The Nelson Lions football team represents Nelson University (formerly Southwestern Assemblies of God University) in college football in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The Lions are members of the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC), fielding its team in the GPAC since 2013. The Lions play their home games at Lumpkins Stadium in Waxahachie, Texas.
Their head coach is Jared Hudgins, who took over the position for the 2024 season.
Conference affiliations NCCAA independent (1996–1997) NAIA independent (1998–1999, 2005–2007, 2012) Central States Football League (2000–2004, 2008–2017) Sooner Athletic Conference (2018–present)
List of head coaches Key
Coaches + List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records and conference records No. Name Season(s) GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% 1 John Allen 1996–1997 13 2 9 2 — — — 2 Tommy Sugg 1998 10 2 8 0 — — — 3 Paul Burgard 1999 10 1 9 — — — 4 Tim Truman 2000–2001 20 3 17 0 1 8 0 5 Jesse Godding 2002–2014 137 43 94 0 12 24 0 6 Frank Tristan 2015–2017 32 20 12 0 13 7 0 7 Ryan Smith 2018–2021 37 18 19 0 13 19 0 8 Greg Ellis 2022–2023 22 13 9 0 10 8 0 8 Jared Hudgins 2024–present 10 3 7 0 1 7 0
Year-by-year results National championsConference championsBowl game berthPlayoff berth SeasonYearHead coachAssociationDivisionConferenceRecordPostseasonFinal rankingOverallConferenceWinLossTieFinishWinLossTieSAGU Lions 1996 1996John AllenNCCAA—Independent131— — 1997 1997160— — 1998 1998Tommy SuggNAIAIndependent280— — 1999 1999Paul Burgard190— — 2000 2000Tim TrumanCSFL2806th050— — 2001 20011904th130— — 2002 2002Jesse Godding090N/A— — 2003 2003 2 8 0 T–5th 1 40— — 2004 2004 1 10 0 7th 0 60— — 2005 2005Independent 2 8 0 — — 2006 2006 2 8 0 — — 2007 2007 1 9 0 — — 2008 2008 4 5 0 — — 2009 2009CSFL 3 7 0 4th 2 30— — 2010 2010 2 8 0 7th 0 50— — 2011 2011 4 6 0 5th 140—— 2012 2012Independent 4 6 0 — — 2013 2013CSFL 6 4 0 2nd 4 10— — 2014 2014 4 6 0 2nd 4 10— — 2015 2015Frank Tristan 8 3 0 3rd 4 20Won 2015 Victory Bowl— 2016 2016 4 6 0 T–4th 2 40— — 2017 2017 8 3 0 2nd 7 10Lost 2017 Victory Bowl19 2018 2018Ryan SmithSAC 5 5 0 5th 4 40— — 2019 2019 0 8 0 9th0100——202020194303rd320—— 2021 2021 9 3 0 T–4th 6 30Won 2021 Victory Bowl— 2022 2022Greg Ellis 7 3 0 T–4th 6 30Lost 2022 Victory Bowl— 2023 2023 4 6 0 6th 4 50——Nelson Lions 2024 2024 Jared Hudgins NAIA — SAC 3 7 0 9th 1 70——
Notes
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External links