards per game. Rensselaer also paced the league in kickoff returns, averaging 24.3 yards per return.
The 2007 season saw King earn Liberty League Coach of the Year as well as being one of five Liberty Mutual National Coach of the Year finalists after leading the Engineers to an 8-2 record, including a 6-1 league mark. They won the Liberty League Championship and played in the NCAA Tournament.
The Engineers, who won their first seven games – including both trophy games – averaged 27.5 points and 395.1 yards per contest.
They had 133.6 yards rushing and 261.5 yards passing per game and ranked among the leaders in the Liberty League in scoring offense, passing offense, total offense, passing efficiency (143.73) and sacks against (18).
The defense allowed an average of 13.8 points and 287.0 yards per game, including 105.3 rushing and 181.7 passing. RPI was among the league’s best in rushing defense, total defense, scoring defense and sacks (33).
Individually, 12 student-athletes earned All-Liberty League awards, a league-high 20 were All-Academic honorees and six were named ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District. Five of the six were on the First Team, including senior offensive lineman Dave Dillen, who was also chosen to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America First Team. Dillen is Rensselaer’s 15th National Academic All-America in the last 13 years in football alone.
The highlight of King’s tenure at Rensselaer thus far came in 2003, when he led the Engineers to a school-record 11 wins (11-2) and a spot in the Division III National Semifinals for the first time in school history. It was RPI’s third NCAA Tournament appearance — and fourth trip to the post-season — in the past five years. Among the team’s 11 victories were wins in all three Trophy Games and the school’s first three NCAA Tournament wins.
The Engineers ranked among the leaders in the nation in numerous statistical categories and established more than 50 school records.
They were listed in the top 10 in the final national rankings in every poll and were recognized as the ECAC Division III Upstate Team of the Year. RPI was also the recipient of the prestigious Lambert Meadowlands Team of the Year Award. Five players earned All-America recognition and King and his staff were honored as the league’s Coaching Staff of the Year. In addition, King was selected as the East Region Coach of the Year, the Division III Coach of the Year by Schutt Sports, and Rensselaer’s Coach of the Year, as selected by the school’s coaching staff.
The 2001 season marked the second time in the past three the Engineers posted an undefeated regular season (8-0) and were selected to the NCAA Playoffs. RPI, which won its fourth league title in the past five years that season, was the top seed in the East Region and played in the second round of the national tournament for the first time in school history.
The 1999 campaign saw the Engineers win their third straight league title while compiling a perfect regular season record (9-0) on their way to being invited to the NCAA Playoffs for the first time ever. In addition, the team climbed to its highest rankings ever at that time in two national polls. RPI also led the nation in turnover margin, ranked third in scoring defense, sixth in pass efficiency defense and seventh in rushing defense.
King, a five-time league Coach of the Year, also led the Engineers to a tremendous season in 1999 when Rensselaer won nine straight games on its way to finishing 9-1. The only loss came in overtime to eventual NCAA qualifier Coast Guard in the season opener. RPI won its fourth ECAC title in six years and King and his assistants earned league Staff of the Year honors as well as the ECAC Upstate New York award.
Since King took over the reigns in 1989 more than 30 pre-season All-Americas, 20 post-season All-Americas (including Rensselaer’s first American Football Coaches Association First Team All-America in 1996) and countless All-Region and All-Conference honorees have worn the RPI uniform. Additionally, all nine of the school’s First Team National Academic All-Americas have suited up for King. Under his tutelage, the Engineers have tied or set almost every school record.
A native of nearby Ballston Spa, N.Y., King is accustomed to winning, not only in college but also at the high school level, earning an impressive 52-23-3 (.686) record. He began his coaching career at St. Peter’s High School in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where he served as athletic director, football coach and baseball coach. He turned around a football program that had not claimed a single win in the previous five seasons. In his second year, King led St. Peter’s to a 7-1 record, as well as to ninth place in the New York State rankings.
He also led the baseball team to the Parochial League Championship in his two seasons as head coach.
After two years at St. Peter’s, King went on to Watervliet High School, where he inherited a program that had only one winning season in 23 years. In his seven years with the Cannoneers, he compiled a 44-16-2 (.726) mark. He guided the team to six winning seasons, including 1979 when it went 8-0-1 and won the Section 2 Class C title. While at Watervliet, King, who also taught social studies, was named the Troy Area High School Coach of the Year by The Record four times and the Capitaland High School Coach of the Year once by the Times Union. Among the players he mentored was Tim Sherwin, who went on to have a standout career as a tight end with the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants in the National Football League.
King, who was named the 2002 Rensselaer Person of the Year by the staff of The Polytechnic, the student newspaper, as well as the Coach of the Year by the Institute’s coaching staff, arrived at Rensselaer in 1981, spending his first five seasons as an assistant coach. He then enjoyed a three-year stint as associate head coach before being appointed head coach in 1989.
In addition to his duties as head football coach, King also serves as an assistant athletic director, a position he has held for the past eight years. Among his duties in that role are handling the athletic department’s internship program, coordinating game-day management and heading the department’s safety issues and concerns. He has also been RPI’s head track & field coach.
A 1970 graduate of Siena College with a bachelor’s degree in history, King played football and baseball as an undergraduate.
He and his wife, Gail, make their home in Saratoga Springs. They have two grown sons, Joe, who assists the program with recruiting, and Kevin, who is an assistant coach with the Engineers.
