McNeese Cowboys football
Intercollegiate American football team
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The McNeese Cowboys football program is the intercollegiate American football team for McNeese State University located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Southland Conference. McNeese's first football team was fielded in 1940. The team plays its home games at the 17,410 seat Navarre Stadium in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
| McNeese Cowboys football | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| First season | 1940 | ||
| Athletic director | Heath Schroyer | ||
| Head coach | Matt Viator 12th season, 83–40 (.675) | ||
| Location | Lake Charles, Louisiana | ||
| Stadium | Navarre Stadium (capacity: 17,610) | ||
| NCAA division | Division I FCS | ||
| Conference | Southland | ||
| Colors | Royal blue and gold[1] | ||
| All-time record | 487–311–13 (.609) | ||
| Bowl record | 3–3–1 (.500) | ||
| Conference championships | |||
| SLC: 1976, 1979, 1980, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015 | |||
| Rivalries | Central Arkansas (rivalry) Lamar (rivalry) Louisiana (rivalry) Northwestern State (rivalry) | ||
| Fight song | "On Mcneese" | ||
| Mascot | Rowdy | ||
| Marching band | "The Pride of Mcneese" | ||
| Website | McNeeseSports.com | ||
History
On August 31, 2013, McNeese opened their season by defeating the South Florida Bulls, 53–21. It was the largest margin of victory (32 points) by a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS, formerly I-AA) team over a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS, formerly I-A) team since the NCAA split Division I football into two divisions in 1978.[2]
McNeese State football played some of their original games at a stadium now named Lake Charles Boston High School Cougar Stadium.[3]
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Championships
Conference championships
McNeese has won fourteen Southland Conference championships.[4][5]
† denotes co-champions
Division I-AA championship games
- 1997, L 9–10 to Youngstown State
- 2002, L 14–34 to Western Kentucky
Bowl games
The Cowboys have participated in seven bowl games.[6]
| Season | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Cajun Bowl | Southern Arkansas | T 0–0 |
| 1951 | Cosmopolitan Bowl | Louisiana College | W 13–6 |
| 1962 | Golden Isles Bowl | Howard (AL) | W 21–14 |
| 1971 | Grantland Rice Bowl | Tennessee State | L 23–26 |
| 1976 | Independence Bowl | Tulsa | W 20–16 |
| 1979 | Independence Bowl | Syracuse | L 7–31 |
| 1980 | Independence Bowl | Southern Miss | L 14–16 |
Rivalries
Central Arkansas
The two teams have met 13 times on the football field with Central Arkansas leading the series 7–6. Due to conference scheduling requirements, the most recent game was played in 2019.
| Games played | First meeting | Last meeting | McNeese wins | McNeese losses | Ties | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | September 17, 1994 (won 21–7) | October 12, 2019 (lost 31–40) | 7 | 6 | 0 | .538 |
Lamar
The two teams have met 43 times on the football field, with McNeese leading 29–13–1 in the series, along with an agreement with the two universities and Verizon Wireless.[7]
| Games played | First meeting | Last meeting | McNeese wins | McNeese losses | Ties | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | November 10, 1951 (won 13–7) | November 22, 2025 (won 21–19) | 29 | 13 | 1 | .686 |
Louisiana
The Cajun Crown is the name of the rivalry trophy between Louisiana and McNeese, with McNeese leading 20–17–2 in the series.[8]
| Games played | First meeting | Last meeting | McNeese wins | McNeese losses | Ties | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | September 22, 1951 (lost 14–35) | September 6, 2025 (lost 10–34) | 20 | 17 | 2 | .538 |
Northwestern State
McNeese leads the series with Northwestern State 50–23–1 through the 2025 season.
| Games played | First meeting | Last meeting | McNeese wins | McNeese losses | Ties | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 74 | October 6, 1951 (won 38–21) | November 1, 2025 (won 50–3) | 50 | 23 | 1 | .682 |
Notable former players
Notable alumni include:
- NFL
- Don Breaux - Denver (1963) and San Diego ('64-'65); also coordinated Washington Redskins (1981–1989, 1990–1993, 2004–2007) and various teams
- Tom Sestak - AFL Buffalo Bills (1962–1968)
- Leonard Smith - St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals (1983-1988), Buffalo Bills (1988–1991) (College Football Hall of Famer)
- Stephen Starring - New England Patriots (1983–1987), Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1988)
- Buford Jordan - New Orleans/Portland Breakers (1984–1985) USFL, New Orleans Saints (1986–1992)
- Kavika Pittman - Dallas Cowboys (1996–99), Denver (2000–2002), Carolina (2003)
- Zach Bronson - San Francisco 49ers (1997–2003); St. Louis (2004)
- Kerry Joseph - Seattle Seahawks (1999–2002)
- Keith Ortego - Chicago Bears (1985–1987)
- Flip Johnson - Buffalo Bills (1988–1989)
- Bryan Hicks - Cincinnati Bengals (1980–1982)
- Jimmy Redmond – various teams (2001–2006)
- Luke Lawton - various teams (2005–2010)
- B. J. Sams - Baltimore Ravens (2004–2007); Kansas City Chiefs (2008)
- B. J. Blunt - Washington Redskins (2019)
- Diontae Spencer - St. Louis Rams (2014), Pittsburgh Steelers (2019), Denver Broncos (2019–2021), New York Jets (2022-2023)
- Adam Henry - Assistant coach: Oakland Raiders (2007-11), San Francisco 49ers (2015), New York Giants (2016-2017), Cleveland Browns (2018-2019), Dallas Cowboys (2020-2021), Buffalo Bills (2023-present)
- CFL
- Kerry Joseph - Ottawa Renegades (2003–2005), Saskatchewan Roughriders (2006–2007, 2014), Toronto Argonauts (2008–2009), Edmonton Eskimos (2010–2013)
- Diontae Spencer - Toronto Argonauts (2015–2016), Ottawa Redblacks (2017–2018)
Future non-conference opponents
Announced non-conference opponents as of December 25, 2025.[9]
| 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Wesleyan | Louisiana Christian | Northern Arizona | at Northern Arizona |
| Tarleton State | at Tarleton State | at LSU | |
| at LSU |