The Jackrabbits were a NCAA Division II program in the North Central Conference until moving to the Football Championship Subdivision in 2004. The current head coach is John Stiegelmeier. In March 2007, SDSU initially began their Division I FCS era by being a charter member of the now-defunct Great West Football Conference and stayed there until 2007 when they were accepted into the Missouri Valley Football Conference and began league play in the 2008 season. South Dakota State University has invested in their football program's facilities recently as they have some of the finest amenities and facilities at the FCS level including the largest video/scoreboard in the FCS a new 19,340 seat stadium, and a large state-of-the-art student-athlete center in the north end zone. Connected to the student-athlete center is one of the largest indoor practice facilities in NCAA Division I. Due to the success of the NDSU and SDSU football program, SDSU football and the Dakota Marker game was featured on ESPN’s nationally televised College GameDay on October 26th, 2019, becoming one of only a few FCS programs to be featured on the show. South Dakota State has reached the National Championship Subdivision semi-finals twice in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
The Jackrabbits have appeared in the FCS playoffs nine times with an overall record of 8–9.
Division II Playoffs results
The Jackrabbits have appeared in the Division II playoffs one time with an overall record of 0–1.
Head coaches
Facilities
Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex
Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center
In 2014, South Dakota State University started construction of a new stadium on the location of the current Coughlin-Alumni Stadium. The new stadium has a total seating capacity of 19,340 with easy expansion to 22,500. The Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex is the Jackrabbits new State-of-the-art indoor practice facility. The facility was opened on October 11, 2014. The SJAC has bleacher seating for up to 1,000 spectators and can be used for football practice, track practice, softball and baseball practice, track competitions, and other events within the SDSU athletic department. The 149,284-square foot facility is the largest indoor practice facility in Division I athletics and features an eight-lane, 300-meter track which is only one of five collegiate indoor tracks of that size in the nation. Inside the track is an 80-yard football field plus end zones at each end and is composed of a soy-based Astroturf. Within the facility it has areas for sports medicine and strength and conditioning. Sports medicine features include rehab space, a training room, weight room expansion, hydrotherapy, a football team room, offices and academic advising facilities. The SJAC is used by many of SDSU's athletic programs.
All home and road games are covered on the Jackrabbit Sports Network. The broadcast range of the Jackrabbit Sports Network covers eight states, and consists of the following stations:
The team does not have an official television partner, but Jackrabbit games have been televised on Midco Sports Net, Fox College Sports, the Big Ten Network, Fox Sports North, and local television networks.
