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McNeese Cowboys football
2024 McNeese Cowboys football team
First season	1940; 84 years ago (1940)
Athletic director	Heath Schroyer
Head coach	Matt Viator 11th season, 78–33 (.703)
Stadium	Cowboy Stadium (capacity: 17,610)
Field surface	Artificial turf
Location	Lake Charles, Louisiana
NCAA division	Division I FCS
Conference	Southland Conference
All-time record	482–304–13 (.611)
Bowl record	3–3–1 (.500)
Playoff record	11–14
Conference titles	14
Rivalries	Central Arkansas (rivalry) Lamar (rivalry) Louisiana (rivalry) Northwestern State (rivalry)
Colors	Royal blue and gold
Fight song	"On Mcneese"
Mascot	Rowdy
Marching band	"The Pride of Mcneese"
Website	McNeeseSports.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 Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

History

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2013)

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.

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

Championships

Southland Conference champions

• 1976, 1979, 1980, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015

Division I-AA championship games

• 1997, L 9–10 to Youngstown State
• 2002, L 14–34 to Western Kentucky

Bowl games

The Cowboys have participated in seven bowl games.

Rivalries

Central Arkansas

The two teams have met 13 times on the football field with Central Arkansas leading the series 7–6–0. Due to conference scheduling requirements, the most recent game was played in 2019.

Lamar

The two teams have met 40 times on the football field, with McNeese State holding a 28-11-1 agreement with the two universities and Verizon Wireless.

Louisiana

The Cajun Crown was the name of the rivalry trophy between Louisiana and McNeese State.

Northwestern State

McNeese State leads the series with Northwestern State 48–23–1 through the 2021 season.

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 May 22, 2024.

See also

• List of NCAA Division I FCS football programs

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. http://wilson.engr.wisc.edu/rsfc/champs/Southland.txt
5. http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2022/Bowls.pdf
6. "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.
7. "College Football Rivalries". www.1122productions.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
8. "McNeese State Cowboys Football Future Schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024.

External links

• Official website

• McNeese Cowboys football
• American football teams established in 1940
• 1940 establishments in Louisiana