Texas Southern Tigers football

The Texas Southern Tigers is the college football team representing Texas Southern University, a historically black university (HBCU) in Houston. The Tigers play in the NCAA's Division I FCS as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), a conference whose members are all HBCUs. In 2012, the Tigers moved into the new Shell Energy Stadium in East Downtown, built for the city's Major League Soccer team, the Houston Dynamo. It replaced Delmar Stadium as the primary home of Tiger football.

Texas Southern Tigers football
2025 Texas Southern Tigers football team
First season	1947; 78 years ago
Head coach	Cris Dishman 2nd season, 5–6 (.455)
Stadium	Shell Energy Stadium (capacity: 22,000)
Year built	2012
Field surface	Natural grass
Location	Houston, Texas
Conference	SWAC
Division	West
All-time record	330–439–27 (.432)
Claimed national titles	2 (black college): 1952, 2010
Conference titles	3 (1 MAA, 2 SWAC)
Colors	Maroon and gray[1]
Website	tsusports.com

History

Shell Energy Stadium

Classifications

• 1952–1972: NCAA College Division
• 1952–1969: NAIA
• 1970–1984: NAIA Division I
• 1973–1976: NCAA Division II
• 1977: NCAA Division I
• 1978–present: NCAA Division I-AA/FCS

Conference memberships

• 1947–1951: Independent
• 1952–1954: Midwest Athletic Association
• 1955–present: Southwestern Athletic Conference

Football classics

Labor Day Classic

The Tigers compete against the Panthers of Prairie View A&M in the Labor Day Classic for the Durley-Nicks Trophy. The popular football rivalry began in 1946 but the classic was created in 1985.

TV broadcasting

In July 2017, Texas Southern renewed their deal with AT&T SportsNet (formerly ROOT Sports Southwest) to televise all home football games. The cable channel reaches over 13 million households.^[2]

Championships

Texas Southern football players in 2019

National

Year	Championship	Coach	Overall record	Conference
1952	Black college national	Alexander Durley	10–0–1	MWAA
2010	Black college national	Johnnie Cole	9–3	SWAC

Conference championships

Year	Conference	Coach	Overall record	Conference record
1952†	Midwest Athletic Association	Alexander Durley	10–0–1	2–0–1
1956	Southwestern Athletic Conference	Alexander Durley	9–2	5–1
1968†	Southwestern Athletic Conference	Clifford Paul	6–4	6–1
2010*	Southwestern Athletic Conference	Johnnie Cole	9–3	8–1
Total conference championships:			3 (1 vacated)
† Denotes co-champions * Denotes vacated title

Alumni in the NFL

Over 60 Texas Southern alumni have played in the NFL or AFL,^[3] including:

• Michael Strahan°°
• Tray Walker
• Julius Adams
• Melvin Baker
• Ken Burrough
• Greg Briggs
• Ernie Calloway
• Arthur Cox
• John Douglas
• James Ford
• Harold Hart
• W. K. Hicks
• Winston Hill°°
• Ernie Holmes
• Kevin Johnson
• Brett Maxie
• Will Moore
• Cortez Hankton
• Jim Sorey
• John White
• Jim Young
• Darvin Kidsy
• Joseph Rogers
• Oliver Celestine
• Andy Olemgbe
• Joey Jamison

°° Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee

2012 NCAA sanctions

In October 2012, the NCAA found Texas Southern University guilty of repeated rules violations in 13 sports over a seven-year period from 2005 to 2012. The most serious violations occurred within the football and men's basketball programs, involving academic fraud, illicit benefits given to student athletes, lying on the part of coaches, and lying to the NCAA about previously self-imposed sanctions.^[4]

Prior to the NCAA's verdict, the school had taken numerous corrective measures—including the April 2011 firing of football coach Johnnie Cole (2010 SWAC Football Coach of the Year) and vacating every game that the Tiger football team had won from 2006 to 2010 - including the 2010 SWAC Championship, their first championship in 42 years.^[5]

The NCAA banned TSU's football team from the 2013 and 2014 postseason.^[6]

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of February 27, 2025^[7]

2025	2026	2027	2028
at California	at UTEP	at Tulsa	at Texas State
Lamar
Virginia–Lynchburg

See also

• List of black college football classics
• Ocean of Soul