Name-a-Day Calendar, September 2: The Citadel Bulldogs
Page 300 of 365
Chosen in: 1909
Chosen by: Unclear; maybe head football coach Sam Costen?
The South Carolina Military Academy was established in 1842 and began playing intercollegiate sports around the turn of the 20th century, with baseball beginning in 1899, men’s basketball briefly playing in 1900 (and then not again until 1912), and football finally starting in 1905. At first, these teams were known as the Cadets, if they were known by any nickname at all; most often, they were just called “The Citadel team”.
In 1909, the football team unceremoniously changed their nickname to the Bulldogs. As far as I can gather, it’s unclear why. This was the debut season for head coach Sam Costen, so I would hazard a guess that he had something to do with it, but that’s conjecture.
The next year, the school itself changed its name to The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, the name it still uses today. Though the school had colloquially been known simply as “The Citadel” for years at that point, that was the first year “The Citadel Bulldogs” were official. It took a little while for local and regional newspapers to begin using the nickname, but it caught on within a few years.
Even military schools can’t resist the cuteness of the live bulldog mascot.
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