The 1971 Livingston Tigers football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

team that represented Livingston University (later renamed the

University of West Alabama The University of West Alabama (UWA) is a public university in Livingston, Alabama. Founded in 1835, the school began as a church-supported school for young women called Livingston Female Academy. The original Board of Trustees of Livingston Fe ...

) in the

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the Mi ...

(GSC) during the

1971 NAIA Division I football season The 1971 NAIA Division I football season was the 16th season of college football sponsored by the NAIA and the second season of the league's two-division structure. The season was played from August to November 1971 and culminated in the 1971 NAIA ...

. In their second season under head coach

Mickey Andrews Mickey Andrews (born May 20, 1942) is a former American football coach. He is most known for his tenure as the defensive coordinator at Florida State for 26 seasons, from 1984 to 2009, under head coach Bobby Bowden. Andrews also served as the ...

, the Tigers compiled an 11–1 record (5–1 against conference opponents) and shared the GSC championship with . The Tigers advanced to the NAIA playoffs, defeating (25–2) in the semifinal and (14–12) in the Champion Bowl to win the NAIA Division I national football championship. At the end of the season, Andrews was named GSC Coach of the Year, and quarterback Clemit Spruiell was named GSC Offensive Player of the Year. Four Livingston players were named to the All-GSC team: Spruiell; linebacker Nels Strickland; defensive tackle Herbie Malone; and defensive end Adrian Gant.

Schedule

References

{{NAIA football national champion navbox Livingston Tigers West Alabama Tigers football seasons NAIA Football National Champions Gulf South Conference football champion seasons Livingston Tigers football