The Western Carolina Catamounts football program represents Western Carolina University. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Southern Conference. Since the school's first football team was fielded in 1931, the Catamounts have a record of 364–540–23, have made two postseason appearances, and have played in one national championship game.
Western Carolina has had 14 head coaches since the first team was organized in 1931. Kerwin Bell, the current head coach, was hired on April 27, 2021. Bob Waters (1969–1988) holds the record for most wins (116), longest tenure (20 seasons), and highest winning percentage (.550) among all former Western Carolina coaches.
C.C. Poindexter, often called the "Father of Western Carolina Athletics", was instrumental in organizing the first football team in 1931. Then the Western Carolina Teacher's College, Poindexter was the first person hired by the college to work exclusively in athletics and became the first athletic director and football coach. He would later lead the baseball and basketball programs as well.
1949 - The 1949 Western Carolina Catamounts, coached by Tom Young, completed their regular season 8–2, winning the North State Conference championship. Western Carolina was then invited to play West Liberty State in the Smokey Mountain Bowl in Bristol, Tennessee. The Catamounts fell short 20–0.
1974 - The 1974 Western Carolina Catamounts, coached by Bob Waters, completed their regular season 9–1, earning a birth to the 1974 NCAA Division II playoff. The Catamounts had wins over ranked opponents Indiana State and Western Kentucky during the season. They then traveled to No.1 ranked Louisiana Tech where they were defeated 10–7.
The main rivalry of the Catamounts was against their in-state rival Appalachian State. Western Carolina and Appalachian State played annually for the Old Mountain Jug. The two rivals first faced off in 1932, with Appalachian State winning 20–0. The Old Mountain Jug trophy was first introduced in 1976. After Appalachian State moved to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2014, the two have not met since. Appalachian State leads the series 58–19–1. Appalachian State's biggest win is 54-7 in 1939 and Western Carolina's biggest win is 44-14 in 1977.
East Tennessee State - Blue Ridge Border Battle
While Western Carolina and ETSU have played each other since 1932, the Blue Ridge Border Battle was started in 2018 which introduced a traveling trophy known as 'the Rock' which features a rock from the Appalachian Trail. The first Blue Ridge Border Battle game was in 2018, with ETSU winning in triple overtime 45-43. The two schools played annually from 1975-2003 as members of the Southern Conference until ETSU discontinued its football program after the 2003 season. The series resumed in 2016 when ETSU restarted its program and rejoined the Southern Conference with the game being played at Bristol Motor Speedway, which was won by ETSU 34-31. Western Carolina leads the series 26-25-1. Western Carolina's biggest win is 49-10 in 2017 and ETSU's biggest win is 49-10 in 1996.
