Nelson Lions football

Nelson Lions football
First season1996
Athletic directorJesse Godding
Head coachJared Hudgins
1st season, 0–0 (–)
StadiumLumpkins Stadium
(capacity: 9,500)
Year built1972
Field surfaceFieldTurf
LocationWaxahachie, Texas
ConferenceSAC
Past conferencesNCCAA independent (1996–1997)
NAIA independent (1998–1999, 2005–2007, 2012)
CSFL (2000–2004, 2008–2017)
All-time record97–173–2 (.360)
MascotJudah the Lion
Websitesagulions.com

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.[1]

Their head coach is Jared Hudgins, who took over the position for the 2024 season.

Conference affiliations

List of head coaches

Key

Key to symbols in coaches list
General Overall Conference Postseason[A 1]
No. Order of coaches[A 2] GC Games coached CW Conference wins PW Postseason wins
DC Division championships OW Overall wins CL Conference losses PL Postseason losses
CC Conference championships OL Overall losses CT Conference ties PT Postseason ties
NC National championships OT Overall ties[A 3] C% Conference winning percentage
† Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame O% Overall winning percentage[A 4]

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 0.231 — — — –
2 Tommy Sugg 1998 10 2 8 0 0.200 — — — –
3 Paul Burgard 1999 10 1 9 0 0.100 — — — –
4 Tim Truman 2000–2001 20 3 17 0 0.150 1 8 0 0.111
5 Jesse Godding 2002–2014 137 43 94 0 0.314 12 24 0 0.333
6 Frank Tristan[5] 2015–2017 32 20 12 0 0.625 13 7 0 0.650
7 Ryan Smith[6][7] 2018–2021 37 18 19 0 0.486 13 19 0 0.406
8 Greg Ellis[8] 2022–present 13 8 5 0 0.615 6 4 0 0.600

Year-by-year results

National champions Conference champions Bowl game berth Playoff berth
Season Year Head coach Association Division Conference Record Postseason Final ranking
Overall Conference
Win Loss Tie Finish Win Loss Tie
Nelson Lions
1996 1996 John Allen NCCAA — Independent 1 3 1 — —
1997 1997 1 6 0 — —
1998 1998 Tommy Sugg NAIA Independent 2 8 0 — —
1999 1999 Paul Burgard 1 9 0 — —
2000 2000 Tim Truman CSFL 2 8 0 6th 0 5 0 — —
2001 2001 1 9 0 4th 1 3 0 — —
2002 2002 Jesse Godding 0 9 0 N/A — —
2003 2003 2 8 0 T–5th 1 4 0 — —
2004 2004 1 10 0 7th 0 6 0 — —
2005 2005 Independent 2 8 0 — —
2006 2006 2 8 0 — —
2007 2007 1 9 0 — —
2008 2008 4 5 0 — —
2009 2009 CSFL 3 7 0 4th 2 3 0 — —
2010 2010 2 8 0 7th 0 5 0 — —
2011 2011 4 6 0 5th 1 4 0 — —
2012 2012 Independent 4 6 0 — —
2013 2013 CSFL 6 4 0 2nd 4 1 0 — —
2014 2014 4 6 0 2nd 4 1 0 — —
2015 2015 Frank Tristan 8 3 0 3rd 4 2 0 Won 2015 Victory Bowl —
2016 2016 4 6 0 T–4th 2 4 0 — —
2017 2017 8 3 0 2nd 7 1 0 Lost 2017 Victory Bowl 19
2018 2018 Ryan Smith SAC 5 5 0 5th 4 4 0 — —
2019 2019 0 8 0 9th 0 10 0 — —
2020 2019 4 3 0 3rd 3 2 0 — —
2021 2021 9 3 0 T–4th 6 3 0 Won 2021 Victory Bowl —
2022 2022 Greg Ellis 7 3 0 T–4th 6 3 0 Lost 2022 Victory Bowl —
2023 2023 4 6 0 6th 4 5 0 — —
Nelson Lions
2024 2024 Jared Hudgins NAIA — SAC 0 0 0 0 0 0 — —

[9]

Notes

  1. ^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.[2]
  2. ^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
  3. ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[3]
  4. ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Football opener moves to Midlothian". SAGU. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  2. ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  3. ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  4. ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  5. ^ "SAGU Football Coach Frank Tristan Announces Resignation". SAGU. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  6. ^ "Ryan Smith Announced as New SAGU Head Football Coach". SAGU. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  7. ^ "SAGU Head Football Coach Announces Resignation". Southwestern Assemblies of God University. May 24, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  8. ^ "Ellis Has Been Hired as Southwestern Assemblies of God Coach". soonerathletic.org. June 20, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  9. ^ "Southwestern Assemblies Historical Data". July 2, 2014. Archived from the original on July 2, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2023.