The UT Martin Skyhawks 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 Tennessee at Martin The University of Tennessee at Martin (UT Martin or UTM) is a public university in Martin, Tennessee. It is one of the five campuses of the University of Tennessee system. UTM is the only public university in West Tennessee outside of Memphis ...

Martin, Tennessee Martin is a city in Weakley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 11,473 according to the 2010 census. The city is the home of the University of Tennessee at Martin. History Martin is named for Captain William Martin. William ...

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

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 ...

. The school's first football team was fielded in 1925, while known as Hall-Moody Junior College (later changing it to University of Tennessee Junior College in 1927, which they kept until 1950). The team plays its home games at the 7,500 seat

Graham Stadium Hardy M. Graham Stadium is a 7,500-seat multi-purpose stadium in Martin, Tennessee. It is home to the University of Tennessee at Martin Skyhawks football team. The facility opened in 1964. It is located north of Tennessee State Route 431 (Univers ...

. They are coached by

Jason Simpson Jason Edwin Simpson (born January 25, 1971) is an American football coach. He is head football coach at the University of Tennessee at Martin, a position he has held since 2006. Simpson has led the UT Martin Skyhawks to two Ohio Valley Confere ...

. UT Martin's official mascot became the Skyhawks in 1995. The school lists three references regarding the name, such as the fact that when the school's first site was a Bible institute, the school's athletic teams were called "sky pilots", a frontier term for preachers. During World War II, UT Junior College contracted with the Naval War Training Service to help train pilots, who completed their flight training at an airport now near a high school. Also, Red-tail hawks are indigenous to the west Tennessee region. The previous names of the athletic team were the Junior Volunteers and the Pacers.

History

Classifications

*1961–1972: NCAA College Division *1973–1991: NCAA Division II *1992–present: NCAA Division I–AA/FCS

Conference memberships

*1925–1927: Independent *1928–1950: Mississippi Valley Conference *1951–1970:

Volunteer State Athletic Conference The Volunteer State Athletic Conference (VSAC) was a college athletic conference which was predominantly for smaller colleges in the U.S. state of Tennessee.Mid-South Athletic Conference Mid-South may refer to: * Mid-South (region), a region of the United States including portions of Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Missouri * East South Central States, a region of the United States * Memphis metropolitan area, Tennessee, U ...

*1972–1989:

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 Mid ...

*1990–1991: NCAA Division II Independent *1992–present:

Conference championships

UT Martin has won six conference championships, four outright and two shared. † denotes co-championship

Playoff appearances

NCAA Division I-AA/FCS

The Skyhawks have appeared in the FCS playoffs two times with an overall record of 1–2.

NCAA Division II

The Skyhawks have appeared in the Division II playoffs one time with an overall record of 1–1.

Notable former players

Notable alumni include: *

Romel Andrews Romel Andrews (born July 4, 1963) is a former American football defensive end who played eight seasons in the Canadian Football League with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He played college football at the University of Tennes ...

* Jeremy Butler * Mark Guy *

Montori Hughes Montori Hughes (born August 25, 1990) is a former American football nose tackle. He played college football at University of Tennessee at Martin, and was selected in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. He has also be ...

Leon Reed Leon Reed (born January 22, 1967) is a former American football quarterback who played one season with the Maryland Commandos of the Arena Football League (AFL). Career He played college football at the University of Tennessee at Martin. At Ten ...

Jerry Reese Jerry Reese (born July 22, 1963) is a former American football executive, player, and coach. He was a member of the New York Giants for 23 years, serving as their General manager (American football), general manager from 2007 to 2017 where he wo ...

* Fred Thomas * Ray Williams

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of December 8, 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks football American football teams established in 1925 1925 establishments in Tennessee