The Howard Payne Yellow Jackets football team represents Howard Payne University in college football at the NCAA Division III level. The Yellow Jackets are members of the American Southwest Conference (ASC), fielding its team in the conference since 1996. The Yellow Jackets play their home games at Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood, Texas.

Their head coach is Coby Gipson, who took over the position for the 2025 season.

Conference affiliations

Independent (1903–1916) Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1917–1925) Texas Conference (1926–1942; 1946–1955) Lone Star Conference (1957–1986) Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1987–1995) American Southwest Conference (1996–present)

List of head coaches Key

Coaches + List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards No. Name Season(s) GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT DC CC NC Awards 1 Unknown 1903–1908; 1914–1916339222 – – – – – – – – – – – 2 Elmer Simpson 1909; 19113120 – – – – – – – – – – – 3 Gwinn Henry 1912–191315573 – – – – – – – – – – – 4 Arnold L. Kirkpatrick 1917–19235232173 11 4 0 – – – – – – – 5 T. B. Amis 1924–19273622122 15 4 1 – – – – 1 – – 6 Joe Bailey Cheaney 1928–1934; 1946–19478658208 34 9 2 – – – – 6 – – 7 J. McAdoo Keaton 1935–19428053198 40 4 6 – – – – 6 – – 8 Felton T. Wright 1948–19503115151 7 7 0 – – – – – – – 9 Carl Anderson 1951–19524625192 8 8 0 – – – – 2 – – 10 Guy B. Gardner 1953–1955291892 4 4 0 – – – – – – – 11 Bennie B. Williams 1956–196111844722 23 50 2 – – – – – – – 12 Rusty Russell 1962–1963194150 1 12 0 – – – – – – – 13 Joe James 1964–19674116241 7 18 0 – – – – – – – 14James Cameron1968–19714221192 14 16 2 1 0 0 – 1 – – 15Dean Slayton1972–19787228422 21 34 1 – – – – – – – 16Harold Mayo1979–1981306231 2 19 0 – – – – – – – 17Bill Hicks1982–1985408293 2 21 0 – – – – – – – 18Jerry Millsapps1986–1987205150 0 6 0 – – – – – – – 19Bill Anderson1988–19914224180 18 13 0 – – – – 1 – – 20Vance Gibson1992–200413189420 65 26 0 0 2 0 – 2 – – 21Mike Redwine2005–20073013170 11 14 0 – – – – – – – 22Steve Fanara2008–2011409310 5 27 0 – – – – – – – 23Roger Geise2012–2015408320 5 18 0 – – – – – – – 24Hunter Sims2016100100 0 6 0 – – – – – – – 25Braxton Harris2017–2019307230 6 21 0 – – – – – – – 26Jason Bachtel2020–2022251690 14 7 0 – – – – – – – 27Kevin Bachtel 2023–2024 19 7 12 0 3 9 0 – – – – – – – 28Coby Gipson 2025–present 10 4 6 0 2 4 0 – – – – – – –

Year-by-year results National championsConference championsBowl game berthPlayoff berth

SeasonYearHead coachAssociationDivisionConferenceRecordPostseasonFinal rankingOverallConferenceWinLossTieFinishWinLossTieHoward Payne Yellow Jackets 1903 1903UnknownIAAUS—Independent 010—————— 1904 1904220—————— 1905 1905020——————No team in 1906 1907 1907UnknownIAAUS—Independent341—————— 1908 1908030—————— 1909 1909Elmer Simpson020——————No team in 1910 1911 1911Elmer Simpson NCAA — Independent 100—————— 1912 1912Gwinn Henry 2 3 1—————— 1913 1913 3 4 2—————— 1914 1914Unknown 261—————— 1915 1915230—————— 1916 1916260—————— 1917 1917Arnold L. Kirkpatrick TIAA 5 2 0—————— 1918 1918 1 0 1—————— 1919 1919 6 3 0—————— 1920 1920 5 4 0—————— 1921 1921 5 3 0 2nd410—— 1922 1922 6 2 1 5th421—— 1923 1923 4 3 2 2nd312—— 1924 1924T. B. Amis 7 2 0 1st500Conference champion— 1925 1925 5 3 1 3rd411—— 1926 1926 TC 4 4 1 2nd310—— 1927 1927 6 3 0 3rd320—— 1928 1928Joe Bailey Cheaney 10 1 0 1st500Conference champion— 1929 1929 8 0 2 1st500Conference champion— 1930 1930 7 2 2 1st401Conference champion— 1931 1931 6 2 0 T–1st410Conference co-champion— 1932 1932 7 1 0 1st400Conference champion— 1933 1933 5 3 1 2nd420—— 1934 1934 9 0 1 1st501Conference champion— 1935 1935J. McAdoo Keaton 5 2 3 3rd313—— 1936 1936 7 2 1 1st501Conference champion— 1937 1937 8 1 1 1st700Conference champion— 1938 1938 7 3 1 T–1st601Conference co-champion— 1939 1939 5 4 1 4th421—— 1940 1940 6 4 0 T–1st510Conference co-champion— 1941 1941 8 1 1 1st600Conference champion— 1942 1942 7 2 0 1st400Conference champion—No team from 1943 to 1945 1946 1946Joe Bailey CheaneyNCAA—TC252T–4th130—— 1947 1947460T–4th230—— 1948 1948Felton T. Wright550T–4th230—— 1949 1949650T–2nd320—— 1950 1950451T–3rd230—— 1951 1951Carl Anderson440T–1st310Conference co-champion— 1952 1952360T–3rd130—— 1953 1953Guy B. Gardner3604th130—— 1954 19549101st200Conference champion— 1955 19556222nd110—— 1956 1956Bennie B. WilliamsCollege Division—640—————— 1957 1957LSC3607th250—— 1958 19582706th250—— 1959 1959370T–5th340—— 1960 1960640T–4th430—— 1961 19614504th430—— 1962 1962Rusty Russell1818th061—— 1963 19633706th160—— 1964 1964Joe James2807th060—— 1965 19652807th060—— 1966 1966551T–4th331—— 1967 1967NAIA—730T–3rd430—— 1968 1968James Cameron2717th151—— 1969 19694707th250—— 1970 1970Division I550T–5th450—— 1971 19711011T–1st711W Cowboy Bowl— 1972 1972Dean Slayton540T–4th440—— 1973 19738302nd810—3 1974 1974560T–6th450—— 1975 19755516th450—8 1976 1976181T–7th151—— 1977 19772808th070—— 1978 19782808th070—— 1979 1979Harold Mayo2807th160—— 1980 19801818th070—— 1981 19813707th160—— 1982 1982Bill HicksNCAADivision II370T–7th160—— 1983 1983280T–7th160—— 1984 19841815th040—— 1985 19852626th050—— 1986 1986Jerry Millsapps01007th060—— 1987 1987NAIADivision IITIAA550––––—— 1988 1988Bill Anderson470T–4th460—— 1989 1989830T–1st820Conference co-champion23 1990 1990550T–3rd330—— 1991 1991730T–2nd320—— 1992 1992Vance Gibson8301st500L NAIA Division II First Round6 1993 1993370T–3rd230— 1994 1994730T–1st410Conference co-champion23 1995 1995730T–1st710L NAIA Division II First Round13 1996 1996NCAADivision IIIASC8203rd220—19 1997 19977302nd320—— 1998 19988203rd520—— 1999 19995503rd430—— 2000 2000640T–3rd630—— 2001 20018203rd720—— 2002 20029102nd810—17 2003 20036404th630—— 2004 20047304th630—— 2005 2005Mike Redwine730T–2nd720—— 2006 2006550T–5th350—— 2007 2007190T–8th170—— 2008 2008Steve Fanara2808th170—— 2009 2009460T–7th260—— 2010 2010280T–8th170—— 2011 2011190T–8th170—— 2012 2012Roger Geise190T–7th160—— 2013 2013460T–4th240—— 2014 2014280T–4th140—— 2015 2015190T–4th140—— 2016 2016Hunter Sims01007th060—— 2017 2017Braxton Harris190T–9th180—— 2018 2018190T–9th180—— 2019 20195505th450——2020–212020–21Jason Bachtel2303rd West220—— 2021 2021730T–3rd630—— 2022 20227303rd620—— 2023 2023Kevin Bachtel640T–3rd330—— 2024 20241804th060—— 2025 2025Coby Gipson4603rd240——

Notes

References

External links