Long (and we do mean long) time East Stroudsburg coach Mike Terwilinger celebrates 500th game as a Warrior

At the FBS level, Mike Gundy is probably the ultimate Program Guy. Gundy was the greatest quarterback in Oklahoma State history for the greatest team in Oklahoma State history, before he became Oklahoma State's head coach, where he has since recruited a number of better QBs and coached a number of better teams. Since he first left Midwest City, Okla., for Stillwater in 1986, Gundy has spent 31 of his 36 years in Cowboy colors.

Mike Terwillinger looks at those numbers and laughs.

Terwillinger enrolled at East Stroudsburg State University in 1974 and never left. He started at quarterback all four years for the Warriors, going 30-4-1 and leading the team to undefeated PSAC championships as a sophomore and a junior. His on-field exploits put him in the ESU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994.

But becoming the best quarterback in school history (at that time) was just the beginning.

Terwillinger graduated with a degree in health and physical education in the spring of 1978, then immediately joined Denny Douds's staff, coaching quarterbacks. 

And according to his ESU bio, 11 of Terwillinger's 27 quarterbacks have been named finalists for the Harlon Hill Trophy, the Division II equivalent of the Heisman, including future Penn State head coach James Franklin.

But the greatest player Mike Terwillinger ever coached was his own son, Jimmy. 

Jimmy Terwillinger was a 3-time Harlon Hill finalist and won the honor as a junior in 2005. He set 18 Division II records, including the three big ones -- passing yards, total offense, and passing touchdowns. Mike Terwillinger would later coach Matt Soltes would later break a number of his son's records, most impressively an eye-popping 3.2 passing touchdowns per game for his career.

 But, somehow, there's even more!

The younger Terwillinger left East Stroudsburg but remained in the family business. After a cup of coffee playing for the Minnesota Vikings, Jimmy entered coaching in the Pennsylvania high school ranks. He joined the ESU staff as defensive backs coach in 2015, was promoted to associate head coach, then named interim head coach when Douds ended his record 471-game run as head coach in 2018, and was then appointed full-time head coach in 2019. 

On Saturday, Mike Terwillinger celebrated his 500th game as a Warrior.

That leaves Gundy just 116 games and a record-breaking-quarterback-turned-head-coach son short of Terwillinger's legacy in Eastern Pennsylvania.