Alabama A&M Bulldogs football

The Alabama A&M Bulldogs are the college football team representing the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University. The Bulldogs play in NCAA Division I Football Championship as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Alabama A&M Bulldogs football
2020 Alabama A&M Bulldogs football team
First season1912
Head coachConnell Maynor
1st season, 2–3 (.400)
StadiumLouis Crews Stadium
(Capacity: 21,000)
Field surfaceArtificial Turf
LocationNormal, Alabama
ConferenceSWAC
DivisionEast
All-time record405–378–35 (.517)
Bowl record0–2 (.000)
Conference titles13
Current uniform
ColorsMaroon and White[1]
         
Marching bandMarching Maroon & White
Websiteaamusports.com

Rivalries
Alabama A&M vs. Grambling, 2014

The Alabama State Hornets are A&M's arch-rival as the teams play annually in the Magic City Classic on the last Saturday in October at Historic Legion Field. A&M and State first played each other in 1924, though the annual classic series began in 1941 in Birmingham, which is roughly halfway between the two campuses. The two competed from 1947 to 1975 in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The rivalry has intensified since A&M joined State in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in 1999, with the two teams regularly in contention for the Eastern Division Crown. Alabama A&M leads the overall series 40-39-3.

The Bulldogs other in-state rivalry is with Tuskegee Golden Tigers. The Bulldogs and Tigers began their series with in 1932 and would not meet on the gridiron for another 20 years. They played annually from 1963 to 1999 including 35 years as conference rivals in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The series was discontinued when A&M moved up to Division I (FCS) and joined the SWAC. A&M and Tuskegee resumed a two-game set from 2008 to 2009, the latter as an installation of the Circle City Classic in Indianapolis. The two teams played in 2014, with A&M leading the series 27-20-3.

A&M and the Tennessee State Tigers have a rivalry dating back to the 1930s. After a 30-year hiatus, the two teams resumed play in the 1970s. TSU dominated the series well into the 1980s, winning the first 15 contests. A&M scored its first win, a 7–6 victory in 1986, followed by another 24–6 win in 1987. A&M and TSU met annually for a decade beginning in 2001, usually on Labor Day Weekend in the John Merritt Classic at Nashville's LP Field. Since their last contest in 2010, TSU holds a 23–8 series lead, with A&M winning 6 of the last 9 meetings.

The Bulldogs has developed new rivals since entering the SWAC in 1999. A&M has a budding rivalry with the Jackson State Tigers, the second closet SWAC member institution after Alabama State. Although JSU leads the all-time series 16–11, the teams have split the last dozen contests with A&M winning the last 3 in a row. A&M's interdivisional nemesis is the Grambling State Tigers. Grambling (9) and A&M (6) lead the league in title game appearances, squaring off against each other a record 4 times. A&M won the first meeting in 1941 against the legendary Eddie Robinson, who was in his first season, but Grambling has gone on to win 10 of the next 11. Grambling holds a decisive 20–7 series edge and is 4–0 against A&M in SWAC Championship Game matchups.

Alabama A&M has a rivalry with North Alabama Lions football that started in their days of being Division 2 playing 24 times between 1975 and 1997. When A&M went division FCS the rivalry stopped but recently started back up in 2018 when UNA made the jump to division 1 FCS. The two schools are separated by only 77 miles.

Championships

Conference championships

A&M has won or shared a total of 13 league titles in football with their most recent title coming in a win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the 2006 SWAC Championship Game. The Bulldogs other 12 conference crowns came as a member of the Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) from 1947 to 1997.

SeasonConferenceCoachOverall RecordConference Record
1962SIACLouis Crews8–26–0
1963SIACLouis Crews8–07–0
1966SIACLouis Crews8–16–0
1971SIACLouis Crews5–64–3
1972SIACLouis Crews7–1–16–0–1
1979SIACRay Greene8–34–0
1981SIACRay Greene8–24–1
1987SIACRay Greene7–46–1
1988SIACRay Greene7–36–1
1989SIACGeorge Pugh8–46–0
1990SIACGeorge Pugh6–56–1
1991SIACGeorge Pugh/Ray Bonner5–65–2
2006SWACAnthony Jones9–36–3

Division championships

The Bulldogs have a total of 6 SWAC Eastern Division Championships, each time earning a berth to the SWAC Championship Game.

SeasonDivisionCoachOverall RecordConference RecordResultAttendance
2000SWAC EastRon Cooper7–55–2L 14–6 Grambling State34,687
2002SWAC EastAnthony Jones8–46–1L 31–19 Grambling State23,727
2005SWAC EastAnthony Jones9–37–2L 45–6 Grambling State20,612
2006SWAC EastAnthony Jones9–36–3W 22–13 Arkansas-Pine-Bluff30,213
2009SWAC EastAnthony Jones7–54–3L 30–24 Prairie View A&M20,218
2011SWAC EastAnthony Jones8–47–2L 16–15 Grambling State23,476

Bowl games

A&M has participated in two College Division Bowl Games.

SeasonBowl GameOpponentResultLocation
1966Orange Blossom ClassicFlorida A&ML 26–43Miami, FL
1971Azalea Bowl ClassicJackson StateL 21–40Mobile, AL

Pro Football Hall of Fame members

Retired Jersey Numbers
Number Player Position Tenure
22John StallworthWR1971-1974
55Robert MathisDE1999-2003

Alumni in the NFL

Over 16 Alabama A&M alumni have played in the NFL,[2] including:

Notable coaches
CoachSeasonsGamesRecordWinning %
George H. Hobson1942–195913745–81-11.371
Louis Crews1960–197515094–53-3.637
Ray Greene1979–1983, 86–888554–27–4.659
Ron Cooper1998–20014523–22.511
Anthony Jones2002–201314083–57.593

References
  1. Alabama A&M University Style Manual (PDF). Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  2. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/colleges/alabamaam/
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