This is a list of seasons completed by the Idaho Vandals football team. The Vandals compete in the Big Sky Conference in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Representing the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, the Vandals play home games on campus at the 16,000-seat Kibbie Dome; it opened as an outdoor venue in 1971 and was enclosed in 1975.
Idaho began playing football in 1894 as an independent, and was a member of the Pacific Coast Conference from 1922 through 1958; the PCC disbanded the following spring. After playing for six years as a University Division independent, the Vandals joined the Big Sky for football in 1965, where they remained for over thirty years. The Big Sky moved up to the new Division I-AA in 1978; Idaho moved down and often made the I-AA postseason playoffs for over a decade.
In 1996, Idaho moved back to Division I-A as a member of the Big West Conference, and went to the Sun Belt Conference (football only) when the Big West stopped sponsoring football after 2000. After four seasons in the Sun Belt, Idaho joined the Western Athletic Conference in 2005, only to return to the Sun Belt nine years later when the WAC dropped football. The Sun Belt dropped Idaho as a football member after 2017, and rather than attempt to exist as an isolated FBS independent, as they had in 2013, Vandal football became the first FBS program to voluntarily drop to FCS in 2018 and returned to the Big Sky, where Idaho's other teams had rejoined in 2014.
The Vandals are led by head coach Thomas Ford, who was hired after the 2024 season in mid-December.
Seasons Legend National champions † Conference champions ‡ Division champions ^Bowl game berth / playoff result +List of Idaho Vandals football seasonsSeasonTeamHead coachConferenceRegular season resultsPostseason resultsFinal rankingOverallConferenceBowl game/Playoff resultNCAA/TSN Poll AP/Coaches' PollWinLossTieWinLossTieFinishIdaho Vandals 1894 1894 G. E. Higgins Independent020 — — — — 1895 1895010 — — — — 1896 1896 No team 1897 1897010 — — — — 1898 1898 No games were played 1899 1899 Morse040 — — — — 1900 1900 Fred Herbold100 — — — — 1901 1901321 — — — — 1902 1902 John G. Griffith131 — — — — 1903 1903310 — — — — 1904 1904210 — — — — 1905 1905500 — — — — 1906 1906240 — — — — 1907 1907 John R. Middleton411 — — — — 1908 1908222 — — — — 1909 1909 John S. Grogan340 — — — — 1910 1910 John G. Griffith420 — — — — 1911 1911430 — — — — 1912 1912220 — — — — 1913 1913231 — — — — 1914 1914231 — — — — 1915 1915 Charles Rademacher141 — — — — 1916 1916 Wilfred Bleamaster350 — — — — 1917 1917230 — — — — 1918 Season canceled due to World War I 1919 1919 Ralph Hutchinson230 — — — — 1920 1920 Thomas Kelley420 — — — — 1921 1921431 — — — — 1922 1922 Matty Mathews Pacific Coast350040 8th — — — 1923 1923521221 3rd — — — 1924 1924521420 4th — — — 1925 1925350230 6th — — — 1926 1926 Charles Erb341140 T-6th — — — 1927 1927†422202 T-1st† — — — 1928 1928341230 T-6th — — — 1929 1929 Leo Calland450140 T-7th — — — 1930 1930470050 10th — — — 1931 1931340140 8th — — — 1932 1932350140 T-8th — — — 1933 1933440140 9th — — — 1934 1934350140 8th — — — 1935 1935 Ted Bank270150 9th — — — 1936 1936370040 10th — — — 1937 1937422220 5th — — — 1938 1938631231 7th — — — 1939 1939260030 10th — — — 1940 1940171040 10th — — — 1941 1941 Francis Schmidt450040 10th — — — 1942 1942370150 9th — — — 1943 Seasons canceled due to World War II 1944 No coach 1945 1945 Babe Brown170150 8th — — — 1946 1946180050 10th — — — 1947 1947 Dixie Howell440140 9th — — — 1948 1948360150 9th — — — 1949 1949350140 9th — — — 1950 1950351111 5th — — — 1951 1951 Babe Curfman270030 9th — — — 1952 1952441130 8th — — — 1953 1953180030 9th — — — 1954 1954 Skip Stahley450120 7th — — — 1955 1955270040 9th — — — 1956 1956450040 9th — — — 1957 1957441030 9th — — — 1958 1958450030 9th — — — 1959 1959 Independent190 — — — — 1960 1960190 — — — — 1961 1961270 — — — — 1962 1962 Dee Andros261 — — — — 1963 1963540 — — — — 1964 1964460 — — — — 1965 1965† Steve Musseau Big Sky550310 T-1st† — — — 1966 1966460310 2nd — — — 1967 1967460220 T-2nd — — — 1968 1968† Y C McNease550310 T-1st† — — — 1969 1969280130 4th — — — 1970 1970 Don Robbins470220 T-3rd — — — 1971 1971†830410 1st† — — — 1972 197247023 0 5th — — 1973 197347032 0 3rd — — 1974 1974 Ed Troxel281221 3rd — — — 1975 1975452222 T-4th — — — 1976 1976740510 2nd — — — 1977 1977380240 T-5th — — — 1978 1978 Jerry Davitch290250 T-5th — — — 1979 1979470250 T-5th — — — 1980 198065043 T-2nd — — — 1981 198138007 8th — — — 1982 1982 Dennis Erickson94052 T-1st NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs — Quarterfinals ^ 11 — 1983 198383043 T-3rd — — — 1984 198465043 T-3rd — — — 1985 1985†93061 1st† NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs — First Round ^ 5 — 1986 1986 Keith Gilbertson84052 3rd NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs — First Round ^ 16 — 1987 1987†93071 1st† NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs — First Round ^ 5 — 1988 1988†112071 1st† NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs — Semifinals ^ 2 — 1989 1989† John L. Smith93008 1st† NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs — First Round ^ 4 — 1990 199094062 2nd NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs — Quarterfinals ^ 13 — 1991 199165044 T-4th — — — 1992 1992†93061 1st† NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs — First Round ^ 5 — 1993 1993113052 2nd NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs — Semifinals ^ 11 — 1994 199493052 2nd NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs — First Round ^ 6 — 1995 1995 Chris Tormey65043 T-2nd NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs — First Round ^ 17 — 1996 1996 Big West6532 T-3rd — — — 1997 19975623 T-4th — — — 1998 1998†9341 1st† Won Humanitarian Bowl againstSouthern Miss Golden Eagles, 42–35 ^ — — 1999 19997442 2nd — — — 2000 2000 Tom Cable5632 3rd — — — 2001 2001 Sun Belt11015 T-6th — — — 2002 200221016 7th — — — 2003 20033934 T-4th — — — 2004 2004 Nick Holt3925 T-5th — — — 2005 2005 WAC2926 T-6th — — — 2006 2006 Dennis Erickson4835 T-6th — — — 2007 2007 Robb Akey11108 9th — — — 2008 200821017 T-8th — — — 2009 20098544 4th Won Humanitarian Bowl againstBowling Green Falcons, 43–42 ^ — — 2010 20106735 6th — — — 2011 201121017 8th — — — 2012 2012 Robb AkeyJason Gesser11115 6th — — — 2013 2013 Paul Petrino Independent111 — — — — 2014 2014 Sun Belt11017 T-9th — — — 2015 20154835 T-5th — — — 2016 20169462 T-3rd Won Famous Idaho Potato Bowl againstColorado State Rams, 61–50 ^ — — 2017 20174835 T-8th — — — 2018 2018Big Sky4735 T-9th — — — 2019 20195735 T-6th — — — 2020 20202424 T-5th — — — 2021 20214735 9th — — — 2022 2022 Jason Eck7562 T-3rd NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs — First Round ^ 18 — 2023 20239462T-2nd NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs — Quarterfinals ^ 8 — 2024 202410462T-3rd NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs — Quarterfinals ^ 7 — 2025 2025 Thomas Ford4826 T–8th — — —Totals All-time:504–656–26() Conference:223–329–8() Postseason:11–14()
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