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 wi ...

team for the Abilene Christian University located in the U.S. state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. 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 ...

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, and Texas. Due to most of t ...

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.

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

Conference affiliations

* 1919–1924: Independent * 1925–1932: Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association * 1931–1932: Independent * 1933–1942, 1946–1953: Texas Conference ** 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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

* 2021–present:

Head coaching history

Notable former players

Notable alumni include: * Charcandrick West * Mitchell Gale * Grant Feasel * James Hill *

Ove Johansson Ove Claes Johansson (born March 31, 1948) is a former American football placekicker and the current holder of the record for the longest field goal ever kicked during an American football game, at , for Abilene Christian University in their Octo ...

Johnny Knox Johnny Otis Knox II (born November 3, 1986) is a former American football wide receiver who played three seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Abilene Christian University. He was selected by the Chica ...

* Clint Longley * Danieal Manning * Reggie McGowan * Wilbert Montgomery * Cle Montgomery * Johnny Perkins * Bernard Scott *

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 An ...

* Taylor Gabriel * Clyde Gates * Bob Oliver *

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 Richard ...

* John Layfield * Bernie Erickson *

Wayne Walton Wayne Walton (born October 15, 1948) is a former American football tackle and guard. He played for the New York Giants in 1971 and for the Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas ...

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