Wichita State Shockers football

The first official football game played by Wichita State was in 1897, when they were known as Fairmount, under the coaching of T. H. Morrison. Fairmount defeated Wichita High School, now known as Wichita East, by a score of 12–4 in the only game played that year.[4]

In the 1905 season, the Coleman Company set up temporary gas-powered lighting for a night game against Cooper College (now called the Sterling Warriors). It was the first night football game played west of the Mississippi River.[5] Fairmount won the game 24–0.[6]

On December 25, 1905, Fairmount played a game against the Washburn Ichabods using a set of experimental rules. The game was officiated by then Washburn head coach John H. Outland.

The experiment was considered a failure. Outland commented, "It seems to me that the distance required in three downs would almost eliminate touchdowns, except through fakes or flukes."[7] The Los Angeles Times reported that there was much kicking and that the game was considered much safer than regular play, but that the new rule was not "conducive to the sport."[8]

In his history of the sport of football, David M. Nelson concluded that "the first forward passes were thrown at the end of the 1905 season in a game between Fairmount and Washburn colleges in Kansas."[9] According to Nelson, Washburn completed three passes, and Fairmount completed two.

On October 2, 1970, a plane crashed that was carrying about half of the football team on their way to play a game against Utah State University. 31 people were killed.[10] The game was canceled, and the Utah State football team held a memorial service at the stadium where the game was to have been played.[11]

When Willie Jeffries became Wichita State’s head coach in 1979, he became the first African-American head coach of a Division I-A football program. Former T. C. Williams High School football coach Herman Boone, whose hiring was featured in the film Remember the Titans, compared Jeffries’s hiring to that of Jackie Robinson signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.[12]

On December 2, 1986, Wichita State President Warren Armstrong announced that the university would no longer sponsor football due to the financial strain the program places on the university.[13] On May 16, 2009 the Wichita State University alumni association held an all football players reunion at Cessna Stadium.[14]

In 1992, a study was done on Cessna Stadium to comply with I-A football standards. It was shown that $24 million in improvements were needed.[15]

In 1997, the cost was cited at $11 million to restart the football program and three other women's sports.[16]

In 1998, an advisory committee at Wichita State recommended reinstating the football program at Wichita State after a 15-month study for $70,000.[17]

In 2006, Wichita Mayor Carlos Mayans proposed to use public funds to restart the football program at Wichita State. He would subsequently drop the plan weeks later.[18][19]

In 2012, an attempt was made to begin a club-level football team at Wichita State with hopes of eventually reviving the football program, though no official endorsement was given by the university.[20]

Wichita State's 2017 move to the American Athletic Conference leaves it as the only full member of the conference which does not play football. However, the American has 12 football-playing schools, as Navy is an associate member for football only. In 2020, the American will have 11 football-playing schools, after UConn leaves to become a full member of the Big East and independent in football.

It was announced on Wednesday, April 15, 2020, that the Kansas Board of Regents had given Wichita State University permission to demolish Cessna Stadium, where the Shockers haven’t played since 1986. The stadium is, however, still used by the school’s track and field team. No plans have been made for a track specific stadium, like most Division I track programs have, or a new football stadium to be built in its place.[21]

A fictional version of the football program playing at the NCAA Division II level was mentioned as winning a national championship under coach Ted Lasso in the Apple TV show of the same name.

• Bill Parcells, Linebacker (1961–63), Hall of Famer as a coach