St. Lawrence University Athletics

A 1957 graduate of St. Lawrence and a former Saint football player, Ted Stratford returned to his alma mater head wrestling coach in 1967 and became head football coach in 1969. He went on to establish the St. Lawrence record for football coaching victories during a ten-season career which included the first NCAA appearance for a Saint football team.

He became head football coach in 1969 and went 7-1 in his first season, the best record for a St. Lawrence team in nearly two decades. He went on to compile a 64-25 career record, a .719 winning percentage and took two teams to post-season play. His 1976 team went 8-1 in the regular season, its lone loss by a single point in a monsoon against Alfred, 3-2, and won the first NCAA playoff game in St. Lawrence football history, 26-7 over Albright College. The Saints made the NCAA semifinals that season before bowing in a shootout at Towson State, 38-36. He also took the 8-1 1978 team to the NCAA playoffs before taking the head football position at Hamilton College to start the 1979 season.

He spent four seasons as wrestling coach and took the 1970 and 1971 teams to ICAC championships and a 16-3 record in dual meets. He had 17 finalists and 12 individual champions in the 1970 and 1971 championship seasons.

A middle school science teacher and coach in Saranac Lake, NY prior to his death in December of 2006, the Bear coached a host of All America players and had an outstanding graduation rate for his program. Nine of his former football players and one of his former wrestlers are currently in the Athletic Hall of Fame and 31 standing Saint football records are held by players he coached.