Samford Bulldogs football

The Samford Bulldogs football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Samford University located in Homewood, Alabama. The team competes at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon). Samford's first football team was fielded in 1902. The team was known as the Howard Bulldogs through the 1965 season when Howard College was renamed as Samford University. Howard was located in Birmingham, Alabama prior to 1957. Since 1958, the Bulldogs have played their home games at Pete Hanna Stadium, which now has a seating capacity of 6,700, in Homewood. Chris Hatcher has served as Samford's head coach since the 2015 season.

Samford Bulldogs football
2025 Samford Bulldogs football team
First season	1902; 123 years ago
Athletic director	Martin Newton
Head coach	Chris Hatcher 11th season, 61–50 (.550)
Stadium	Bobby Bowden Field at Pete Hanna Stadium (capacity: 6,700)
Field surface	LSR Blade
Location	Homewood, Alabama
NCAA division	Division I FCS
Conference	Southern Conference
All-time record	474–464–47 (.505)
Conference titles	5 (3 Dixie, 2 SoCon)
Rivalries	Jacksonville State (rivalry) Furman Chattanooga Mercer Tennessee Tech
Consensus All-Americans	27
Colors	Blue and red[1]
Mascot	Sam, changed from Spike in 2017
Website	SamfordSports.com

History

Classifications

• 1937–1971: NA
• 1972: NCAA College Division
• 1973: NCAA Division III
• 1974–1983: no program
• 1984–1988: NCAA Division III
• 1989–present: NCAA Division I-AA/FCS

Conference memberships

• 

  1902–1905: independent
• 1906–1931: Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
• 1931–1954: Dixie Conference
• 1955–1972: independent
• 1973: NCAA Division III independent
• 1974–1983: no program
• 1984–1988: NCAA Division III independent
• 1989–2002: NCAA Division I-AA independent
• 2003–2007: Ohio Valley Conference
• 2008–present: Southern Conference

Conference Championships

The Bulldogs have won 4 conference championships, with three coming in the Dixie Conference and two in the Southern Conference.

Season	Conference	Coach	Overall record	Conference record
1933	Dixie Conference	Eddie McLane	8–5	6–2
1935		Billy Bancroft	7–1–2	3–0–1
1936			5–3–1	4–1–1
2013†	Southern Conference	Pat Sullivan	8–5	6–2
2022	Southern Conference	Chris Hatcher	11-2	8–0

† Co-champions

NCAA Division I-AA/FCS playoff results

The Bulldogs have appeared in the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs six times with an overall record of 3–6.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1991	First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals	New Hampshire James Madison Youngstown State	W 29–13 W 24–21 L 0–10
1992	First Round	Delaware	L 21–56
2013	First Round	Jacksonville State (#20)	L 14–55
2016	First Round	Youngstown State (#13)	L 24–38
2017	First Round	Kennesaw State (#16)	L 17–28
2022	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	BYE Week Southeastern Louisiana (#17) North Dakota State (#3)	N/A W 48–42 OT L 9–27

Notable former players

• Michael “The Steel” Deen
• Bobby Bowden
• James Bradberry
• Cortland Finnegan
• Jimbo Fisher
• Scott Fountain
• Jeremy Towns
• Ahmad Gooden
• Devlin Hodges
• Michael Pierce
• Nate Schenker
• Jaquiski Tartt
• Montrell Washington
• Corey White
• Nick Williams

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of February 17, 2025.^[2]

2025	2026	2027	2028	2029
vs West Georgia	at Incarnate Word	at Georgia Southern	at Tennessee Tech	vs Tennessee Tech
at Baylor	at Tennessee Tech	vs Tennessee Tech	vs Austin Peay
at Austin Peay
at Texas A&M