UT Martin Skyhawks football

The UT Martin Skyhawks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Tennessee at Martin in Martin, Tennessee. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). The school's first football team was fielded in 1925, while known as Hall-Moody Junior College (later changing it to University of Tennessee Junior College in 1927, which they kept until 1950). The team plays its home games at the 7,500 seat Graham Stadium. They are coached by Jason Simpson.^[2]

UT Martin Skyhawks football
2025 UT Martin Skyhawks football team
First season	1925; 100 years ago (1925)
Head coach	Jason Simpson 20th season, 124–92 (.574)
Stadium	Graham Stadium (capacity: 7,500)
Location	Martin, Tennessee
NCAA division	Division I FCS
Conference	OVC–Big South
All-time record	290–385–6 (.430)
Bowl record	1–0 (1.000)
Conference titles	7
Colors	Navy blue, orange, and white[1]
Website	utmsports.com

UT Martin's official mascot became the Skyhawks in 1995. The school lists three references regarding the name, such as the fact that when the school's first site was a Bible institute, the school's athletic teams were called "sky pilots", a frontier term for preachers. During World War II, UT Junior College contracted with the Naval War Training Service to help train pilots, who completed their flight training at an airport now near a high school. Also, Red-tail hawks are indigenous to the west Tennessee region. The previous names of the athletic team were the Junior Volunteers and the Pacers.

History

Classifications

• 1961–1972: NCAA College Division
• 1973–1991: NCAA Division II
• 1992–present: NCAA Division I–AA/FCS

Conference memberships

• 1925–1927: Independent
• 1928–1950: Mississippi Valley Conference
• 1951–1970: Volunteer State Athletic Conference
• 1970–1971: Mid-South Athletic Conference
• 1972–1989: Gulf South Conference
• 1990–1991: NCAA Division II Independent
• 1992–present: Ohio Valley Conference

Conference championships

UT Martin has won seven conference championships, four outright and three shared.^[3]

Season	Conference	Coach	Overall Record	Conference Record
1936	Mississippi Valley Conference	W. E. Derryberry	8–0	n/a
1937			6–2–1	n/a
1960	Volunteer State Athletic Conference	Bob Carroll	7–3	n/a
1988†	Gulf South Conference	Don McLeary	11–2	7–1
2006†	Ohio Valley Conference	Jason Simpson	9–3	6–1
2021			10–3	5–1
2022†			7–4	5–0
2023†	Big South–OVC Football Association		8–3	5–1
2024†			8–4	6–2

† denotes co-championship

Playoff appearances

NCAA Division I-AA/FCS

The Skyhawks have appeared in the FCS playoffs three times with an overall record of 2–3.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2006	First Round	Southern Illinois	L 30–36
2021	First Round Second Round	Missouri State Montana State	W 32–31 L 7–26
2024	First Round Second Round	New Hampshire Montana State	W 41–10 L 17–49

NCAA Division II

The Skyhawks have appeared in the Division II playoffs one time with an overall record of 1–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1988	First Round Quarterfinals	Butler Texas A&I	W 23–6 L 0–34

Notable former players

Notable alumni include:

• Romel Andrews
• Jeremy Butler
• Mark Guy
• Montori Hughes
• Leon Reed
• Jerry Reese
• Fred Thomas
• Ray Williams

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of July 23, 2025.^[4]

2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030
at Oklahoma State	at West Virginia	Indiana State	at Alabama	North Alabama	at North Alabama
at UTEP	at Memphis	at UCF			at Indiana State
Southern Illinois		at Ball State
at Missouri State