Athletic director Jared Bruggeman Seating capacity 7,000 Location Joplin, Missouri Head coach Denver Johnson Ground Fred G. Hughes Stadium Claimed national titles 1 (1972) | Year built 1975 Field surface SpinTurf NCAA division Division II Mascot Roary the Lion First season 1968 Colors Green, Gold | |
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Conference Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association | ||
The Missouri Southern Lions football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Missouri Southern State University located in the U.S. state of Missouri. The team competes in the NCAA Division II and are members of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The team plays its home games at the 7,000 seat Fred G. Hughes Stadium in Joplin, Missouri. Denver Johnson became the Lions' head coach on April 1, 2015, replacing Daryl Daye, who resigned after the 2014 season to take over as the defensive coordinator at Northwestern State.
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History
The Lions football program began in 1968. Their first head coach was Jim Johnson. Under coach Jim Frazier the Lions won the 1972 NAIA Division II football championship.
Conferences
From its inaugural season in 1968 until 1975, Missouri Southern played as an independent program. In 1976, it joined the Central States Intercollegiate Conference in which the school won one conference championships before leaving to play as an NCAA Division II member of the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association (later renamed Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) in 1989, where the Lions have since remained a member and have won one conference championship.
All-time record vs. current MIAA teams
Official record (including any NCAA imposed vacates and forfeits) against all current MIAA opponents as of the end of the 2015 season: