The Sam Houston 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 Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Conference USA. 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 program history. In July 2021, the Bearkats left the Southland Conference to join the Western Athletic Conference, which relaunched its football league at the FCS level at that time. Just a few months later, on November 5, 2021, the school accepted an invitation to join Conference USA at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level beginning in the 2023–24 season.

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, from 1943 to 1945 for World War II, and 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic (although they did get a make-up season in the spring of 2021). 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 the Southland Conference of the NCAA Division I FCS from 1986 to 2021. In July 2021, The Bearkats left the Southland Conference to join the Western Athletic Conference, which relaunched its football league at the FCS level at that time. Just a few months later, on November 5, 2021, the school accepted an invitation to join FBS Conference USA beginning in the 2023–24 season. The Bearkats won their first FCS National Championship in the 2020–21 college football season, beating South Dakota State 23–21. The Bearkats have 15 conference championships, and have seen postseason NCAA playoff action in 13 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.

Head coaches

Ron Randleman is Sam Houston's and the Southland Conference's all-time winningest coach with 131 wins over a span of 23 years. Randleman also won conference Coach of the Year honors on four 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 as a member of NAIA, 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 program history. Under Keeler, Sam Houston consistently made deep runs in the FCS playoffs, making appearances every year from 2014-2017 and claimed the ultimate prize winning the FCS National Championship in 2020 (played in Spring 2021). Keeler finished with a record of 97-39, winning four conference titles in his 11 seasons as head coach. The winner of the 2016 Eddie Robinson Award, as a Bearkat, Keeler became both the all-time FCS playoffs wins leader and the only coach to win an FCS title with two different schools. † Interim head coach

Championships

National championships

Sam Houston has two national championships, with one during their tenure in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and the other coming in FCS. In their NAIA championship game, they played Concordia Cobbers for the championship, with the game resulting in a tie, becoming co-champions with Moorhead. In their third FCS championship game, they defeated South Dakota State to win their first FCS national championship.

Conference championships

Sam Houston has won 15 conference titles, seven shared and eight outright. † Denotes shared title. Conference affiliations

Bowl game appearances

Sam Houston appeared in five bowl games during their time in the NAIA, going 3–0–1 in these bowl games, with the final one notably being for the NAIA championship. † non-Division I bowl game

Playoff appearances

NCAA Division I-AA/FCS

The Bearkats have appeared in the I-AA/FCS playoffs 13 times with an overall record of 24–12. They were NCAA Division I National Champions in 2020.

NAIA

The Bearkats appeared in the NAIA playoffs one time, with a combined record of 1–0–1.

Home stadiums

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 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 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 SAM HOUSTON victory on regional ABC-TV.

Rivalries

Stephen F. Austin

The Sam Houston/Stephen F. Austin rivalry game, also known as the Battle of the Piney Woods, is a yearly rivalry held at NRG Stadium in Houston. The two teams have met 91 times with Sam Houston leading the series 60–34–2. The Battle of the Piney Woods is Texas' second longest FCS rivalry. The most recent meeting ending with the Bearkats defeating the Lumberjacks 21–20 and clinching their 10th win in a row. However, the rivalry is now in question as Sam Houston left the Western Athletic Conference for Conference USA in 2023.

Texas State

Sam Houston's second longest rivalry (dating back to 1915) is Texas State University. The two teams held annual rivalry games in mainly football and basketball with Texas State boasting a 50–37–5 record in football (last game in 2011) and a 64–51 record in men’s basketball (last game in 2012). The two universities are in the same university system (sharing many similarities) and competed in the same athletic conferences until Texas State left the Southland Conference for the Western Athletic Conference in 2012, eventually ending up in the Sun Belt Conference only a year later in 2013. The football rivalry has since been renewed beginning in the 2024 season.

Notable former players

Bearkats in the National Football League

Sam Houston has had 37 alumni play in the National Football League, with 19 players selected in the Draft. During the 2018 NFL draft, the Oakland Raiders selected defensive lineman P. J. Hall in the second round. This represents the highest a Bearkat player has been drafted by an NFL team.

Individual awards

National awards

Sam Houston has had a total of 88 players selected into the College Football All-America Team, including 58 NCAA All-Americans and 30 NAIA All-Americans. A number of these players have also been considered for major national awards. In 2016, quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe became the first Bearkat to win the Payton Award. In 2017 he became the first Bearkat to win two Payton Awards and only the second FCS player to win multiple Payton Awards after former Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards became the first in 2009. Major honors Most Outstanding FCS Offensive Player''' Most Outstanding FCS Defensive Player''' Coach of the Year'''

Conference awards

Sam Houston 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.

Individual program records

Rushing records

Passing records

Receiving records

Defensive records

Future non-conference opponents

Future non-conference opponents announced as of August 19, 2024.