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Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football

WKU Hilltoppers football
2017 WKU Hilltoppers football team
WKU Hilltoppers wordmark.png
First season 1908
Athletic director Todd Stewart
Head coach Mike Sanford
1st year, 0–0 (–)
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
         
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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