The Montana State–Northern Lights football team represents Montana State University–Northern in college football in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The Lights are members of the Frontier Conference, fielding its team in the Frontier Conference since 1999. The Lights play their home games at Tilleman Field in Havre, Montana.[2][3]
| Montana State–Northern Lights football | |
|---|---|
| First season | 1957 |
| Athletic director | Christian Oberquell |
| Head coach | Jerome Souers 2nd season, 1–19 (.050) |
| Stadium | Tilleman Field (capacity: 2,000) |
| Year built | 2020 |
| Field surface | FieldTurf |
| Location | Havre, Montana |
| Conference | Frontier |
| All-time record | 64–185 (.257) |
| Playoff appearances | NAIA: 1 |
| Playoff record | NAIA: 0–1 |
| Colors | Maroon and gold[1] |
| Mascot | Northern lights |
| Website | golightsgo.com |
The school's head coach is Jerome Souers, who took over the position for the 2022 season.[4]
Conference affiliations
edit- Frontier Conference (1999–present)
List of head coaches
editKey
edit| General | Overall | Conference | Postseason[A 1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Order of coaches[A 2] | GC | Games coached | CW | Conference wins | PW | Postseason wins |
| DC | Division championships | OW | Overall wins | CL | Conference losses | PL | Postseason losses |
| CC | Conference championships | OL | Overall losses | CT | Conference ties | PT | Postseason ties |
| NC | National championships | OT | Overall ties[A 3] | C% | Conference winning percentage | ||
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage[A 4] | ||||
Coaches since 1999
edit| No. | Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walt Currie[8] | 1999–2003 | 52 | 10 | 42 | 0 | 0.192 | 7 | 33 | 0 | 0.175 |
| 2 | Mark Samson | 2004–2013 | 104 | 45 | 59 | 0 | 0.433 | 40 | 56 | 0 | 0.417 |
| 3 | Jake Eldridge[9] | 2014, 2017 | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0.214 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0.154 |
| 4 | Aaron Christensen[10][11] | 2015–2017 | 32 | 2 | 27 | 0 | 0.069 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 0.037 |
| 5 | Andrew Rolin[12][13] | 2018–2021 | 37 | 3 | 34 | 0 | 0.081 | 1 | 33 | 0 | 0.029 |
| 6 | Jerome Souers[14] | 2022–present | 20 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 0.050 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 0.050 |
Year-by-year results since 1999
edit| National champions | Conference champions | Bowl game berth | Playoff berth |
| Season | Year | Head coach | Association | Division | Conference | Record | Postseason | Final ranking | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Conference | |||||||||||||
| Win | Loss | Tie | Finish | Win | Loss | Tie | ||||||||
| Montana State–Northern Lights | ||||||||||||||
| 1999 | 1999 | Walt Currie | NAIA | — | Frontier | 3 | 8 | 0 | T–4th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — |
| 2000 | 2000 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 4th | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2001 | 2001 | 3 | 8 | 0 | T–3rd | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2002 | 2002 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 5th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2003 | 2003 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 5th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2004 | 2004 | Mark Samson | 1 | 10 | 0 | T–4th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2005 | 2005 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3rd | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2006 | 2006 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2nd | 8 | 2 | 0 | NAIA First Round | 11 | ||||
| 2007 | 2007 | 6 | 5 | 0 | T–3rd | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2008 | 2008 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2nd | 7 | 3 | 0 | — | 21 | ||||
| 2009 | 2009 | 2 | 9 | 0 | T–5th | 1 | 9 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2010 | 2010 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 5th | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2011 | 2011 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3rd | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2012 | 2012 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7th | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2013 | 2013 | 4 | 6 | 0 | T–5th | 4 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2014 | 2014 | Jake Eldridge | 3 | 8 | 0 | 7th | 2 | 8 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2015 | 2015 | Aaron Christensen | 0 | 11 | 0 | 8th | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2016 | 2016 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 8th | 1 | 9 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2017 | 2017 | Aaron Christensen / Jake Eldridge (interim, last 3 games) | 1 | 10 | 0 | 8th | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2018 | 2018 | Andrew Rolin | 1 | 10 | 0 | 8th | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2019 | 2019 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 8th | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2020 | 2020 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5th | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2021 | 2021 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 8th | 1 | 9 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2022 | 2022 | Jerome Souers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 8th | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2023 | 2023 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | |||||
Notes
edit- ^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.[5]
- ^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
- ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[6]
- ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Montana State University-Northern Brand Guidelines" (PDF). Retrieved September 26, 2023.
- ^ Ferguson, George (August 25, 2021). "GAME DAY FEATURE: FINALLY: Fans ready to pack new Tilleman Field". Havre Daily News. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
- ^ "Montana State-Northern unveils 2021 spring football schedule, will open Tilleman Field on March 13". Montana Sports. October 8, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
- ^ Ferguson, George (January 14, 2022). "Legendary head coach Jerome Souers named new MSU-N head football coach". Havre Daily News. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
- ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
- ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
- ^ "Montana State-Northern announces 2023 hall of fame class". 406 MT Sports. August 3, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
- ^ "Briefs: MSU-Northern FB coach quits". Great Falls Tribune. October 25, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
- ^ Potter, Jim (October 25, 2017). "MSU-Northern Football Coach Resigns". Frontier Conference. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
- ^ "Montana State University-Northern football coach resigns". USA Today. October 25, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
- ^ Ferguson, George (November 29, 2021). "Andrew Rolin announces he's resigning as Lights' head coach". Havre Daily News. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
- ^ Martin, Spencer (November 29, 2021). "Andrew Rolin resigns as MSU-Northern Head Football Coach". Montana Right Now. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
- ^ Richards, Sierra (January 14, 2022). "Jerome Souers Named Head Football Coach at MSU-Northern". Frontier Conference. Retrieved September 27, 2023.