Alcorn State Braves football

The Alcorn State Braves are the college football team of Alcorn State University. The Braves play in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).

Alcorn State Braves football
2025 Alcorn State Braves football team
First season	1921; 104 years ago
Head coach	Cedric Thomas 1st season, 6–6 (.500)
Stadium	Casem-Spinks Stadium (capacity: 22,500)
Field surface	Natural grass
Location	Lorman, Mississippi
Conference	Southwestern Athletic Conference
Division	East
All-time record	497–389–38 (.558)
Conference titles	13 (SWAC: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1984, 1992, 1994, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019)
Division titles	6 (SWAC East: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
Colors	Purple and gold[1]
Website	alcornsports.com

History

Classifications

• 1964–1969: NAIA
• 1970–1983: NAIA Division I
• 1965–1972: NCAA College Division
• 1973–1976: NCAA Division II
• 1977: NCAA Division I
• 1978–present: NCAA Division I–AA/FCS

Conference memberships

• 1921–1935: Independent
• 1935–1962: South Central Athletic Conference
• 1962–present: Southwestern Athletic Conference

Championships

Black college national championships

Alcorn State has won five Black college football national championships.

Year	Championship	Coach	Overall record	Conference
1968	Black College National Champions	Marino Casem	9–1	SWAC
1969	Black College National Champions	Marino Casem	8–0–1	SWAC
1974	Black College National co-champions	Marino Casem	9–2	SWAC
1984	Black College National Champions	Marino Casem	9–1	SWAC
2014	Black College National Champions	Jay Hopson	10–3	SWAC

SWAC championships

Alcorn joined the Southwestern Athletic Conference SWAC in 1962. Since then, the Braves have won thirteen conference championships, nine outright and four shared.

Season	Conference	Coach	Overall record	Conference record
1968*	Southwestern Athletic Conference	Marino Casem	9–1	6–1
1969			8–0–1	6–0–1
1970			8–1	6–0
1974*			9–2	5–1
1976			8–2	5–1
1979*			8–2	5–1
1984			9–1	7–0
1992		Cardell Jones	7–4	7–0
1994*		Cardell Jones	8–3–1	6–1
2014		Jay Hopson	10–3	7–2
2015		Jay Hopson	9–4	7–2
2018		Fred McNair	9–4	6–1
2019		Fred McNair	9–4	6–1

Playoff appearances

NCAA Division I FCS

The Braves have appeared in the I-AA/FCS playoffs three times with an overall record of 0–3.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1984	Quarterfinals	Louisiana Tech	L 21–44
1992	First Round	Northeast Louisiana	L 27–78
1994	First Round	Youngstown State	L 20–63

NCAA Division II

The Braves appeared in the Division II playoffs one time, with an overall record of 0–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1974	Quarterfinals	UNLV	L 22–35

Rivalry game

Main article: Soul Bowl

The Alcorn State Braves biggest rival is against the Jackson State Tigers in the Soul Bowl. The rivalry was previously named the Capital City Classic, but Alcorn ended the Classic in 2012 so that it could be brought back to Lorman, Mississippi.^[2]

College Football Hall of Fame members

See also: College Football Hall of Fame

• Marino Casem
• Steve McNair
• Dennis Thomas^[3]

Alumni in the NFL

Over 50 Alcorn State alumni have played in the NFL,^[4] including:

• Milton Barney
• Charles Coleman
• Donald Driver
• Smith Reed
• Leonard Fairley
• Leslie Frazier
• Marcus Hinton
• Billy Howard
• Nate Hughes
• Garry Lewis
• Steve McNair
• Bryant Mix
• Lawrence Pillers
• Elex Price
• Jack Spinks
• John Thierry
• Roynell Young
• Henry Bradley
• Willie Young
• Jimmie Giles

Head coaches

Alcorn State has seen 21 head football coaches over its history. The program was most recently led by Fred McNair.^[5]

Coach	Seasons	Record	Win Pct.
Octavius T. Henderson	1921	4–0	1.000
O.A. Ross	1922–1933	44–15–11	0.629
W. Morton	1934–1935	1–7–1	0.125
A. A. Abraham	1936, 1938, 1941–1942	14–8–7	0.483
L. Harris	1937, 1939–1940	10–10–1	0.476
J. Anderson	1945	0.2	0.000
Reuben Alba	1946	1–8	0.111
W. Felix "Lerroy" Harris	1947	9–1	0.900
Dwight Fisher	1948–1956	52–35–7	0.553
W. Broadus	1957	0–5	0.000
E. E. Simmons	1958–1959	3–14	0.176
Franklin Purnell	1960–1963	14–20	0.412
Marino Casem	1964–1985	138–71–8	0.636
Theo Danzy	1986–1990	26–22	0.542
Cardell Jones	1991–1997	41–32–3	0.539
Johnny Thomas	1998–2007	48–61	0.440
Ernest T. Jones	2008	2–10	0.167
Earnest Collins	2009–2010	8–12	0.400
Melvin Spears	2011	2–8	0.200
Jay Hopson	2012–2015	19–17a	0.528
Fred McNair	2016–2023	48–33	0.593

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of June 7, 2025^[6]

2025	2026	2027	2028
at Northwestern State	at Southern Miss		at Ole Miss
at Alabama A&M
at Mississippi State
Lincoln (CA)

Notes

^a Hopson went 4–7 and 9–3 in the 2012 and 2013 seasons, respectively, but the school's wins from these seasons were vacated due to NCAA violations^[7]

See also

• Southern Heritage Classic
• List of black college football classics