# UT Martin Skyhawks football

The UT Martin Skyhawks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Tennessee at Martin in Martin, Tennessee. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). The school's first football team was fielded in 1925, while known as Hall-Moody Junior College (later changing it to University of Tennessee Junior College in 1927, which they kept until 1950). The team plays its home games at the 7,500 seat Graham Stadium. They are coached by Jason Simpson.
UT Martin's official mascot became the Skyhawks in 1995. The school lists three references regarding the name, such as the fact that when the school's first site was a Bible institute, the school's athletic teams were called "sky pilots", a frontier term for preachers. During World War II, UT Junior College contracted with the Naval War Training Service to help train pilots, who completed their flight training at an airport now near a high school. Also, Red-tail hawks are indigenous to the west Tennessee region. The previous names of the athletic team were the Junior Volunteers and the Pacers.

## History
### Classifications

* 1961–1972: NCAA College Division
* 1973–1991: NCAA Division II
* 1992–present: NCAA Division I–AA/FCS

### Conference memberships

* 1925–1927: Independent
* 1928–1950: Mississippi Valley Conference
* 1951–1970: Volunteer State Athletic Conference
* 1970–1971: Mid-South Athletic Conference
* 1972–1989: Gulf South Conference
* 1990–1991: NCAA Division II Independent
* 1992–present: Ohio Valley Conference

## Conference championships

UT Martin has won seven conference championships, four outright and three shared.
| Season | Conference | Coach | Overall Record | Conference Record |
| 1936 | Mississippi Valley Conference | W. E. Derryberry | 8–0 | n/a |
| 1937 | Mississippi Valley Conference | W. E. Derryberry | 6–2–1 | n/a |
| 1960 | Volunteer State Athletic Conference | Bob Carroll | 7–3 | n/a |
| 1988† | Gulf South Conference | Don McLeary | 11–2 | 7–1 |
| 2006† | Ohio Valley Conference | Jason Simpson | 9–3 | 6–1 |
| 2021 | Ohio Valley Conference | Jason Simpson | 10–3 | 5–1 |
| 2022† | Ohio Valley Conference | Jason Simpson | 7–4 | 5–0 |
| 2023† | Big South–OVC Football Association | Jason Simpson | 8–3 | 5–1 |
| 2024† | Big South–OVC Football Association | Jason Simpson | 8–4 | 6–2 |
† denotes co-championship

## Playoff appearances
### NCAA Division I-AA/FCS

The Skyhawks have appeared in the FCS playoffs three times with an overall record of 2–3.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
| 2006 | First Round | Southern Illinois | L 30–36 |
| 2021 | First Round Second Round | Missouri State Montana State | W 32–31 L 7–26 |
| 2024 | First Round Second Round | New Hampshire Montana State | W 41–10 L 17–49 |

### NCAA Division II

The Skyhawks have appeared in the Division II playoffs one time with an overall record of 1–1.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
| 1988 | First Round Quarterfinals | Butler Texas A&I | W 23–6 L 0–34 |

## Notable former players

Notable alumni include:
* Romel Andrews
* Jeremy Butler
* Mark Guy
* Montori Hughes
* Leon Reed
* Jerry Reese
* Fred Thomas
* Ray Williams

## Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of July 22, 2024.
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 |
| at Oklahoma State | at Indiana State | Indiana State | at Alabama | North Alabama | at North Alabama |
| at UTEP | at West Virginia | at UCF | | | |
| Southern Illinois | at Memphis | at Ball State | | | |
| at Missouri State | | | | | |