The Northern Colorado Bears 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 the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...

located in

Greeley, Colorado Greeley is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, Weld County, Colorado, ...

. The team competes in the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eig ...

at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The university's first football team was fielded in 1893. The team plays its home games at the 8,533 seat

Nottingham Field Nottingham Field is an 8,533-seat multi-purpose stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado. It is home to the Northern Colorado Bears football and track and field ...

on campus. The Bears announced the hiring of Ed Lamb on December 6th, 2022, replacing

Ed McCaffrey Edward Thomas McCaffrey, Jr. (born August 17, 1968) is an American football coach and former wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons. McCaffrey played college football for Stanford University and ea ...

, who went 6–16 in two seasons.

Conference affiliations

Below is the list of conferences in which Northern Colorado has been a member. *

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...

(1923–1971) *

Great Plains Athletic Conference The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The con ...

(1972–1975) * NCAA Division II independent (1976–1979) *

North Central Conference The North Central Conference (NCC), also known as North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, was a college athletic conference which operated in the north central United States. It participated in the NCAA's Division II. History The NCC ...

(1980–2002) *

Great West Football Conference The Great West Conference (GWC) was an NCAA college athletic conference in the continental United States. Originally a football-only league, it became an all-sports entity during the 2008–09 season. The GWC stopped sponsoring football following ...

(2004–2005) *

(2006–present)

Championships

National championships

Northern Colorado made two appearances in the NCAA Division II National Championship Game. The Bears defeated Carson–Newman, 23–14 in 1996, and later defeated

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, 51–0 in 1997.

Conference championships

† Co-champions

Division championships

Playoff appearances (NCAA Division II)

The Bears have appeared in the NCAA Division II playoffs nine times with an overall record of 12–7.

Attendance

Highest attendance

Below is a list of the Bears best-attended home games at Nottingham Field. As of the 2014 season.

Yearly attendance

Source: Below is the Bears home attendance by season at Nottingham Field. As of the 2015 season.

Notable former players

Notable alumni include: *

Reed Doughty Reed Doughty (born November 4, 1982) is a former American football safety who played in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round, with the 173rd overall pick, of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played co ...

Vincent Jackson Vincent Terrell Jackson (January 14, 1983 – February 15, 2021) was an American professional football player who played as a wide receiver for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Northern Colorad ...

Dirk Johnson Dirk Johnson (born June 1, 1975) is a former American football punter. He is most notable for his four season tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles. After playing college football at Northern Colorado, Johnson signed with the Seattle Seahawks as a ...

* Jeff Knapple *

Bill Kenney William Patrick Kenney (born January 20, 1955) is an American former quarterback who spent nine years in the National Football League with the Kansas City Chiefs from 1980 to 1988 and a former politician who spent 8 years as a Missouri State S ...

* Corte McGuffey *

Brad Pyatt Bradley James Pyatt (born April 16, 1980 in Arvada, Colorado) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League and Arena Football League. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent ...

* Tony Ramirez * Aaron Smith *

Loren Snyder Loren Howard Snyder (born November 28, 1963) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the University of Northern Colorado. Early years Snyder attended Thorn ...

* Dave Stalls * Frank Wainright *

Jed Roberts Jed Roberts (born November 10, 1967) was a Canadian Football League defensive end and linebacker who played thirteen seasons for the Edmonton Eskimos. His father was Jay Roberts, a former tight end with the Ottawa Rough Riders. External links * ...

Herve Tonye-Tonye Herve Tonye-Tonye (born May 15, 1988) is a professional Canadian football linebacker who is currently a free agent. He was drafted 24th overall by the Argonauts in the 2012 CFL Draft, but played out his final year of college eligibility before sig ...

* Cedric Tillman *

Brian Scott Brian Joseph Scott (born January 12, 1988) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. Racing career Beginnings Scott has been racing competitively since the age of 12. One of his early career highlights came at the 360 Nationals ...

* Kyle Sloter

Move to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)

Since moving to the Big Sky Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) from Division II in 2006 the bears have struggled compiling a conference win - loss record of 28 and 100 as of the 2022 Season.

References

External links

* {{Big Sky Conference football navbox American football teams established in 1893 1893 establishments in Colorado