Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers football
| Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers | |
|---|---|
| Athletic director | Jim Askins |
| Head coach | Brent Holsclaw 12th year, – |
| Stadium | Steele Stadium |
| Field | Bullet Wilson Field |
| Year built | 2004 |
| Field surface | FieldTurf |
| Location | Owensboro, Kentucky |
| Conference | Great Midwest Athletic Conference |
| Division | Division II |
| Colors | Purple and White |
| Mascot | Panther |
| Website | Men's Football – Kentucky Wesleyan College |
The Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers football program represents Kentucky Wesleyan College in college football as an Independent at the NCAA Division II level.
The college's football program began in 1907, lasting until 1930, when it was discontinued due to financial reasons. In 1982, the decision was made to re-establish a football program at the school, with the school resuming football operations the following year. Initially, the Panthers were an NCAA Division III team, unaffiliated with any conference. They moved into Division II beginning with the 1994 football season.
Not much information is available regarding the Panthers teams of the early 20th century. The team played teams such as Kentucky, Marshall, and Xavier. According to the scant material available through Fanbase.com, they did not have much success during this period. Eventually, due to financial reasons, the football program was discontinued after the 1930 season.
When the football program was re-established at Kentucky Wesleyan in 1983, the school played at the Division III level as an independent school, unaffiliated with any conference. That first season, they finished with a 3–5 record, and they followed that with another nine straight losing seasons before posting a 6–4 record in 1993. The Panther's first coach after the re-establishment of the program was Billy Mitchell, who compiled a record of 22–41–3 during his seven seasons.
Mitchell was succeeded by Randy Awrey, who had been the defensive coordinator for four years at another Division III school, St. Lawrence University. He posted four losing seasons, before posting the school's first winning season in 1993 at 6–4. In their first winning season in 1993, the team set records for passing completion percentage (55.7%) and defensive pass interceptions (21). On the defensive side that year, Troy Crissman led all NCAA Division III defenders with 9 interceptions.
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