West Alabama Tigers football
| West Alabama Tigers | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First season | 1938 |
| Athletic director | Stan Williamson |
| Head coach |
Brett Gilliland 1st year, 4–5 (.444) |
| Stadium | Tiger Stadium |
| Seating capacity | 7,000 |
| Location | Livingston, Alabama |
| NCAA division | Division II |
| Conference | Gulf South Conference |
| All-time record | 296–414–15 (.419) |
| Bowl record | 5–6 (.455) |
| Claimed nat'l titles | 1 (1971,NAIA) |
| Conference titles | 5 (1940, 1949, 1971, 2012, 2013) |
| Colors | Red and White |
| Fight song | The Fight Song |
| Mascot | Luie the Tiger |
| Marching band | "Scarlet Band from Tiger Land" |
| Rivals | North Alabama Lions |
| Website | UWAAthletics.com |
The West Alabama Tigers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of West Alabama located in the U.S. state of Alabama. The team competes in the NCAA Division II and are members of the Gulf South Conference. West Alabama's first football team was fielded in 1938. The team plays its home games at the 7,000 seat Tiger Stadium in Livingston, Alabama. The Tigers are coached by Brett Gilliland.
West Alabama's football team was first fielded in 1931 when the school was known as Livingston State Teachers College. However, intercollegiate competition for all the university’s athletics was not scheduled until seven years later. In 1938, they competed in four games against Marion Institute, Jacksonville State, Demopolis A.S, and Troy State, all of whom were local teams. LSTC finished the season 2–2.[3] That year also marked the start of World War II which led to a decline in college enrollment across the United States. Therefore, LSTC fielded no athletic teams from 1942–1945. In 1944, Dr. William Wilson Hill became president of the university and instantly started recruiting students to enroll. The return of males to campus reestablished an interest in sports. After a three-year hiatus, the football team returned to action under the guidance of new head coach E.G McCollum. They opened their season with the first of many future match-ups against Mississippi College, which resulted in a 24–14 loss. Also, that season, LSTC renewed its rivalry with, eventual Gulf South Conference foes, Troy State and Delta State. The team concluded the season with a 6–3 record. Due to success of the season, McCollum resigned to pursue a bigger opportunity elsewhere. Following two dismal seasons from 1947 and 1948, LSTC made a bold move and hired former University of Alabama star Vaughn Mancha as the fourth head coach in team history. Mancha at the time was only 28 years old with no prior coaching experience. The former two-time All-American had also recently completed his first and only season in the NFL as a member of the Boston Yanks. Under Mancha, the team experienced immediate success. In his first season, he led LSTC to one of the biggest accomplishments in school history, a 13–6 win over Florida State. The team also concluded the regular season 7–1–1, which at the time marked the best record in school history. The historical season earned LSTC right to play in the Paper Bowl against Jacksonville State. JSU won the hard fought defensive affair, 12–7. Until 1952, the Tigers played home games at Livingston High School. From then on, all their home games were played at Tiger Stadium, a 7,000-capacity stadium located on filled in land that was previously known as "Crawdad Creek." The stadium was built to fill the need for an on-campus stadium. Next season was once again successful as the team finished 6–3–1. However, they could not duplicate the accomplishments of the previous season. During Mancha’s third season, the team started off 2–4 and showed heavy signs of decline until putting on a strong finish to end the season 5–5. This season would mark the last in Mancha’s tenure at LSTC as he decided to take over as defensive coordinator at Florida State. Mancha departed with an 18–10–2 overall record.
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