The Northern Colorado Bears football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Northern Colorado located in Greeley, Colorado. The team competes in the Big Sky Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The university's first football team was fielded in 1893. They joined Division I in 2004. The team plays home games at the 8,533 seat Nottingham Field on campus. The Bears announced the hiring of Ed Lamb on December 6, 2022, replacing Ed McCaffrey, who went 6–16 in two seasons.

Conference affiliations Below is the list of conferences in which Northern Colorado has been a member. Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (1923–1971) Great Plains Athletic Conference (1972–1975) NCAA Division II independent (1976–1979) North Central Conference (1980–2002) Great West Football Conference (2004–2005) Big Sky Conference (2006–present)

Championships National championships Northern Colorado made two appearances in the NCAA Division II National Championship Game. The Bears defeated Carson–Newman, 23–14 in 1996, and later defeated New Haven, 51–0 in 1997.

1996 II Joe Glenn 12–3 1996 Division II National Championship Carson–Newman W 23–14 Florence, AL 1997 II Joe Glenn 13–2 1997 Division II National Championship New Haven W 51–0 Florence, AL

Conference championships 1934† John W. Hancock Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference 6–1 6–1 1948 4–4 3–0 1969 Bob Blasi 10–0 5–0 1971 8–1–1 5–0 1973† Great Plains Athletic Conference 7–2 4–1 1974 8–1 5–0 1975 8–1 5–0 1980 North Central Conference 7–4 6–1 1997† Joe Glenn 13–2 8–1 1998† 11–2 8–1 1999† 11–2 8–1 2002 Kay Dalton 12–2 8–0 Conference Championships 12 † Co-champions

Division championships 1969 Bob Blasi RMAC Plains Adams State W 33–14 1970† N/A lost tiebreaker to Pittsburg State 1971 Western State W 25–15 Division Championships 3

Playoff appearances NCAA Division II The Bears appeared in the Division II playoffs nine times with an overall record of 12–7.

1980 First Round Eastern Illinois L 14–211990 First Round North Dakota State L 7–171991 First Round Portland State L 24–281995 First Round Pittsburg State L 17–36 1996 First RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals Pittsburg StateNW Missouri StateClarionCarson-Newman W 24–21W 27–26W 19–18W 23–14 1997 First RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals Pittsburg StateNW Missouri StateCarson-NewmanNew Haven W 24–16W 35–19W 30–29W 51–0 1998 First RoundQuarterfinals North DakotaNW Missouri State W 52–28L 17–42 1999 First RoundQuarterfinals Pittsburg StateNW Missouri State W 34–31L 35–41 2002 First RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinals Central Missouri StateNW Missouri StateGrand Valley W 49–28W 23–12L 7–44

Attendance

Highest attendance

Below is a list of the Bears best-attended home games at Nottingham Field. Rk. Date Opponent Attendance Highest attendance 1 October 1, 2005 Cal Poly 9,145 2 October 29, 2005 Fort Lewis 8,561 3 October 2, 2010 Montana 8,105 4 September 3, 2005 Colorado School of Mines 7,554 5 October 23, 1998 South Dakota 7,520 6 October 9, 1999 Nebraska-Omaha 7,499 7 November 21, 1998 North Dakota 7,312 8 September 20, 1998 Texas State 7,246 9 October 19, 2002 South Dakota 7,198 10 October 10, 1998 South Dakota 7,135

As of the 2014 season.

Yearly attendance

Source:

Below is the Bears home attendance by season at Nottingham Field. Season Total Average High Northern Colorado Bears201825,2934,2155,672201721,9174,3835,378201624,4774,8955,476 2015 25,612 4,269 5,205 2014 21,037 4,207 6,348 2013 23,990 3,998 4,619 2012 21,240 4,248 5,136 2011 23,428 3,905 5,692 2010 27,919 5,584 8,105 2009 21,111 3,518 5,247 2008 21,676 4,355 7,246 2007 20,441 4,088 6,684 2006 28,857 6,219 4,810 2005 37,549 7,510 9,142 2004 27,370 4,562 6,481 2003 28,730 5,746 6,660 2002 34,898 5,816 7,198 2001 26,153 4,359 5,488 2000 29,162 6,352 4,860 1999 46,552 6,650 7,520 1998 40,690 5,813 7,312 1997 25,302 4,217 6,345 1996 27,282 4,547 6,318 1995 25,067 4,364 7,024

As of the 2015 season.

Retired Numbers

Northern Colorado has retired the following jersey numbers for their football program:

12 Corte McGuffey QB 1995-99 11/10/2007 81 Vincent Jackson WR 2001-05 10/9/2021

Notable former players

Notable alumni include: Reed Doughty Vincent Jackson Dirk Johnson Jeff Knapple Bill Kenney Corte McGuffey Brad Pyatt Tony Ramirez Aaron Smith Loren Snyder Dave Stalls Frank Wainright Jed Roberts Herve Tonye-Tonye Cedric Tillman Brian Scott Kyle Sloter

Head coaching records in FCS Since moving to the Big Sky Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in 2006, the Bears have struggled. Their FCS record since 2006 is 39–146 as of the 2025 season.

FCS head coaching records Scott Downing: 9–47 Earnest Collins Jr.: 19–53 Ed McCaffrey: 6–16 Ed Lamb: 5–30 as of the end of the 2025 season

Team FCS record as of the end of 2025:

Future non-conference opponents Announced schedules as of August 18, 2026.

South Dakota at New Mexico at Colorado at Colorado State at Wyoming at Colorado at Colorado State at Colorado State at Colorado State at Wyoming Houston Christian Northeastern State

References

External links