Southeastern Louisiana Lions football


The Southeastern Louisiana Lions football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Southeastern Louisiana University located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision and are members of the Southland Conference. Southeastern Louisiana's first football team was fielded in 1930. The team plays its home games at the 7,408 seat Strawberry Stadium in Hammond, Louisiana. The Lions are coached by Frank Scelfo.

History

When the program was restarted again in 2003, after an 18-year hiatus, Hal Mumme, formerly the head coach at the University of Kentucky, was hired as head coach. Mumme became the 12th head coach in program history. Upon its return, SLU decided to compete at the NCAA Division I-AA level. The team finished its first season 5–7 and posted a 7–4 mark in 2004. The program posted a 51–17 win over #6 McNeese State and entered the Top 25 in the national I-AA rankings. Southeastern Louisiana ranked first among NCAA Division I-AA teams in total offense per game and passing offense per game in 2003.
After receiving an invitation from the Southland Conference for the football program to join, the conference where the rest of SLU's sports competed, it began conference play in 2005 - where it remains a current member today.
In 2012, Ron Roberts took over as head coach for the Lions and led them to a 5–6 record. The Lions finished the season with a 5-–2 record in conference play, which was the best conference record the Lions had posted in the Southland since joining in 2005. The following year, the Lions posted an 11–3 overall record. The lions were led at quarterback by Oregon transfer Bryan Bennett. The Lions finished with a perfect 7–0 record in conference play and earned their-first ever trip to the NCAA Division 1 playoffs. The Lions earned a first round bye. In the second round, the Lions faced Sam Houston State in a rematch of the regular season game played between the two in which Southeastern won 34–21. Quarterback Bryan Bennett led a late game-winning drive to give the Lions a 30–29 thrilling victory. The Lions lost to the New Hampshire Wildcats in the quarterfinals 20–17. Bennett was first team all-Conference in 2013. Placekicker Seth Sebastian and kickoff returner Xavier Roberson won 2013 FCS Awards from College Football Performance Awards for the top positional performances.
After posting a 7-4 regular season record in 2019 the lions earned the program’s third playoff birth, hosting 10th ranked Villanova in the first round. After trailing 31-14 at halftime, Southeastern came back to upset the wildcats 45-44, led by quarterback Chason Virgil’s 474 yards passing.

Conference affiliations

Conference championships

Southeastern Louisiana has won 9 conference championships.
† Co-championship
‡ Includes victory in 1946 Burley Bowl.

Playoff appearances

Southeastern Louisiana has a 2–3 record in three appearances in the I-AA/FCS playoffs since 1978.

Rivalries

Nicholls

The series with Nicholls is tied at 14–14 through the 2018 season.

Northwestern State

Southeastern Louisiana leads the series with Northwestern State 28–22 through the 2018 season.

Louisiana

The Cypress Mug is the turned, polished mahogany mug awarded to the winner of the Louisiana–Southeastern football game. Louisiana leads the series 20–17–3 with the last game played in 2017.

Notable former players

Notable alumni include:
Announced schedules as of December 1, 2019.