McNeese Cowboys football

McNeese Cowboys football
2025 McNeese Cowboys football team
First season1940 (1940)
Athletic directorHeath Schroyer
Head coachMatt Viator
11th season, 83–40 (.675)
StadiumNavarre Stadium
(capacity: 17,610)
LocationLake Charles, Louisiana
NCAA divisionDivision I FCS
ConferenceSouthland
All-time record487–311–13 (.609)
Bowl record3–3–1 (.500)
Conference championships
SLC: 1976, 1979, 1980, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015
RivalriesCentral Arkansas (rivalry)
Lamar (rivalry)
Louisiana (rivalry)
Northwestern State (rivalry)
ColorsRoyal blue and gold[1]
   
Fight song"On Mcneese"
MascotRowdy
Marching band"The Pride of Mcneese"
WebsiteMcNeeseSports.com

The McNeese Cowboys football program is the intercollegiate American football team for McNeese State University located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Southland Conference. McNeese's first football team was fielded in 1940. The team plays its home games at the 17,410 seat Navarre Stadium in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

History

On August 31, 2013, McNeese opened their season by defeating the South Florida Bulls, 53–21. It was the largest margin of victory (32 points) by a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS, formerly I-AA) team over a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS, formerly I-A) team since the NCAA split Division I football into two divisions in 1978.[2]

McNeese State football played some of their original games at a stadium now named Lake Charles Boston High School Cougar Stadium.[3]

Championships

Conference championships

McNeese has won fourteen Southland Conference championships.[4][5]

Years Conference Overall Record Conference Record
1976 Southland Conference 10–2 4–1
1979 11–1 5–0
1980 10–2 5–0
1991† 6–4–2 4–1–2
1993 10–3 7–0
1995 13–1 5–0
1997† 13–2 6–1
2001 8–4 5–1
2002 13–2 6–0
2003 10–2 5–0
2006 7–5 5–1
2007 11–1 7–0
2009† 9–3 6–1
2015 10–1 9–0

† denotes co-champions

Division I-AA championship games

Bowl games

The Cowboys have participated in seven bowl games.[6]

Season Bowl Opponent Result
1947 Cajun Bowl Southern Arkansas T 0–0
1951 Cosmopolitan Bowl Louisiana College W 13–6
1962 Golden Isles Bowl Howard (AL) W 21–14
1971 Grantland Rice Bowl Tennessee State L 23–26
1976 Independence Bowl Tulsa W 20–16
1979 Independence Bowl Syracuse L 7–31
1980 Independence Bowl Southern Miss L 14–16

Rivalries

Central Arkansas

Main article: Red Beans and Rice Bowl

The two teams have met 13 times on the football field with Central Arkansas leading the series 7–6. Due to conference scheduling requirements, the most recent game was played in 2019.

McNeese–Central Arkansas: All-Time Record
Games played First meeting Last meeting McNeese wins McNeese losses Ties Win %
13 September 17, 1994 (won 21–7) October 12, 2019 (lost 31–40) 7 6 0 .538

Lamar

Main article: Battle of the Border (Lamar–McNeese State)

The two teams have met 43 times on the football field, with McNeese leading 29–13–1 in the series, along with an agreement with the two universities and Verizon Wireless.[7]

McNeese–Lamar: All-Time Record
Games played First meeting Last meeting McNeese wins McNeese losses Ties Win %
43 November 10, 1951 (won 13–7) November 22, 2025 (won 21–19) 29 13 1 .686

Louisiana

Main article: Cajun Crown

The Cajun Crown is the name of the rivalry trophy between Louisiana and McNeese, with McNeese leading 20–17–2 in the series.[8]

Louisiana–McNeese: All-Time Record
Games played First meeting Last meeting McNeese wins McNeese losses Ties Win %
39 September 22, 1951 (lost 14–35) September 6, 2025 (lost 10–34) 20 17 2 .538

Northwestern State

Main article: McNeese–Northwestern State football rivalry

McNeese leads the series with Northwestern State 50–23–1 through the 2025 season.

McNeese–Northwestern State: All-Time Record
Games played First meeting Last meeting McNeese wins McNeese losses Ties Win %
74 October 6, 1951 (won 38–21) November 1, 2025 (won 50–3) 50 23 1 .682

Notable former players

Notable alumni include:

NFL
  • Don Breaux - Denver (1963) and San Diego ('64-'65); also coordinated Washington Redskins (1981–1989, 1990–1993, 2004–2007) and various teams
  • Tom Sestak - AFL Buffalo Bills (1962–1968)
  • Leonard Smith - St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals (1983-1988), Buffalo Bills (1988–1991) (College Football Hall of Famer)
  • Stephen Starring - New England Patriots (1983–1987), Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1988)
  • Buford Jordan - New Orleans/Portland Breakers (1984–1985) USFL, New Orleans Saints (1986–1992)
  • Kavika Pittman - Dallas Cowboys (1996–99), Denver (2000–2002), Carolina (2003)
  • Zach Bronson - San Francisco 49ers (1997–2003); St. Louis (2004)
  • Kerry Joseph - Seattle Seahawks (1999–2002)
  • Keith Ortego - Chicago Bears (1985–1987)
  • Flip Johnson - Buffalo Bills (1988–1989)
  • Bryan Hicks - Cincinnati Bengals (1980–1982)
  • Jimmy Redmond – various teams (2001–2006)
  • Luke Lawton - various teams (2005–2010)
  • B. J. Sams - Baltimore Ravens (2004–2007); Kansas City Chiefs (2008)
  • B. J. Blunt - Washington Redskins (2019)
  • Diontae Spencer - St. Louis Rams (2014), Pittsburgh Steelers (2019), Denver Broncos (2019–2021), New York Jets (2022-2023)
  • Adam Henry - Assistant coach: Oakland Raiders (2007-11), San Francisco 49ers (2015), New York Giants (2016-2017), Cleveland Browns (2018-2019), Dallas Cowboys (2020-2021), Buffalo Bills (2023-present)
CFL
  • Kerry Joseph - Ottawa Renegades (2003–2005), Saskatchewan Roughriders (2006–2007, 2014), Toronto Argonauts (2008–2009), Edmonton Eskimos (2010–2013)
  • Diontae Spencer - Toronto Argonauts (2015–2016), Ottawa Redblacks (2017–2018)

Future non-conference opponents

Announced non-conference opponents as of December 25, 2025.[9]

2026 2027 2028 2029
Texas Wesleyan Louisiana Christian Northern Arizona at Northern Arizona
Tarleton State at Tarleton State at LSU
at LSU

See also

References

  1. ^ "McNeese State Athletics Style Guide" (PDF). January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  2. ^ Auman, Greg (September 1, 2013). "Division doesn't matter this time". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 21, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Groundbreaking held for Cougar Stadium renovations". kplctv.com. December 22, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  4. ^ "Southland Football League Champions". Archived from the original on October 9, 2014.
  5. ^ "25 Football Record Book (PDF) - Southland Conference" (PDF). www.southland.org. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  6. ^ "Bowl/all star game records" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 26, 2022.
  7. ^ "Verizon Wireless Announces Lamar-McNeese State Rivalry Series - LAMARCARDINALS.COM - Lamar Cardinals Official Athletic Site". lamarcardinals.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014.
  8. ^ "College Football Rivalries". www.1122productions.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  9. ^ "McNeese State Cowboys Football Future Schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved September 11, 2025.
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