The Alabama State Hornets are the college football team representing the Alabama State University. The Hornets play in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
ASU Stadium serves as the facility for Alabama State football games and practices. The 120-yard field turf playing field provides training to ASU football in all weather conditions. In June 2011, construction on the Houston Markham Football Complex was completed. The two-story, 30,000-square-foot facility serves as the new home of the football program.
Conference affiliations
Independent (1901–1912) Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1913–1975) NCAA Division II independent (1976–1981) Southwestern Athletic Conference (1982–present)
Championships National Alabama State has won one national championship. 1991 Houston Markham Black College National Champions 11–0–1
Conference Alabama State has won six conference championships. 1935 Rufus A. Lewis Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 9–1–1 1939 Rufus A. Lewis Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 6–2–2 1965 Whitney L. Van Cleve Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Section B 6–4 1966 Whitney L. Van Cleve Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Section B 8–2 1991 Houston Markham Southwestern Athletic Conference 11–0–1 2004 Charles Coe Southwestern Athletic Conference 10–2 Total Conference Championships: 6
Rivalries The Magic City Classic is the highest attended and most anticipated regular season ASU football game every year. The Hornets take on in-state rival Alabama A&M Bulldogs in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Turkey Day Classic is an annual event played yearly on Thanksgiving between ASU and another opponent, most recently Prairie View A&M in 2019 and has been played almost consecutively since 1924, except for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alumni in the NFL Over 20 Alabama State alumni have played in the NFL, including: Reggie Barlow Keenan Issac Brad Baxter Earl Cochran Michael Coe Isaiah Crowell Tytus Howard Johnny Huggins Tarvaris Jackson Greg Jenkins Bill Johnson Terren Jones Zefross Moss Eddie Robinson Tyrone Rogers Ricky Smith Jylan Ware
Head coaches Name Seasons Record Win pct. Theodore Bradford 1902–1904 0–2 .000 J. A. Welton 1905–1908 4–5–1 .444 John Hope 1909–1916 17–6–1 .739 Professor Kilpatrick 1917–1920 1–3–1 .250 Ralph Harris 1921–1925 21–13–3 .618 Bertrand C. Jacobs 1926–1928 16–10–3 .615 Gaston F. Lewis 1929–1933 31–13–4 .705 Rufus A. Lewis 1934–1942 42–32–9 .568 John Brown 1943, 1945–1948 10–24–1 .249 Hubert Lockhart & E. B. Campbell 1944 0–7 .000 James H. Dixon 1949–1951 5–20–3 .179 Arthur E. Simmons 1952–1961 43–40–3 .500 C. E. Anderson 1962 0–8 .000 Marino Casem 1963 2–8 .200 Whitney L. Van Cleve 1964–1968 35–14–1 Henry Holbert 1969–1972 21–21 .500 Willie Parker 1973–1976, 1984, 1986 16–38 .296 George James Jr. 1976–1983 43–39–2 0.524 Ron Mitchell (interim) 1985 3–8 0.273 Houston Markham 1987–1997 65–50–4 .546 Ron Dickerson 1998–1999 7–15 .318 L. C. Cole 2000–2002 20–15 .571 Charles Coe 2003–2006 29–18 .617 Reggie Barlow 2006–2014 49–42 .538 Brian Jenkins 2015–2017 10–17 .370 Donald Hill-Eley 2017–2021 20–21 .488 Travis Pearson (interim) 2021 2–2 .500 Eddie Robinson Jr. 2022–present 30–16
Future non-conference opponents Announced schedules as of February 1, 2026 vs SouthernBirmingham, AL vs Morgan State (Atlanta, GA)MEAC/SWAC Challenge Lane College at Troy Tuskegee(Turkey Day Classic)
Notes At an unknown point in the 1944 season, Hubert Lockhart was replaced by E. B. Campbell. Both coaches share credit for the 1944 season.
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