List of Tennessee State Tigers football seasons

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The following is a list of Tennessee State Tigers football seasons for the football team that has represented Tennessee State University in NCAA competition.

Seasons


Year	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Rank
Buck Hunt (Independent) (1916)
1916	Buck Hunt	0–0–1
Buck Hunt:		0–0–1
Joe Scruggs (Independent) (1922–1924)
1922	Joe Scruggs	1–1
1923	Joe Scruggs	2–1
1924	Joe Scruggs	4–1–1
Joe Scruggs:		7–3–1
George Davenport (Independent) (1925)
1925	George Davenport	4–1–1
George Davenport (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1926)
1926	George Davenport	1–2–2
George Davenport:		5–3–3
Felton Gale (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1927)
1927	Felton Gale	1–2–3	1–1–2
Felton Gale:		1–2–3	1–1–2
Harry Long (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1928)
1928	Harry Long	0–4–1	0–4–1
Harry Long:		0–4–1	0–4–1
Alton Jackson (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1929)
1929	Alton Jackson	3–2–1	2–1
Alton Jackson:		3–2–1	2–1
T.D. Upshaw (Independent) (1930–1931)
1930	T.D. Upshaw	2–3
1931	T.D. Upshaw	1–1
T.D. Upshaw:		3–4
No Coach (Independent) (1932)
1932	No Coach	0–2
Walter S. Davis (Independent) (1933–1936)
1933	Walter S. Davis	5–0–1
1934	Walter S. Davis	6–1
1935	Walter S. Davis	5–3–1
1936	Walter S. Davis	3–3–2
Walter S. Davis:		19–7–4
Reubin A. Munday (Independent) (1937–1939)
1937	Reubin A. Munday	3–1–1
1938	Reubin A. Munday	6–1
1939	Reubin A. Munday	4–3–1
Reubin A. Munday:		13–5–2
Coach Unknown (Independent) (1940)
1940	unknown	1–0
Coach Unknown:		1–0
Henry A. Kean (Independent) (1944)
1944	Henry A. Kean	8–2–1
Henry A. Kean (Midwestern Conference) (1945–1954)
1945	Henry A. Kean	9–2	3–0	1st	W Tuskegee University Vulcan Bowl
1946	Henry A. Kean	10–1	3–0	1st	W Texas College Vulcan Bowl
1947	Henry A. Kean	10–0	3–0	1st	W Louisville Municipal Vulcan Bowl
1948	Henry A. Kean	5–3–1
1949	Henry A. Kean	9–1	4–0	1st
1950	Henry A. Kean	9–2
1951	Henry A. Kean	8–2
1952	Henry A. Kean	8–2
1953	Henry A. Kean	8–0
1954	Henry A. Kean	10–1	4–0	1st	L North Carolina Central National Classic
Henry A. Kean:		94–16–2
Howard C. Gentry (Midwestern Conference) (1955–1960)
1955	Howard C. Gentry	7–2
1956	Howard C. Gentry	10–0	4–0	1st	W Florida A&M Orange Blossom Classic
1957	Howard C. Gentry	5–0–1	3–0	1st
1958	Howard C. Gentry	4–4
1959	Howard C. Gentry	9–1	3–0	1st
1960	Howard C. Gentry	7–3	3–0	1st
Howard C. Gentry:		42–10–1
Lawrence E. Simmons (Midwestern Conference) (1961–1962)
1961	Lawrence E. Simmons	4–4–1
1962	Lawrence E. Simmons	1–7–1
Lawrence E. Simmons:		5–11–2
John Merritt (Midwestern Conference) (1963–1966)
1963	John A. Merritt	6–3	3–0	1st
1964	John A. Merritt	8–2	3–0	1st
1965	John A. Merritt	9–0–1	2–0	1st	T Ball State Grantland Rice Bowl	5	12
1966	John A. Merritt	10–0	2–0	1st	W Muskingum University Grantland Rice Bowl	2	3
John A. Merritt (Independent) (1967–1972)
1967	John A. Merritt	6–3
1968	John A. Merritt	6–2–1
1969	John A. Merritt	7–1–1
1970	John A. Merritt	11–0			W Southwestern Louisiana Grantland Rice Bowl	5	5
1971	John A. Merritt	9–1			W McNeese State Grantland Rice Bowl	5	4
1972	John A. Merritt	11–1			W Drake University Pioneer Bowl	5	5
John A. Merritt (Division II Independent) (1973–1976)
1973	John A. Merritt	10–0				1	1
1974	John A. Merritt	8–2				9	9
1975	John A. Merritt	5–4
1976	John A. Merritt	7–2–1
John A. Merritt (Division I Independent) (1977)
1977	John A. Merritt	8–1–1
John A. Merritt (Division I-A Independent) (1978–1980)
1978	John A. Merritt	8–3
1979	John A. Merritt	8–3
1980	John A. Merritt	9–1
John A. Merritt (Division I-AA Independent) (1981–1983)
1981	John A. Merritt	9–3			L South Carolina State NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal	6
1982	John A. Merritt	10–1–1			L Eastern Kentucky NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal	4
1983	John A. Merritt	8–2–1				17
John A. Merritt:		173–35–7	10–0
William A. Thomas (Division I-AA Independent) (1984–1987)
1984	William A. Thomas	11–0			No postseason due to ineligible players
1985	William A. Thomas	7–4
1986	William A. Thomas	10–2–1			L Nevada NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal	14
1987	William A. Thomas	3–7–1
William A. Thomas (Ohio Valley Conference) (1988)
1988	William A. Thomas	3–7–1	2–4	T–4th
William A. Thomas:		34–20–3	2–4
Joe Gilliam, Sr. (Ohio Valley Conference) (1989–1992)
1989	Joe Gilliam, Sr.	5–5–1	3–3	T–3rd
1990	Joe Gilliam, Sr.	7–4	4–2	3rd
1991	Joe Gilliam, Sr.	3–8	2–5	T–6th
1992	Joe Gilliam, Sr.	5–6	5–3	4th
Joe Gilliam, Sr.:		20–23–1	14–13
Bill Davis (Ohio Valley Conference) (1993–1995)
1993	Bill Davis	4–7	4–4	T–4th
1994	Bill Davis	5–6	4–4	T–4th
1995	Bill Davis	2–9	1–7	T–8th
Bill Davis:		11–22	9–15
L. C. Cole (Ohio Valley Conference) (1996–1999)
1996	L. C. Cole	4–7	3–5	T–6th
1997	L. C. Cole	4–7	4–3	T–4th
1998	L. C. Cole	9–3	6–1	1st	L Appalachian State NCAA Division I-AA First Round	12
1999	L. C. Cole	11–1	7–0	1st	L North Carolina A&T NCAA Division I-AA First Round	11
L. C. Cole:		28–18	20–9
James Reese (Ohio Valley Conference) (2000–2004)
2000	James Reese	3–8	2–5	6th
2001	James Reese	8–3	3–3	4th		25
2002	James Reese	2–10	1–5	6th
2003	James Reese	7–5	5–3	T–3rd
2004	James Reese	4–7	2–5	8th
James Reese:		24–33	13–21
James Webster (Ohio Valley Conference) (2005–2009)
2005	James Webster	2–9	1–6	8th
2006	James Webster	6–5	5–2	3rd
2007	James Webster	5–6	4–3	5th
2008	James Webster	8–4	5–3	4th
2009	James Webster	4–7	3–4	5th
James Webster:		25–31	18–18
Rod Reed (Ohio Valley Conference) (2010–present)
2010	Rod Reed	3–8	0–7	9th
2011	Rod Reed	5–6	4–4	T–5th
2012	Rod Reed	8–3	4–3	5th			21
2013	Rod Reed	10–4	6–2	2nd	L Eastern Illinois NCAA FCS Second Round	17	17
2014	Rod Reed	6–6	3–5	6th
2015	Rod Reed	4–6	1–6	8th
2016	Rod Reed	7–4	4–3	4th
2017	Rod Reed	6–5	2–5	7th
2018	Rod Reed	4–5	3–4	5th
2019	Rod Reed	3–9	2–6	7th
2020	Rod Reed	2–5	2–5	6th
Rod Reed:		58–61	31–50
Total:		566–312–33
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth
Post 1996 rankings from final Sports Network poll.

References

"Top-rated Tennessee State finds 14 players ineligible". Alabama Journal. Montgomery, Alabama. November 19, 1984. p. 17. Retrieved May 5, 2019 – via newspapers.com.

v t e Tennessee State Tigers football
Venues	Sulphur Dell Dudley Field/Vanderbilt Stadium (alternate, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979–1990, 1994, 1996) Hale Stadium (1953–1998, 2012–2020) Nissan Stadium (1999–2019, 2021–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Austin Peay, Tennessee Tech, UT Martin: Sgt. York Trophy Jackson State: Southern Heritage Classic
Culture & lore	Tigre
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1916 1917–1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941–1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Ohio Valley Conference football team seasons
Eastern Illinois Panthers Murray State Racers Southeast Missouri State Redhawks Tennessee State Tigers Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles UT Martin Skyhawks

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