WKU Hilltoppers football
| WKU Hilltoppers football | |||
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| First season | 1908 | ||
| Athletic director | Todd Stewart | ||
| Head coach |
Mike Sanford 1st year, 0–0 (–) |
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| Stadium | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium | ||
| Seating capacity | 22,000 | ||
| Field surface | FieldTurf | ||
| Location | Bowling Green, Kentucky | ||
| NCAA division | Division I FBS | ||
| Conference | Conference USA | ||
| Division | East | ||
| All-time record | 564–384–31 (.592) | ||
| Bowl record | 5–1 (.833) | ||
| Claimed nat'l titles | 1 (FCS) | ||
| Conference titles | 13 (7 Division II, 4 FCS 2 Football Bowl Subdivision) | ||
| Consensus All-Americans | 5 | ||
| Colors | Red and White |
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| Fight song | Stand Up and Cheer! | ||
| Mascot | Big Red | ||
| Marching band | Big Red Marching Band | ||
| Rivals | Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders and Marshall Thundering Herd | ||
| Website | WKU Official Athletic Site | ||
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (WKU) football program is a college football team that represents Western Kentucky University. The team competes at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level (formerly Division I-A) and represents the university as a member of Conference USA in the Eastern division. The program has 1 national championship (FCS/I-AA), 13 conference championships (1 SIAA, 9 OVC, 1 Gateway, 2 Conference USA) and 3 FBS-level Bowl wins. The team's current head football coach is Mike Sanford, Jr. The Hilltoppers play their home games at Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Western Kentucky first fielded a football team in 1908 but did not start playing sanctioned games until the 1913 season. M.A. Leiper and Roy Manchester are the first noted coaches for WKU. The two men teamed up to coach the Hilltoppers for their inaugural season which solely consisted of a 20–0 win over Elizabethtown. J.L. Arthur then took over the program for three years from 1914 to 1916, coaching a total of 14 games, 6 of which were against Eastern Kentucky. From 1917 to 1919 the Hilltoppers didn't compete in football from due to World War I. In 1920, L. T. Smith, whose name bears the Hilltoppers' home stadium, took the reigns and coached the team for two seasons.
From 1922 to 1928, the Hilltoppers saw their first success as Coach E.A. Diddle took over the football program for seven seasons leading them to four winning seasons while also coaching the WKU Hilltoppers basketball team. Diddle, who was a dual-athlete himself, encouraged his players to participate in multiple sports so they could stay in shape. When he retired from coaching football in 1928, Diddle posted a record of 38–24–2. The Hilltoppers outscored opponents 171–7 in Diddle's final year of coaching the program.
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