# Abilene Christian Wildcats football

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 was a member of the Southland Conference through the 2020–21 season, but joined the Western Athletic Conference in July 2021, coinciding with that league's reinstatement of football as an official conference sport. After the 2022 season, the WAC fully merged its football league with that of the ASUN Conference, creating what eventually became the United Athletic Conference, and ACU accordingly moved its football team to the new league. The school's first football team was fielded in 1919. The team plays its home games at the on-campus Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium.

## History
### Football classifications

* 1951–1972: College Division (small school)
* 1973–1982: 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
* 1933–1942, 1946–1953: Texas Conference
** No team 1943–1945 due to World War II
* 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
* 2014–2020: Southland Conference
* 2021–2022: Western Athletic Conference
* 2023–present: United Athletic Conference

### Head coaching history

| Name | Seasons | Record | Pct |
| Vernon McCasland | 1919 | 2–2 | .500 |
| Sewell Jones | 1920 | 4–0–1 | .900 |
| Russell A. 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 | 2012–2016 | 24–32 | .429 |
| Adam Dorrel | 2017–2021 | 19–32 | .373 |
| Keith Patterson | 2022–present | 12–10 | .545 |

## Notable former players

Notable alumni include:
* Charcandrick West
* Mitchell Gale
* Grant Feasel
* James Hill
* Ove Johansson
* Johnny Knox
* Clint Longley
* Danieal Manning
* Reggie McGowan
* Wilbert Montgomery
* Cle Montgomery
* Johnny Perkins
* Bernard Scott
* Major Culbert
* Taylor Gabriel
* Clyde Gates
* Bob Oliver
* Daryl Richardson
* John Layfield
* Bernie Erickson
* Wayne Walton

## Championships
### National championships

| Season | Coach | Selectors | Record | Bowl |
| 1973 | Wally Bullington | NAIA Playoffs | 11–1 | Won NAIA Championship |
| 1977 | DeWitt Jones | NAIA Playoffs | 11–1–1 | Won NAIA Championship |
| National Championships | National Championships | National Championships | 2 | 2 | 2 |

### Conference championships

| Year | Coach | Conference | Overall record | Conference record |
| 1939† | A.B. Morris | Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference | 6–2–1 | 5–1 |
| 1940† | A.B. Morris | Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference | 7–2 | 5–1 |
| 1946† | Tonto Coleman | Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference | 8–1–1 | 5–0–1 |
| 1950 | Garvin Beauchamp | Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference | 11–0 | 5–0 |
| 1951† | Garvin Beauchamp | Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference | 6–4 | 3–1 |
| 1952 | Garvin Beauchamp | Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference | 6–3–1 | 4–0 |
| 1953† | Garvin Beauchamp | Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference | 7–3 | 3–1 |
| 1955† | Garvin Beauchamp | Gulf Coast Conference | 3–5–2 | 2–1 |
| 1973 | Wally Bullington | Lone Star Conference | 11–1 | 9–0 |
| 1977† | DeWitt Jones | Lone Star Conference | 11–1–1 | 5–1–1 |
| 2008 | Chris Thomsen | Lone Star Conference | 11–1 | 9–0 |
| 2010 | Chris Thomsen | Lone Star Conference | 11–1 | 10–0 |
| 2022† | Keith Patterson | Western Athletic Conference | 7–4 | 3–1 |
| 2024 | Keith Patterson | United Athletic Conference | 8–4 | 7–1 |
| Conference Championships | Conference Championships | Conference Championships | 14 | 14 | 14 |
† Co-champions

### Division championships

| Year | Coach | Division championship | Overall record | Conference record | Division record |
| 2002† | Gary Gaines | LSC South | 6–4 | 6–2 | 5–1 |
| 2008 | Chris Thomsen | LSC South | 11–1 | 9–0 | 6–0 |
| 2010 | Chris Thomsen | LSC South | 11–1 | 10–0 | 8–0 |
| Division Championships | Division Championships | Division Championships | 3 | 3 | 3 |
† Co-champions

## Bowl games

| Date | Bowl | Coach | Opponent | Result |
| December 2, 1950 | Refrigerator Bowl | Garvin Beauchamp | Gustavus Adolphus College | W 14–7 |
| December 4, 1976 | San Jancinto Shrine Bowl | Wally Bullington | Harding | W 22–12 |

## Playoff appearances
### NCAA Division I FCS

The Wildcats have made one appearance in the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs. They have a combined record of 1–1.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
| 2024 | First Round Second Round | Northern Arizona North Dakota State | W 24–0 L 31–51 |

### NCAA Division II

The Wildcats appeared in the Division II playoffs six times with an overall record of 3–6.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
| 2006 | First Round | West Texas A&M | L 27–30 $^{OT}$ |
| 2007 | First Round Second Round | Mesa State Chadron State | W 56–12 L 73–76 $^{3OT}$ |
| 2008 | Second Round Quarterfinals | West Texas A&M Northwest Missouri State | W 93–68 L 36–45 |
| 2009 | First Round Second Round | Midwestern State Northwest Missouri State | W 24–21 L 10–35 |
| 2010 | Second Round | Central Missouri | L 41–55 |
| 2011 | First Round | Washburn | L 49–52 |

### NAIA

The Wildcats appeared in the NAIA playoffs two times with an overall record of 4–0. They were National Champions in 1973 and 1977.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
| 1973 | Semifinals National Championship Game | Langston Elon | W 34–6 W 42–14 |
| 1977 | Semifinals National Championship Game | Wisconsin–Stevens Point Southwestern Oklahoma State | W 35–7 W 24–7 |

## Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of February 19, 2025.
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 |
| at Tulsa | at Texas Tech | at Stephen F. Austin | at Texas A&M |
| Stephen F. Austin | Stephen F. Austin | | |
| at TCU | at Idaho | | |
| at Incarnate Word | | | |