The Abilene Christian Wildcats 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

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Churches of Christ, Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Sout ...

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 was a member 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 ...

through the 2020–21 season, but 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 ...

in July 2021, coinciding with that league's reinstatement of football as an official conference sport. The school's first football team was fielded in 1919. The team plays its home games at the on-campus

Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium is a stadium in Abilene, Texas. It is used as the home field of the Abilene Christian Wildcats football team. The stadium currently seats 12,000 people. The stadium's field is named after Abilene Christian Univers ...

History

Football classifications

* 1951–1972: College Division (small school) * 1952–1969: NAIA * 1970–1982: NAIA Division I * 1982–2012:

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

* 2013–present:

NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

''Abilene Christian did not field a team in 1943–1945.''

Conference affiliations

* 1919–1924: Independent * 1925–1932:

Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (TIAA) was a college sports association that operated from 1909 to 1932. All of its members were located in the US state of Texas. History Founded in 1909 by Southwestern University, Austin College, ...

* 1931–1932: Independent * 1933–1942, 1946–1953:

Texas Conference The Texas Conference was a college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1926 to 1956. During its existence, a total of 11 different colleges in Texas, and one from New Mexico, were members. History The conference was created ...

** No team 1943–1945 due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

* 1954: Independent * 1955–1956:

Gulf Coast Conference The Gulf Coast Conference (GCC) was a short-lived NCAA college athletic conference composed of universities in the U.S. state of Texas from 1949 until 1957. The charter members of the conference were University of Houston, Midwestern University ( ...

* 1957–1963: Independent * 1964–1972:

* 1973–2012:

Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in Tex ...

* 2013: NCAA Division I FCS independent * 2014–2020:

* 2021–present:

Head coaching history

Notable former players

Notable alumni include: * Charcandrick West *

Mitchell Gale Mitchell Gale (born January 7, 1990) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Abilene Christian University and attended Alva High School in Alva, Oklahoma. Gale has been a member of the Toronto Argonauts, Hamilto ...

* Grant Feasel * James Hill * Ove Johansson * Johnny Knox *

Clint Longley Howard Clinton "Clint" Longley, Jr. (born July 28, 1952) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) with the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers. He also was a member of the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadia ...

Danieal Manning Danieal LaCraig Manning (born August 9, 1982) is a former American football safety. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at Abilene Christian. High school career Before colleg ...

* Reggie McGowan *

Wilbert Montgomery Wilbert Montgomery (born September 16, 1954) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine years with the Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions. He was also the running ...

* Cle Montgomery *

Johnny Perkins John Eugene Perkins (April 21, 1953 – April 25, 2007) was an American football wide receiver in the National Football League who spent his entire career with the New York Giants. Perkins was born in Franklin, Texas. He played college football ...

Bernard Scott Bernard Scott (born February 10, 1984) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the sixth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at Abilene Christian. His brother Daryl Richardson i ...

Major Culbert Major Culbert (born December 29, 1987) is a former American football linebacker. He first enrolled at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln before transferring to Abilene Christian University. He attended Narbonne High School in Harbor City, Los A ...

Taylor Gabriel Taylor James Gabriel (born February 17, 1991) is a former American football wide receiver who played for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football at Abilene Christian, he signed with the Cleveland B ...

Clyde Gates Edmond Darell "Clyde" Gates (born June 13, 1986) is a former American football wide receiver. Gates was drafted by the Miami Dolphins as the 111th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. He is the cousin of running backs Bernard Scott and Daryl Rich ...

Bob Oliver Robert Lee Oliver (February 8, 1943 – April 19, 2020) was an American professional baseball first baseman and outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1965), Kansas City Royals (1969–72), Califo ...

Daryl Richardson Daryl Lashay Richardson (born April 12, 1990) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football at Abilene Christian. College career Richar ...

John Layfield John Charles Layfield (born November 29, 1966), better known by the ring name John "Bradshaw" Layfield (abbreviated to JBL), is an American retired professional wrestler and football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on ...

* Bernie Erickson * Wayne Walton

Championships

National championships

Conference championships

† Co-champions

Division championships

† Co-champions

Bowl games

Playoff appearances

NCAA Division II

The Wildcats have appeared in the Division II playoffs six times with an overall record of 3–6.

NAIA

The Wildcats have appeared in the NAIA playoffs two times with an overall record of 4–0. They were National Champions in 1973 and 1977.

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of December 18, 2022.

References

External links

* American football teams established in 1919 1919 establishments in Texas {{Texas-sport-team-stub