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).
Hornet 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
.jpg "Alabama State Hornets 3")
- 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.
| Year | Coach | Championship | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Houston Markham | Black College National Champions | 11–0–1 |
Conference
Alabama State has won six conference championships.[citation needed]
| Year | Coach | Conference | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Rufus Lewis | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | 9–2–1 | |
| 1936 | Rufus Lewis | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | 6–2–2 | |
| 1965 | Whitney L. Van Cleve | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Section B | 6–4–0 | |
| 1966 | Whitney L. Van Cleve | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Section B | 8–2–0 | |
| 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,[1] 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 | 0.000 |
| J.A. Welton | 1905–1908 | 4–5–1 | 0.444 |
| John Hope | 1909–1916 | 17–6–1 | 0.739 |
| “Professor Kilpatrick” | 1917–1920 | 1–3–1 | 0.250 |
| Ralph Harris | 1921–1925 | 21–13–3 | 0.618 |
| Bertrand C. Jacobs | 1926–1928 | 16–10–3 | 0.615 |
| Gaston F. Lewis | 1929–1933 | 31–13–4 | 0.705 |
| Rufus Lewis | 1934–1942 | 42–32–9 | 0.568 |
| John Brown | 1943, 1945–1948 | 10–24–1 | 0.249 |
| Georgie Lockhart & E.B. Campbell a | 1944 | 0–7 | 0.000 |
| James H. Dixon | 1949–1951 | 5–20–3 | 0.179 |
| A.E. Simmons | 1952–1961 | 43–40–3 | 0.500 |
| C.E. Anderson | 1962 | 0–8 | 0.000 |
| Marino Casem | 1963 | 2–8 | 0.200 |
| Whitney Van Cleve | 1964–1968 | 35–14–1 | 0.700 |
| Henry Holbert | 1969–1972 | 21–21 | 0.500 |
| Willie J. Parker | 1973–1976, 1984, 1986 | 16–38 | 0.296 |
| George James | 1976–1983 | 43–39–2 | 0.524 |
| Ron Mitchell (interim) | 1985 | 3–8 | 0.273 |
| Houston Markham | 1987–1997 | 65–50–4 | 0.546 |
| Ron Dickerson | 1998–1999 | 7–15 | 0.318 |
| L.C. Cole | 2000–2002 | 20–15 | 0.571 |
| Charles Coe III | 2003–2006 | 29–18 | 0.617 |
| Reggie Barlow | 2006–2014 | 49–42 | 0.538 |
| Brian Jenkins | 2015–2017 | 10–17 | 0.370 |
| Donald Hill-Eley | 2017–2021 | 20–21 | 0.488 |
| Travis Pearson (interim) | 2021 | 2–2 | 0.500 |
| Eddie Robinson | 2022– | 13–9 | 0.591 |
Future non-conference opponents
Announced schedules as of March 7, 2025[2]
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| at UAB | at Troy | vs South Carolina State (Atlanta, GA) MEAC/SWAC Challenge |
| at Southern | at South Carolina State | |
| Miles College | ||
| Tuskegee |
Notes
- ^a At an unknown point in the 1944 season, Georgie Lockhart was replaced by E.B. Campbell. Both coaches share credit for the 1944 season.The Alabama State Hornets and Lady Hornets represent Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama in intercollegiate athletics. They field sixteen teams including men and women’s basketball, cross country, golf, tennis, and track and field; women’s-only bowling, soccer, softball, and volleyball; and men’s-only baseball and football. The Hornets compete in the NCAA Division I and are members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). Adidas is the current sponsor of the Alabama State University Athletic Department.
Teams
An Alabama State Hornets football game in 2011 Men’s sports Women’s sports Baseball Basketball Basketball Bowling Cross Country Cross Country Football Golf Golf Soccer Tennis Softball Track and field1 Tennis Track and field1 Volleyball 1indoor and outdoor
