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.

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.

McNeese State football played some of their original games at a stadium now named Lake Charles Boston High School Cougar Stadium.

Championships Conference championships McNeese has won fourteen Southland Conference championships.

1976 Southland Conference 10–2 4–11979 11–1 5–0 1980 10–2 5–01991† 6–4–2 4–1–2 1993 10–3 7–01995 13–1 5–01997† 13–2 6–12001 8–4 5–12002 13–2 6–02003 10–2 5–02006 7–5 5–1 2007 11–1 7–02009† 9–3 6–12015 10–1 9–0 † 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.

1947 Cajun Bowl Southern Arkansas T 0–0 1951 Cosmopolitan Bowl 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. + McNeese–Central Arkansas: All-Time RecordGames playedFirst meetingLast meetingMcNeese winsMcNeese lossesTiesWin %13September 17, 1994 (won 21–7)October 12, 2019 (lost 31–40)760

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. + McNeese–Lamar: All-Time RecordGames playedFirst meetingLast meetingMcNeese winsMcNeese lossesTiesWin %43November 10, 1951 (won 13–7)November 22, 2025 (won 21–19)29131

Louisiana

The Cajun Crown is the name of the rivalry trophy between Louisiana and McNeese, with McNeese leading 20–17–2 in the series. + Louisiana–McNeese: All-Time RecordGames playedFirst meetingLast meetingMcNeese winsMcNeese lossesTiesWin %39September 22, 1951 (lost 14–35)September 6, 2025 (lost 10–34)20172

Northwestern State

McNeese leads the series with Northwestern State 50–23–1 through the 2025 season. + McNeese–Northwestern State: All-Time RecordGames playedFirst meetingLast meetingMcNeese winsMcNeese lossesTiesWin %74October 6, 1951 (won 38–21)November 1, 2025 (won 50–3)50231

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 September 7, 2026.

Texas Wesleyan Louisiana Christian at Louisiana at Northern Arizona Tarleton State at Tarleton State Northern Arizona at LSU at LSU

See also List of NCAA Division I FCS football programs

References

External links