First season 1912 Location Huntsville, Texas All-time record 500–462–34 (.519) Division Division I (NCAA) Mascot Sammy Bearkat | Seating capacity 12,593 NCAA division Division I FCS Head coach K. C. Keeler Arena/Stadium Bowers Stadium Athletic director Bobby Williams | |
Field surface Real Grass Pro Artificial Surface Conference Southland Football Conference Rivals Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football, Texas State Bobcats football Profiles | ||
The Sam Houston State Bearkats football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Sam Houston State University located in the U.S. state of Texas. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Southland Conference. Sam Houston's first football team was fielded in 1912. The team plays its home games at the 12,593 seat Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, Texas. On January 23, 2014, K. C. Keeler was named the 15th head coach in Sam Houston State program history.
Contents
- History
- Head coaches
- National championships
- Conference championships
- Bowl game appearances
- Division I AAFCS Playoffs results
- Pritchett Field 19121985
- Bowers Stadium 1986present
- Stephen F Austin Lumberjacks
- Texas State Bobcats
- Bearkats in the National Football League
- National awards
- Conference awards
- Rushing records
- Passing records
- Receiving records
- Defensive records
- References
History
Sam Houston has fielded a football team since 1912 and have played continuously since 1946 following World War II. The only times the Bearkats did not field a football team were in 1918 for World War I and from 1943 to 1945 for World War II. The Bearkats competed independently from 1912 through 1923, in the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (TIAA) from 1924 to 1931, in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1932 to 1981, in NCAA Division II from 1982 to 1985 and in NCAA Division I-AA (now FCS) since the 1986 season.
The Bearkats have 11 conference championships, and have seen post-season NCAA playoff action in six seasons, with back-to-back NCAA Division I Championship game appearances in 2011–2012. Sam Houston State also has 3 bowl victories in four games, and one claimed National Championship from NAIA in the 1964 season.
Since starting the football program, the Bearkats are 498–460–34 overall through the 2015 season.
Head coaches
Ron Randleman is Sam Houston's and the Southland Conference's all-time winningest coach with 132 wins over a span of 23 years. Randleman also won conference Coach of the Year honors on four different occasions, in the Gulf Star Conference in 1985 and 1986, and in the Southland Conference in 1991, and 2001.
Paul Pierce coached the Bearkats to its only National Championship, and also won the 1965 Knute Rockne Little All-American Coach of the Year award.
Willie Fritz coached Sam Houston to back-to-back conference championships and back-to-back national title game appearances in only three years, while being awarded the 2011 AFCA National Coach of the Year award and the 2012 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year award. He was also named the 2012 AFCA Regional Coach of the Year.
On January 23, 2014, former Delaware head coach K. C. Keeler was named the 15th head coach in Sam Houston State program history.
National championships
In 1964, Sam Houston tied Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota) 7–7 in the NAIA National Championship. They were Co-champions with Moorhead.
Conference championships
* Denotes national champion. † Denotes shared title.
Conference affiliations
Bowl game appearances
*Denotes National Title gameDivision I-AA/FCS Playoffs results
The Bearkats have appeared in the I-AA/FCS playoffs ten times with an overall record of 17–10.
Pritchett Field (1912–1985)
The Bearkats' home for football was on Pritchett Field for 73 years (1912–1985) beginning with their first football game against Rice University in 1912. The field was named after Joseph Pritchett, brother of the university's fourth president Henry Carr Pritchett, and former owner of the land the field rests on.
The final football game played on Pritchett Field was a victory for the Bearkats with a score of 51–7, defeating Washburn University. Sam Houston State Football began playing games at Bowers Stadium following the 1985 season. The complex is currently home to Sam Houston Women's Soccer and Club Lacrosse.
On April 18, 2013, football was played on Pritchett Field for the first time since 1985 for the annual Orange-White spring game. The event also included the presentation of the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award to head coach Willie Fritz.
Bowers Stadium (1986–present)
Bowers Stadium, formerly Bearkat Stadium (1986–1989), is currently home to both Sam Houston State Football and the Track and Field programs beginning with the 1986 season. Bowers Stadium has a capacity of 14,000. However, 16,148 fans packed Bowers Stadium in 1994 to watch Alcorn State led by NFL bound quarterback Steve McNair in a 48-23 victory on regional ABC-TV.
Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
The Sam Houston State/Stephen F. Austin rivalry game, also known as the Battle of the Piney Woods, is a yearly rivalry held in Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The two teams have met 87 times with Sam Houston leading the series 50-35-2. The Battle of the Piney Woods is Texas' second longest FCS rivalry. The most recent meeting was a 56-49 thriller in favor of the Bearkats in front of 26,213 fans.
Texas State Bobcats
The rivalry between the Sam Houston State Bearkats and Texas State Bobcats is no longer active due to Texas State's moving to the FBS and former Western Athletic Conference. Texas State moved to the Sunbelt after the WAC fell apart. The Bearkats and Bobcats have played each other 89 times. Texas State currently leads the series 48-36-4. The most recent battle between the two squads was in 2011 and resulted in a 36-14 score in favor of Sam Houston at Bobcat Stadium.
Bearkats in the National Football League
Sam Houston has had 35 alumni play in the National Football League, with 18 players selected in the Draft.
National awards
Sam Houston State University has had a total of 73 players selected into the College Football All-America Team, including 43 NCAA All-Americans and 30 NAIA All-Americans. A number of these players have also been considered for major national awards.
Major honors
Conference awards
Sam Houston State has had 407 All-Conference selections and honorable mentions, including 202 in the Southland Conference, 25 in the Gulf Star Conference, 173 in the Lone Star Conference, and 7 in the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association.