The Western Illinois Leathernecks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Western Illinois University, located in Macomb, Illinois. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). The team plays its home games at the 16,368 seat Hanson Field.

History

Western Illinois had an unofficial football team in 1902, the year the school was established. The team played four games against regional high schools and the Western Illinois Normal & Business Institute going 2–2. In 1903, the school formed an athletic association for the fall football season, which is considered the official beginning of Western Illinois football by the school.

The team adopted its nickname in 1927 when coach Ray Hanson, a decorated officer in the United States Marine Corps, asked the U.S. Navy for permission to use the Corps' Fighting Leathernecks nickname and logo for his team. Western Illinois is the only college which officially takes its nickname from a branch of the U.S. military.

From 2008 through 2023, the Leathernecks were members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The football team joined the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) in 2024. The other Leathernecks athletic programs transitioned to the OVC one year prior, on July 1, 2023."Leatherneck Athletics Moving to Ohio Valley Conference for All Sports," Western Illinois University Athletics, Friday, May 12, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2023.

Conference affiliations 1902–1913 Independent 1914–1949 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic 1950–1969 Interstate Intercollegiate AthleticNCAA College Division 1970–1972 Independent 1973–1977 IndependentDivision II 1978–1980Mid-Continent 1981–1984Division I-AA 1985–2005Gateway Football 2006–2007Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) 2008–2023 Missouri Valley Football 2024–present Ohio Valley

Championships Conference championships 1939 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 5–1–1 2–0–1 1942 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 5–0–2 3–0–1 1949 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 9–1–0 4–0 1958 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 6–1–1 5–1 1959 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 9–0–0 6–0 1964† Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 6–3–0 3–1 1969 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 8–2–0 3–0 1981† Mid-Continent 5–6 2–1 1988 Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference 10–2–0 6–0 1997 Gateway Football Conference 8–3 4–1 1998 Gateway Football Conference 11–2 6–0 2000 Gateway Football Conference 9–3 5–1 2002† Gateway Football Conference 11–2 6–1 † Co-championship

Playoffs and bowls Playoffs 1973 First Round NCAA Division II Playoffs 1988 First Round NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs 1991 First Round NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs 1996 First Round NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs 1997 Quarterfinals NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs (Pecan Bowl) 1998 Semifinals NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs (Pecan Bowl) 2000 First Round NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs 2002 Quarterfinals NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs (Pecan Bowl) 2003 Quarterfinals NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs (Pecan Bowl) 2010 Second Round NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs 2015 Second Round NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs 2017 First Round NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs

*Note: Since 1981, the NCAA Division I-AA/Division I FCS Playoffs Regional Championships were commonly referred to as the Boardwalk Bowl (East Region Championship), Pecan Bowl (Midwest Region Championship), Grantland Rice Bowl (South Region Championship), and Camellia Bowl (West Region Championship).

Bowl games 1949 Corn Bowl Wheaton W 13–0 1953 Corn Bowl Iowa Wesleyan W 32–0 1955 Corn Bowl Luther L 20–24

Head coaches 1902–1903 Unknown 1904 L. H. Laughlin 1905 A. Laughlin 1906, 1910 Oliver Morton Dickerson 1907–1908 Charles A. Barnett 1909 Francis Taft 1911 Albert Walrath 1912–1913 Unknown 1914 Edward S. Dowell 1915 Unknown 1916–1917, 1919 Erskine Jay 1918 No team 1920–1921 W. A. Cleveland 1922–1925 Howard Hawkes 1926–1941 Ray Hanson 1942–1943 Wix Garner 1944 Bob Barnwell 1945–1947 Wix Garner 1948 Harold Ave 1949–1953 Vince DiFrancesca 1954–1956 Wes Stevens 1957–1959 Lou Saban 1960–1968 Art Dufelmeier 1969–1973 Darrell Mudra 1974–1975 Brodie Westen 1976–1978 Bill Shanahan 1979–1982 Pete Rodriguez 1983–1989 Bruce Craddock 1990–1998 Randy Ball 1999–2009 Don Patterson 2008–2012† Mark Hendrickson 2013–2015 Bob Nielson 2016–2017 Charlie Fisher 2018–2021 Jared Elliott 2022–2023 Myers Hendrickson 2024–present Joe Davis † Acting head coach first seven games of 2008 season and last eight games of 2009 season.

Season records 1903 0–3 – – 1904 5–2 – – 1905 4–2 – – 1906 1–4 – – 1907 2–3 – – 1908 2–3–1 – – 1909 2–3 – – 1910 4–1–1 – – 1911 4–3 – – 1912 4–3 – – 1913 5–3 – – 1914 3–2–1 0–1 T-14th (15) 1915 1–5 0–4 T-16th (28) 1916 1–7–1 0–5 T-18th (19) 1917 2–4 1–4 13th (18) 1918 No games played N/A N/A 1919 5–2 1–2 16th (19) 1920 0–3–1 0–2–1 T-17th (21) 1921 3–3–1 1–2 T-16th (23) 1922 6–2 2–1 T-6th (23) 1923 1–6–1 1–4–1 20th (23) 1924 4–3 3–3 8th (22) 1925 4–3–1 4–3–1 9th (22) 1926 4–3–1 4–3 8th (19) 1927 6–3–1 4–3–1 9th (16) 1928 2–3–3 2–3–2 14th (22) 1929 3–5 2–5 18th (23) 1930 4–4 3–4 15th (22) 1931 2–6 2–4 18th (22) 1932 4–2–1 4–2–1 7th (21) 1933 3–5 2–4 16th (21) 1934 5–3 4–2 T-6th (20) 1935 2–6 1–6 17th (20) 1936 3–2–2 3–2–1 T-7th (21) 1937 3–4–1 3–1–1 6th (21) 1938 6–2 2–1 4th (8) 1939 5–1–1 2–0–1 1st (5) 1940 1–6–1 0–3–1 4th (5) 1941 3–4–1 1–2–1 4th (5) 1942 5–0–2 3–0–1 1st (5) 1943 1–6 0–4 4th (5) 1944 0–8 0–4 4th (5) 1945 1–5–1 0–3–1 T-3rd (5) 1946 2–6 0–4 4th (5) 1947 4–4–1 0–4 4th (5) 1948 4–4 1–3 3rd (5) 1949 9–1 4–0 1st (5) 1950 7–1 4–1 2nd (7) 1951 7–1–1 4–1–1 2nd (7) 1952 7–2 5–1 2nd (7) 1953 8–2 5–1 2nd (7) 1954 6–1–3 3–1–2 3rd (7) 1955 5–4–1 2–3–1 T-4th (7) 1956 6–3 4–2 2nd (7) 1957 5–4 4–2 T-2nd (7) 1958 6–1–1 5–1 1st (7) 1959 9–0 6–0 1st (7) 1960 6–2 5–1 2nd (7) 1961 5–3 4–2 T-2nd (7) 1962 5–3 2–2 3rd (5) 1963 6–3 3–1 2nd (5) 1964 6–3 3–1 T-1st (5) 1965 4–5 2–2 3rd (5) 1966 1–7–1 1–2 3rd (4) 1967 2–6 1–2 T-3rd (4) 1968 2–7–1 1–2 T-3rd (4) 1969 8–2 3–0 1st (4) 1970 7–3 – – 1971 8–2 – – 1972 9–2 – – 1973 7–4 – – 1974 7–3 – – 1975 5–4–1 – – 1976 7–3 – – 1977 3–7 – – 1978 3–6–1 1–3–1 T-4th (6) 1979 3–8 1–4 5th (6) 1980 4–6 0–4 5th (5) 1981 5–6 2–1 2nd (4) 1982 2–8 0–3 4th (4) 1983 3–8 0–3 4th (4) 1984 6–4–1 0–2–1 4th (4) 1985 6–5 2–3 3rd (6) 1986 6–5 2–4 5th (7) 1987 7–4 5–1 2nd (7) 1988 10–2 6–0 1st (7) 1989 4–7 1–5 6th (7) 1990 3–8 3–3 5th (7) 1991 7–4–1 4–2 3rd (7) 1992 7–4 4–2 2nd (7) 1993 4–7 4–2 3rd (7) 1994 8–3 4–2 2nd (7) 1995 4–7 2–4 6th (7) 1996 9–3 3–2 2nd (6) 1997 11–2 6–0 1st (7) 1998 11–3 5–1 1st (7) 1999 7–4 2–4 4th (7) 2000 9–3 5–1 1st (7) 2001 5–5 4–3 4th (8) 2002 11–2 6–1 1st (8) 2003 9–4 5–2 3rd (8) 2004 4–7 2–5 5th (8) 2005 5–6 3–4 5th (8) 2006 5–6 2–5 6th (8) 2007 6–5 3–3 4th (7) 2008 6–5 4–4 4th (9) 2009 1–10 0–8 9th (9) 2010 8–5 5–3 2nd (9) 2011 2–9 1–7 9th (9) 2012 3–8 1–7 9th (10) 2013 4–8 2–6 9th (10) 2014 5–7 3–5 8th (10) 2015 7–6 5–3 5th (10) 2016 6–6 4–4 6th (10) 2017 8–4 5–3 4th (10) 2018 5–6 4–4 5th (10) 2019 1–11 1–7 10th (10) 2020 1–5 1–5 9th (10) 2021 2–9 2–6 11th (11) 2022 0–11 0–8 11th (11) 2023 0–11 0–8 11th (11) 2024 4–8 3–5 T-6th (9) 2025 4–8 3–5 T-6th (9) Adjusted record is 0–8 (3 wins vacated). After the season Western was forced to vacate their wins due to an ineligible player.

Individual accomplishments Award winners

Walter Payton Award finalists Paul Singer – 1988 . . . 2nd Aaron Stecker – 1997...2nd Charles Tharp – 2000...8th Russ Michna – 2003...6th Herb Donaldson – 2007...13th Herb Donaldson – 2008...3rd

Buck Buchanan Award James Milton – 1998 Edgerton Hartwell – 2000 Buck Buchanan Award finalists Cyron Brown – 1997...3rd Edgerton Hartwell – 1999...5th Lee Russell – 2002...6th Lee Russell – 2003...5th Jason Williams – 2008...4th Kyle Glazier – 2010...T-2nd Brett Taylor – 2016...7th Brett Taylor – 2017...2nd Darius Joiner – 2021...6th

Eddie Robinson Award finalists Randy Ball – 1997...6th Randy Ball – 1998...5th Don Patterson – 2000...13th Don Patterson – 2002...3rd Mark Hendrickson – 2010...2nd

College Football Hall of Fame members Darrell Mudra Coach 1969–1973 2000

Future non-conference opponents Announced schedules as of August 21, 2026.

Northwestern (IA) at Oklahoma State at Purdue at Murray State at Northern Illinois at Northwestern Illinois State Dayton at Wyoming Murray State at Wisconsin at Indiana State Indiana State Morehead State at Boise State North Alabama at North Alabama

Notable former players Notable alumni

Jaelon Acklin Don Beebe David Bowens Fabien Bownes Sam Clemons Bryan Cox Booker Edgerson Larry Garron Don Greco Rodney Harrison

Edgerton Hartwell Frisman Jackson Leroy Jackson William James Rob Lazeo Lance Lenoir Lamar McGriggs Russ Michna Red Miller Dennis Morgan

J. R. Niklos Khalen Saunders Mike Scifres Rich Seubert Paul Singer Aaron Stecker John Teerlinck Marco Thomas Mike Wagner Jason Williams Frank Winters

See also Western Illinois Leathernecks List of NCAA Division I FCS football programs

References

External links