The Morehead State Eagles football program is the intercollegiate

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 for

Morehead State University Morehead State University (MSU) is a public university in Morehead, Kentucky. The university began as Morehead Normal School, which opened its doors in 1887. The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, a two-year residential ea ...

located in the U.S. state of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the

Pioneer Football League The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference. It has member s ...

, the only public school in the conference. Morehead State's first football team was fielded in 1927. The team plays its home games at the 10,000 seat

Jayne Stadium Jayne Stadium is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Morehead, Kentucky, United States. It opened in 1964 and is home to the Morehead State University Eagles football team. Surrounding Jacobs Field, the stadium hosts press and VIP facilities, ...

Morehead, Kentucky Morehead is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city located along U.S. Route 60 in Kentucky, US 60 (the historic Midland Trail) and Interstate 64 in Kentucky, Interstate 64 in Rowan County, Kentucky, Rowan County, Kentucky, in the United ...

. The Eagles are coached by

Rob Tenyer Rob Tenyer is 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 goalpost ...

History

Classifications

*1952–1972: NCAA College Division *1973–1977: NCAA Division II *1978–present: NCAA Division I–AA/FCS

Conference memberships

*1924–1928: Independent *1929–1932:

West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) was a collegiate athletic conference which historically operated exclusively in the state of West Virginia, but briefly had one Kentucky member in its early years, and expanded into Pe ...

*1933: Independent *1934–1941:

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) football programs were members of this conferen ...

*1942–1945: Independent *1946–1947:

Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The River States Conference (RSC), formerly known as the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC), is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Although it was historical ...

*1948–1995:

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It participates in NCAA Divisi ...

*1996–2000: Division I–AA Independent *2001–present:

Championships

Conference championships

Morehead State has won two conference championships, one shared and one outright.http://www.msueagles.com/documents/2017/1/18/MSU_Football_Record_Book_112216.pdf † co-champions

Divisional championships

From 2001 to 2005, the

was divided into North and South Divisions. As winners of the Pioneer Football League's South Division, Morehead State has made four appearances in the Pioneer Football League Championship Game, in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. Morehead State shared the Division title with

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

in 2004, but the tie-breaker allowed the Eagles to represent the division in the championship game. † Denotes co-champions

Notable former players

Notable alumni include: * QB

Mike Gottfried Mike Gottfried (born December 17, 1944) is a sportscaster and former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Murray State University (1978–1980), the University of Cincinnati (1981–1982), the University of ...

(1962–1965) * C

Nick Nighswander Nicholas M. Nighswander (born November 3, 1952) is a former professional American football player who played Center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various c ...

(1970–1973) * TE

Gary Shirk Gary Lee Shirk (born February 23, 1950) is a former professional American football tight end. He played with the New York Giants of the National Football League for seven seasons. He also played in the World Football League for the Memphis Sou ...

(1970–1973) * QB

Phil Simms Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former football quarterback who spent his entire 15-year professional career playing for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He is currently a television sport ...

(1975–1978) * LB

Rob Lyttle Rob Lyttle (born 28 January 1997) is an Irish rugby union player who plays wing for Ulster. Born in Donaghcloney, County Down, he played mini rugby at Dromore RFC as a child. He attended Royal Belfast Academical Institution, where he appeared i ...

(1994) * DB

Greg Bright Gregory Keith Bright (born August 2, 1957) is a former American football defensive back who played two seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Bengals in the ninth round of the 1980 NFL Dr ...

(1976-1980) * LB Zack Moore (1996–1998) * QB David Dinkins (1998–2000) * DB David Hyland (2005–2008) * DL Derik Steiner (2006–2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morehead State Eagles Football American football teams established in 1927 1927 establishments in Kentucky