The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 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 Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) located in the U.S. state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

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

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...

. On July 1, 2021, SFA joined the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

, which will relaunch its

football league The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

at the FCS level. Stephen F. Austin's first football team was fielded in 1923. The team plays its home games at the 14,575 seat

Homer Bryce Stadium Homer Bryce Stadium, located in Nacogdoches, Texas, is the home of Stephen F. Austin State University's Lumberjack football and Ladyjack and Lumberjack track and field events. The stadium includes a walking and running track open to the public. ...

Nacogdoches, Texas Nacogdoches ( ) is a small city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Nacogdoches is a sister city of the smaller, similarly named Natchito ...

Conference championships

† Co-champions

Head coaches

* Bob Shelton (1923–1928) *

Gene White Gene White was one of the original members of the 1954 Milan, Indiana championship basketball team that inspired the film ''Hoosiers (film), Hoosiers''. At 5'11" White played center for the Milan Indians. White's family owned a local feed store, ...

(1929–1936) * Red Willis (1937–1940) * Maurice A. Baumgarten (1941) * ''No team'' (1942–1945) * Bill Pierce (1946) * Ted Jefferies (1947–1955) * Harold J. Fischer (1956–1958) * Red Conkright (1959–1961) * Shorty Hughes (1962–1970) * John Levra (1971–1974) * Dick Munzinger (1975) *

Charles Simmons Charles Simmons may refer to: *Charles Simmons (gymnast) (1885–1945), British gymnast who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics *Charles Simmons (author) (1924–2017), American editor and novelist *Charles Simmons (author, born 1798), American cl ...

(1976–1981) * Jim Hess (1982–1988) * Lynn Graves (1989–1991) * John Pearce (1992–1998) * Mike Santiago (1999–2004) * Robert McFarland (2005–2006) *

J. C. Harper J. C. Harper (born December 13, 1965) is an American football coach and former player. He served as head football coach at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) from 2007 to 2013, compiling a record of 37 wins and 45 losses. Playing career Ha ...

(2007–2013) *

Clint Conque Clint Conque (born July 14, 1961) is a retired American college football coach and former player. Conque was the head football coach at the Central Arkansas Bears football, University of Central Arkansas (UCA) from 2000 to 2013 and served in the ...

(2014–2017) * Jeff Byrd (interim) (2018) *

Colby Carthel Colby Don Carthel (born August 29, 1976) is an American football coach who is the head coach at Stephen F. Austin State University, a position he has held since December 2018. Colby's first head coaching stint was at Texas A&M University-Commerc ...

(2019–present)

Notable former players

Notable alumni include: : * Bruce Alexander *

Derrick Blaylock Derrick Blaylock (born August 23, 1979) is a former American football running back of the National Football League. Blaylock was drafted in the 5th round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. Blaylock also played for the New York Jets. ...

Larry Centers Larry Eugene Centers (born June 1, 1968) is a former American football fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, mostly for his first-team, the Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals (1990–1998). Centers then played for the Washington ...

* KaRon Coleman *

Spike Dykes William Taylor "Spike" Dykes (March 14, 1938 – April 10, 2017) was an American football coach. A high school and college football coach throughout his career, he last served as head coach at Texas Tech University from 1986 to 1999. Coaching car ...

John Franklin-Myers John Franklin-Myers (born September 26, 1996) is an American football defensive end for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Stephen F. Austin. Early years Franklin-Myers attended and played h ...

* Todd Hammel *

Sam Hunt Sam Lowry Hunt (born December 8, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Cedartown, Georgia, Hunt played football in his high school and college years and once attempted to pursue a professional sports career before signing with MCA ...

Willie Jefferson Willie Hebert Jefferson III (born January 31, 1991) is a Canadian football defensive end for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Jefferson is a 3-time Grey Cup champion, winning his first ring at the 103rd Grey Cup w ...

Mark Moseley Mark DeWayne Moseley (born March 12, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played for Philadelphia Eagles (1970), the Houston Oilers (1971–7 ...

Bum Phillips Oail Andrew "Bum" Phillips Jr. (September 29, 1923 – October 18, 2013) was an American football coach at the high school, college and professional levels. He served as head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers fro ...

* Mike Quinn *

James Ritchey James Alan Ritchey (born July 10, 1973) is a former professional American football quarterback. He was signed by the Houston Oilers as an undrafted free agent in 1996 and was also a member of the Barcelona Dragons. Ritchey played college footba ...

* George Shirkey *

Jeremiah Trotter Jeremiah Trotter (born January 20, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons. He played college football for the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks and w ...

* Ben Wells

Postseason history

The Lumberjacks earned a berth in the FCS playoffs in 2009, the first postseason appearance for the team since 1995. The 2010 season marked the first time that the school had won an outright conference championship since 1989. The team's only

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

was the 1973 Poultry Bowl, in which the team defeated Gardner-Webb, 31–10, in

Gainesville, Georgia The city of Gainesville is the county seat of Hall County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 42,296. Because of its large number of poultry processing plants, it is often called the "Poultry Capital of t ...

Division I-AA/FCS Playoffs results

The Lumberjacks have appeared in the I-AA/FCS playoffs eight times with an overall record of 7–8.

Rivalries

The Lumberjacks have active rivalries with the

Northwestern State Demons The Northwestern State University athletic teams go by the Demons, with women's athletic teams generally called the Lady Demons, and its mascot is Vic the Demon. Once a member of the SIAA conference, the school now competes in the Southland Conf ...

and the

Sam Houston State Bearkats The Sam Houston State Bearkats are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Sam Houston State University, located in Huntsville, Texas. Sam Houston's colors are orange and white and their sports teams' nickname is the Bearkats. Sam Ho ...

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of December 4, 2022.

References

External links

* {{Western Athletic Conference football navbox American football teams established in 1923 1923 establishments in Texas