Prairie View AandM Panthers football

History

The first football coach at Prairie View was H.B. Hucles, who began in 1924. Before Hucles's arrival at Prairie View, the school played two games without a coach on record: a 1907 7–0 win against a team from Wylie, Texas and a 1920 7–6 loss to Tuskegee University.

Prairie View's most recognized and celebrated coach was William "Billy" Nicks. Nicks was head coach in 1945–47, assistant coach in 1948–51, and head coach again in 1952–65. His record for 17 years was 127-39-8. He led the Panthers to 8 Southwestern Athletic Conference championships and 5 black college national championships. Nicks was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999. Coach Nicks was named the American Football Coaches Association’s recipient of the Trailblazer Award. The award was presented posthumously at the AFCA Kickoff Luncheon on Monday, January 7 at the 2008 AFCA Convention in Anaheim, California.

Prairie View is recognized as the first historically Black university to create and play in a post-season bowl game. The Prairie View Bowl was played in Texas between 1928 and 1962.

The Prairie View A&M Football team won Black college football national championship titles in 1953, 1954, 1958, 1963, and 1964 and Southwestern Athletic Conference Championships SWAC in 1933, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1960, 1963, 1964. and recently in 2009. Notable football players that have achieved success in the National Football League (NFL) are National Football Hall of Fame Inductee Kenny Houston, who played for the Houston Oilers and Washington Redskins and Otis Taylor, who won a World Championship with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1969. On a small note of significance, Charlie "Choo Choo" Brackins, who played from 1952–1955, was the first HBCU alumnus to play quarterback in the NFL.

The team lost 80 consecutive games in 1989–98, almost doubling Columbia University's 44 straight losses between 1983–1988. The team had no scholarships to offer athletes and fielded a team comprised entirely of walk-ons.

On November 10, 2007, it clinched its first winning season since 1976 with a 30–27 victory over traditional power Jackson State University under then head coach Henry Frazier, III.

In 1999 the SWAC moved to a new divisional format with Western Division and Eastern Division champions to play for the SWAC Championship. On November 14, 2009, it clinched its first SWAC Western Division Championship by defeating Alcorn State. The next weekend would see the Panthers go undefeated in the SWAC by defeating Arkansas Pine Bluff and securing an 8–1 record, their only loss during the season to New Mexico State. They finished the season by winning the SWAC Championship on December 12, defeating Eastern Division Champion Alabama A&M 30-24 in the SWAC Championship Game. They exited the 2009 SWAC football campaign with an unblemished 9-0 SWAC conference record. They were led by their quarterback 6'4' 225 pound, swift-footed KJ Black who led all quarterbacks in the SWAC with an outstanding passer effiency rating of 168.1 their SWAC second leading rusher in Donald Babers that averaged 5.2 yards per carry.

New Stadium

In November 2014, Prairie View A&M broke ground on Panther Stadium at Blackshear Field, a $60 million football stadium and athletic field house. Completed in the summer of 2016, the facility is 55,000 square feet and currently holds up to 15,000 people, but is expandable to 30,000 attendees. It features 12 private suites and press box for media operations. Prairie View A&M hosted its first game on September 4, 2016 in front of sold out crowd, claiming victory in the Labor Day Classic over archrival Texas Southern 29 to 25. Prairie View finished its inaugural season in its new home stadium with three wins and one loss.

Annual Classics

Classifications

Conference memberships

Championships

College Football Hall of Fame members

Alumni in the NFL

Over 30 Prairie View alumni have played in the NFL, including: