The UT Martin Skyhawks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Tennessee at Martin in Martin, Tennessee. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). The school's first football team was fielded in 1925, while known as Hall-Moody Junior College (later changing it to University of Tennessee Junior College in 1927, which they kept until 1950). The team plays its home games at the 7,500 seat Graham Stadium. They are coached by Jason Simpson.
UT Martin's official mascot became the Skyhawks in 1995. The school lists three references regarding the name, such as the fact that when the school's first site was a Bible institute, the school's athletic teams were called "sky pilots", a frontier term for preachers. During World War II, UT Junior College contracted with the Naval War Training Service to help train pilots, who completed their flight training at a nearby general aviation airport now near a high school. Also, Red-tail hawks are indigenous to the West Tennessee region. The previous names of the athletic team were the Junior Volunteers and the Pacers.
History Classifications 1961–1972: NCAA College Division 1973–1991: NCAA Division II 1992–present: NCAA Division I–AA/FCS
Conference memberships 1925–1927: Independent 1928–1950: Mississippi Valley Conference 1951–1970: Volunteer State Athletic Conference 1970–1971: Mid-South Athletic Conference 1972–1989: Gulf South Conference 1990–1991: NCAA Division II Independent 1992–present: Ohio Valley Conference
Conference championships UT Martin has won nine conference championships, four outright and five shared. 1936 Mississippi Valley Conference W. E. Derryberry 8–0 n/a 1937 6–2–1 n/a 1960 Volunteer State Athletic Conference Bob Carroll 7–3 n/a 1988† Gulf South Conference Don McLeary 11–2 7–1 2006† Ohio Valley Conference Jason Simpson 9–3 6–1 2021 10–3 5–1 2022† 7–4 5–0 2023† Big South–OVC Football Association 8–3 5–1 2024† 8–4 6–2 † denotes co-championship
Playoff appearances NCAA Division I-AA/FCS The Skyhawks have appeared in the FCS playoffs three times with an overall record of 2–3.
2006 First Round Southern Illinois L 30–36 2021 First Round<br/ >Second Round Missouri StateMontana State W 32–31L 7–26 2024 First Round<br/ >Second Round New HampshireMontana State W 41–10L 17–49
NCAA Division II The Skyhawks have appeared in the Division II playoffs one time with an overall record of 1–1.
1988 First RoundQuarterfinals ButlerTexas A&I W 23–6L 0–34
Notable former players Notable alumni include: Romel Andrews Jeremy Butler Mark Guy Montori Hughes Leon Reed Jerry Reese Fred Thomas Ray Williams
Future non-conference opponents Announced schedules as of July 29, 2026.
Central Arkansas at Central Arkansas at Central Arkansas Central Arkansas at Tennessee at Middle Tennessee Chicago State Indiana State at Iowa at Vanderbilt Chattanooga at Chattanooga at West Virginia at UCF Chattanooga at Chattanooga at North Alabama at Memphis at Ball State at Alabama North Alabama at Indiana State at Austin Peay Austin Peay
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