East Tennessee State Buccaneers football The East Tennessee State Buccaneers football program are the intercollegiate American football team for East Tennessee State University located in Johnson City , Tennessee . The team competed in the NCAA Division I as a Southern Conference football program . The school ' s first football team was fielded in 1920 . History . East Tennessee State Normal School fielded its first football team in 1920 . Navy blue and old gold , chosen in 1911 , were the school colors . The team only played five games that year including two against local high school teams . W . R . Windes was the head coach for the first two seasons . In 1925 , the school ' s name was changed to East Tennessee State Teachers College . The athletic teams were named " The Teachers " . John Robinson was the head coach for the next 5 years . In 1930 , the school ' s name changed again to State Teachers College , Johnson City . In 1932 , Gene McMurray was named the head coach . He coached for 10 straight seasons until the school stopped playing due to World War II . He came back to coach the team in 1946 . His winning percentage during his 11 seasons was the highest in the history of Buc football . During his tenure , the team won the Smoky Mountain Conference Championship ( 1938 ) and the team ' s name changed to the " Buccaneers " ( 1935 ) . In 1943 , the school ' s name changed to East Tennessee State College . In 1952 , Star Wood became head coach . He led the team for 13 seasons from 1952 - 1953 and 1955 - 1965 . Coach Wood tops the list of total wins with 64 . East Tennessee State College joins the Ohio Valley Conference in 1957 . In 1963 , the college gains university status to become East Tennessee State University . Coach John Robert Bell led the team to a 10 - 0 - 1 record in 1969 . They won the Ohio Valley Conference Championship and defeated Louisiana Tech , led by quarterback Terry Bradshaw , in the Grantland Rice Bowl . The Memorial Center opened in 1977 and was nicknamed the " Mini - Dome " . The football team played their homes games indoors until the program was discontinued . In 1978 , ETSU joins the Southern Conference . In 1996 , ETSU football team led by Coach Mike Cavan had a record of 10 - 3 and participated for the first time in the NCAA Division IAA Playoffs , defeating Villanova in a first round game . In 2003 , ETSU decided to discontinue the football team . The last game was played at home on Nov . 22 , 2003 against The Citadel . ETSU won the game 16 - 13 with a last second field goal . On January 29 , 2013 , the Student Government Association voted 22 - 5 to a $ 125 per semester fee increase that would fund the instatement of the football program . University President Dr . Brian Noland , who was in attendance for the vote , said that fee would be sufficient to support football and Title IX requirements that support additional women ’ s athletics . Noland will crafted a football proposal to submit that to the Tennessee Board of Regents . The Regents passed it in March 2013 . The TBR is expected to approve the proposal for a new ETSU football program . On March 29 , 2013 , TBR approved a $ 125 fee increase to reinstate football at ETSU . It has also become widely known across the campus that the Mini - Dome will not be the host of the home games . ETSU will build a brand new football stadium to play host to all of its home games . On May 30 , 2013 , ETSU accepted an invitation to join the Southern Conference in 2014 and will reinstate football in time for the 2015 season . Notable former players . Notable alumni include :