McNeese State Cowboys football
2022 McNeese State Cowboys football team
First season	1940
Athletic director	Heath Schroyer
Head coach	Gary Goff 1st season, 0–0 (–)
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	479–288–13 (.622)
Bowl record	3–3 (.500)
Playoff record	11–14
Conference titles	14
Rivalries	Central Arkansas (rivalry) Lamar (rivalry) Louisiana (rivalry) Northwestern State (rivalry)
Colors	Royal blue and gold[1]
Fight song	"On Mcneese"
Mascot	Rowdy
Marching band	"The Pride of Mcneese"
Website	McNeeseSports.com

The McNeese State 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 State'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

On August 31, 2013, McNeese State 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]

Championships

Southland Conference champions

• 1976, 1979, 1980, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015^[3]

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 six bowl games, the first three being College Division bowl games and the last three being against Division I-A teams. They also participated in the Cajun Bowl against the Southern Arkansas Muleriders in 1947, which ended in a scoreless tie.^[4]

Rivalries

Central Arkansas

The two teams have met 9 times on the football field with McNeese State leading the series tied 5–4–0. Due to conference scheduling requirements, the most recent game was played in 2015.

Lamar

The two teams have met 39 times on the football field, with McNeese State holding a 27-11-1 agreement with the two universities and Verizon Wireless.^[5]

Louisiana

The Cajun Crown was the name of the rivalry trophy between Louisiana and McNeese State.^[6]

Northwestern State

McNeese State leads the series with Northwestern State 45–22–1 through the 2018 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–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 schedules as of January 2, 2021.^[7]