Montana State–Northern Lights football

The Montana State–Northern Lights football team represents Montana State University–Northern in college football in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The Lights are members of the Frontier Conference, fielding its team in the Frontier Conference since 1999. The Lights play their home games at Tilleman Field in Havre, Montana.^[2][3]

Montana State–Northern Lights football
First season	1957; 68 years ago (1957)
Athletic director	Christian Oberquell
Head coach	Jerome Souers 2nd season, 1–19 (.050)
Stadium	Tilleman Field (capacity: 2,000)
Year built	2020; 5 years ago (2020)
Field surface	FieldTurf
Location	Havre, Montana
Conference	Frontier
All-time record	64–185 (.257)
Playoff appearances	NAIA: 1
Playoff record	NAIA: 0–1
Colors	Maroon and gold[1]
Mascot	Northern lights
Website	golightsgo.com/football

The school's head coach is Jerome Souers, who took over the position for the 2022 season.^[4]

Conference affiliations

• Frontier Conference (1999–present)

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 since 1999

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	Walt Currie[8]	1999–2003	52	10	42	0	0.192	7	33	0	0.175
2	Mark Samson	2004–2013	104	45	59	0	0.433	40	56	0	0.417
3	Jake Eldridge[9]	2014, 2017	14	3	11	0	0.214	2	11	0	0.154
4	Aaron Christensen[10][11]	2015–2017	32	2	27	0	0.069	1	26	0	0.037
5	Andrew Rolin[12][13]	2018–2021	37	3	34	0	0.081	1	33	0	0.029
6	Jerome Souers[14]	2022–present	31	2	29	0	0.065	1	25	0	0.038

Year-by-year results since 1999

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
Montana State–Northern Lights
1999	1999	Walt Currie	NAIA	—	Frontier	3	8	0	T–4th	1	7	0	—	—
2000	2000					2	8	0	4th	2	6	0	—	—
2001	2001					3	8	0	T–3rd	2	6	0	—	—
2002	2002					1	9	0	5th	1	7	0	—	—
2003	2003					1	9	0	5th	1	7	0	—	—
2004	2004	Mark Samson				1	10	0	T–4th	1	7	0	—	—
2005	2005					5	5	0	3rd	3	5	0	—	—
2006	2006					9	2	0	2nd	8	2	0	NAIA First Round	11
2007	2007					6	5	0	T–3rd	5	5	0	—	—
2008	2008					7	3	0	2nd	7	3	0	—	21
2009	2009					2	9	0	T–5th	1	9	0	—	—
2010	2010					3	7	0	5th	3	7	0	—	—
2011	2011					5	5	0	3rd	5	5	0	—	—
2012	2012					3	7	0	7th	3	7	0	—	—
2013	2013					4	6	0	T–5th	4	6	0	—	—
2014	2014	Jake Eldridge				3	8	0	7th	2	8	0	—	—
2015	2015	Aaron Christensen				0	11	0	8th	0	10	0	—	—
2016	2016					1	9	0	8th	1	9	0	—	—
2017	2017	Aaron Christensen / Jake Eldridge (interim, last 3 games)				1	10	0	8th	0	10	0	—	—
2018	2018	Andrew Rolin				1	10	0	8th	0	10	0	—	—
2019	2019					1	10	0	8th	0	10	0	—	—
2020	2020					0	4	0	5th	0	4	0	—	—
2021	2021					1	10	0	8th	1	9	0	—	—
2022	2022	Jerome Souers				0	10	0	8th	0	10	0	—	—
2023	2023					1	9	0	9th	0	8	0	—	—

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.^[5]
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.^[6]
4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.^[7]