Abilene Christian Wildcats football

Abilene Christian Wildcats
2015 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team
First season	1910
Athletic director	Lee De León
Head coach	Ken Collums 4th year, 19–15 (.559)
Stadium	Shotwell Stadium
Seating capacity	15,075
Location	Abilene, Texas
NCAA division	NCAA Division I
Conference	Southland Conference
All-time record	493–394–32 (.554)
Bowl record	0–0 (–)
Claimed nat'l titles	2 (2 NAIA)
Conference titles	12 (7 TCAC, 1 Gulf Coast, 4 Lone Star)
Division titles	3 (3 Lone Star South)
Heisman winners	0
Colors	Purple and White
Rivals	Incarnate Word
Website	ACUSports.com

For information on all Abilene Christian University sports, see Abilene Christian Wildcats

The Abilene Christian Wildcats football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the Abilene Christian University located in the U.S. state of Texas. The team are members of the Southland Conference. The school's first football team was fielded in 1919. The team plays its home games at the 15,075 seat Shotwell Stadium. They are coached by Ken Collums. For the 2013 season, Abilene Christian competed as an Independent in the NCAA Division I FCS.

History

Football classifications

• 1951–1972: College Division (small school)
• 1952–1969: NAIA
• 1970–1982: NAIA Division I
• 1982–2012: NCAA Division II
• 2013–present: NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision
• Abilene Christian did not field a team in 1943-1945.

Conference affiliations

• 1919–1924: Independent
• 1925–1932: Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association
• 1931–1932: Independent
• 1933–1953: Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference
• 1954: Independent
• 1955–1956: Gulf Coast Conference
• 1957–1963: Independent
• 1964–1972: Southland Conference
• 1973–2012: Lone Star Conference
• 2013: NCAA Division I FCS independent
• 2014–present: Southland Conference

• No Team 1943-1945 due to World War II

Head coaching history

Name	Seasons	Record	Pct
Vernon McCasland	1919	2–2	.500
Sewell Jones	1920	4–0–1	.900
Russell Lewis	1921	2–5	.286
Victor Payne	1922–1923	12–3	.800
A. B. Morris	1924–1941	66–77–18	.466
Tonto Coleman	1942–1949	28–15–2	.644
Garvin Beauchamp	1950–1955	39–18–4	.672
N. L. Nicholson	1956–1961	28–30–1	.483
Les Wheeler	1962–1967	29–28	.509
Wally Bullington	1968–1976	62–32–2	.656
DeWitt Jones	1977–1978	18–4–1	.804
Ted Sitton	1979–1984	34–27–1	.556
John Payne	1985–1990	26–34–1	.435
Ronnie Peacock	1991–1992	4–15	.211
Bob Strader	1993–1995	14–17	.452
Jack Kiser	1996–1999	22–19	.537
Gary Gaines	2000–2004	21–30	.412
Chris Thomsen	2005–2011	61–21	.744
Ken Collums	2012–present	19–15	.565

Notable former players

Notable alumni include:

• Charcandrick West
• Mitchell Gale
• Grant Feasel
• Johnny Knox
• Clint Longley
• Danieal Manning
• Wilbert Montgomery
• Bernard Scott
• Major Culbert
• Taylor Gabriel
• Clyde Gates
• Bob Oliver
• Daryl Richardson
• John Layfield

Championships

• 1939: Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference co-champions
• 1940: Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference co-champions
• 1946: Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference champions
• 1950: Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference champions
• 1951: Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference champions
• 1952: Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference champions
• 1953: Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference champions
• 1955: Gulf Coast Conference champions
• 1973: NAIA Division I National Champions, Lone Star Conference champions
• 1977: NAIA Division I National Champions, Lone Star Conference co-champions
• 2002: Lone Star Conference South Division co-champions
• 2008: Lone Star South Division & Conference champions
• 2010: Lone Star South Division & Conference champions

External links

• Official website