The 1983 Carson–Newman Eagles 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 with ...

team that represented Carson–Newman College (renamed

Carson–Newman University Carson–Newman University is a private Baptist university in Jefferson City, Tennessee. Carson-Newman is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1851, the university enrolls about 2,500 studen ...

in 2012) as a member of the

South Atlantic Conference The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) 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. The SAC was founded in 1975 as a ...

(SAC) during the

1983 NAIA Division I football season The 1983 NAIA Division I football season was the 28th season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the 14th season of play of the NAIA's top division for football. The season was played from August to November 1983 and culminated in th ...

. In its fourth year under head coach

Ken Sparks Ken Sparks (February 25, 1944 – March 29, 2017) was an American football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at Carson–Newman University in Jefferson City, Tennessee from 1980 until his retirement at the end of the 2016 sea ...

, the team compiled a 10–3 record (6–1 against conference opponents), won the SAC championship, and defeated in the Palm Bowl to win the NAIA national championship. It was the first of five national championships (1983,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, and

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

) won by Carson–Newman during the 1980s.

Schedule

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1983 Carson-Newman Eagles football team Carson-Newman Eagles Carson–Newman Eagles football seasons NAIA Football National Champions South Atlantic Conference football champion seasons Carson-Newman Eagles football