# Southwestern Jaguars football

The Southwestern Jaguars football team represents Southwestern College in junior college football in the Southern California Football Association (SCFA). The Jaguars are members of the National Southern League (NSL), fielding its team in the NSL since 2018. The Jaguars play their home games at DeVore Stadium in Chula Vista, California. Southwestern was known as the Apaches through the 2000 season. In May 2001, the governing board of Southwestern College voted to change the fight name of the school's sports teams from Apaches to Jaguars. Oscar Rodriguez has served as head coach of the program since the 2024 season.
In 2011, the Southwestern team included Dave Wade, a 55-year-old carpenter who was on the roster the whole season and got in one play on a kickoff.

## Conference affiliations

* South Central Conference (1961)
* Eastern Conference (1962–1963)
* Pacific Southwest Conference (1964–1967)
* Southeastern Conference / Mission Conference (1968–1995)
* Foothill Conference (1996–2007)
* American Mountain Conference / League (2008–2009), (2012–2017)
* Central East Conference (2010–2011)
* National Southern League (2018–present)

## Head coaches

* Tom Parker (1961–1965)
* Claude Gilbert (1966)
* Art Filson (1967–1968)
* Wes Foreman (1969–1975)
* Bob Mears (1976–1989)
* Bill Kinney (1990–1994)
* Mike Pompa (1995–2000)
* Walt Justice (2001–2004)
* Mike Pompa (2005)
* Jan Chapman (2006)
* Ed Carberry (2007–2021)
* Dionicio Monarrez Jr. (2022–2023)
* Oscar Rodriguez (2024–present)

## Championships
### Conference championships

| Season | Conference | Coach | Overall record | Conference record |
| 1966† | Pacific Southwest Conference | Claude Gilbert | 5–3 | 5–1 |
| 1982† | Mission Conference | Bob Mears | 10–1 | 5–1 |
| 2008† | American Mountain Conference | Ed Carberry | 7–4 | 6–1 |
| 2012 | American Mountain Conference | Ed Carberry | 10–1 | 7–0 |
| 2016† | American Mountain League | Ed Carberry | 9–2 | 4–1 |
| 2017 | American Mountain League | Ed Carberry | 9–2 | 5–0 |
† Co-champions

### Division championships

Following the 1987 season, the Mission Conference split into North, Central, and South divisions, with Southwestern competing in the South division. Southwestern has won one divisional title.
| Season | Division | Coach | Overall record | Division record |
| 1988 | Mission Conference South Division | Bob Mears | 7–4 | 4–0 |

## Bowl games

Southwestern is 9–5–1 all time in post-season bowl games. They first won a bowl game in 1982, which was their bowl game debut.
| Date | Coach | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
| December 4, 1982 | Bob Mears | 1982 San Diego-South Bay Bowl | Glendale (CA) | W 26–7 |
| December 3, 1983 | Bob Mears | 1983 South Bay-Kiwanis Bowl | El Camino | W 24–11 |
| December 6, 1985 | Bob Mears | 1985 National Football Foundation Bowl | Grossmont | T 35–35 |
| December 6, 1986 | Bob Mears | 1986 National Football Foundation Bowl | San Diego Mesa | W 23–0 |
| December 3, 1988 | Bob Mears | 1988 National Football Foundation Bowl | Antelope Valley | W 20–16 |
| December 4, 1999 | Mike Pompa | 1999 South County Bowl | El Camino | L 7–49 |
| December 2, 2000 | Mike Pompa | 2000 South County Bowl | Mt. San Antonio | L 17–21 |
| November 22, 2008 | Ed Carberry | 2008 Tremblay Financial Services Bowl | Pasadena City | L 14–45 |
| November 17, 2012 | Ed Carberry | 2012 American Bowl | Santa Monica | W 45–31 |
| November 23, 2013 | Ed Carberry | 2013 Patriotic Bowl | San Bernardino Valley | W 34–23 |
| November 22, 2014 | Ed Carberry | 2014 American Bowl | Santa Monica | W 40–23 |
| November 19, 2016 | Ed Carberry | 2016 American Bowl | Los Angeles Valley | L 16–24 |
| November 18, 2017 | Ed Carberry | 2017 American Bowl | Allan Hancock | W 35–14 |
| November 17, 2018 | Ed Carberry | 2018 Beach Bowl | Palomar | W 28–24 |
| November 23, 2019 | Ed Carberry | 2019 Southern California Bowl | Long Beach City | L 16–20 |

## Stadiums
### DeVore Stadium (1971–present)

DeVore Stadium is the home football stadium for the Southwestern College Jaguars football team. Located on the college's campus in Chula Vista, California, and with a seating capacity of 7,200, the stadium opened in 1971 under the original name of Apache Stadium at a cost of $444,000. The first public event held at the stadium was a Fourth of July fireworks show sponsored by the local firefighters association. On September 18, 1971, Southwestern defeated local rivals San Diego City 21–6 in the first game played at the new stadium with over 4,000 spectators in attendance. The stadium was jointly financed by Southwestern College and the Sweetwater Union High School District, with the latter paying for the stadium lights in return for lifetime use of the facility as the home stadium for the Bonita Vista High School football team.
In 2014, a two-year stadium renovation project was completed, which included the replacement of the grass field with artificial turf and the construction of a 58,000-square-foot, four-story field house behind the south end zone with state-of-the-art training facilities, weight rooms, locker rooms, classrooms, offices, and a student fitness center. In addition, a two-story press box was built on the west side along with new bathroom and concession facilities on each side. During this period, Southwestern temporarily played its home games at Olympian High School. Tod Leonard of The San Diego Union-Tribune said that the stadium was "transformed... into one of the best community college home fields in the country" while Phillip Brents of The Star-News commented that "the finished product rivals the athletic complexes of most four-year universities". The renovation project won several awards, including Project of the Year from the Construction Management Association of America San Diego chapter, as well as LEED Gold certification.

### Chula Vista High School (1961–1970)

Before the opening of DeVore Stadium, Southwestern played its home games at Chula Vista High School from 1961 to 1970.

## Notable players

* Scott Byers
* John Fox
* Tommy Hinzo
* Marco Morales
* Ogemdi Nwagbuo
* Luis Perez
* Steve Pierce
* Oliver Ross