In the late 2000’s, A&M-Commerce Football showed some signs of life and positive movement. After the 2007 season, winning was not just going for average anymore, but the athletic department tried to take an approach of making things “big time” in Commerce. Calling it the “Restore the Roar” campaign, Carlton Cooper, the new athletic director…
In 1996, the Texas A&M University System bought East Texas State University. The institution had fallen on hard times from an enrollment standpoint and the school was quickly becoming an afterthought to many future college students. Most of the students from the Metroplex and the surrounding North Texas area were deciding to go to schools…
1985 was the end of an era, the Ernest Hawkins era. The man waiting in the wings was a 38 year old tough as nails defensive coach from Oklahoma named Eddie Vowell. Having been with the program for 5 years, Vowell knew the program well and had earned the respect of the team and the…
The early 1980’s saw the Lions of East Texas State have a solid run of winning seasons. After the 1980 run, the Lions went 7-4 in 1981 and 6-4 in 1982. 1982 was a season that had given ET fans a preview of the season to come. ET and the rest of the LSC had…
It is hard to believe it, but in just over 30 days from today we will be seeing the 97th season of Lion Football. Conference media days were held in Odessa this past week and here some bits from that day- Pre-Season Polls- No. Team 1st Total 1 A&M-Commerce 21 229 2 Midwestern State 2…
1980 was an odd year. Changes were on the horizon for the teams of the Lone Star Conference, in fact, many of them had been looming for a while. Two members of the LSC, Southwest Texas State and Texas A&I, had joined the NCAA and left the NAIA. The rest of the members of the…
23 Texas A&M-Commerce Teams can call themselves conference champions, 3 more can call themselves Division Champions, 4 can call themselves Bowl Champions, but only one call itself a National Champion, and it was the 1972 Lions. In the previous 2 seasons, Ernest Hawkins squad had gone 12-12 from 1970-1971, so expectations were not particularly high…
Basics: Texas A&M-Commerce Lions Head Coach: Colby Carthel Offensive Coordinator: Matt Storm Offensive Formation: Spread Defensive Coordinator: Justin Deason Defensive Formation: 3-4 Multiple Last Conference Title: 2016 Last 10 Win Season: 2016 (11-2) Last Postseason Apperance: 2016 NCAA Second Round Last All-American: 2016: Luis Perez and Jarred Macharro Last Harlon Hill Nominee: Luis Perez (2016)…
In his 5th season as the head coach at East Texas State, Ernest Hawkins had brought the Lions back from mediocrity to being LSC contenders. Having won his first title in 1966 and followed with a 7-2-1 season in 1968, things were looking up for the 1969 season. Hawkins said prior that season there “was…
Many coaches who take over programs do so under situations that are not ideal. For Ernest Hawkins, taking over for the East Texas State Lions came in a hard time not only for the Football team, but for the entire nation as well. At the beginning of the 1960’s, the Lions were not the dominant…
The 50’s were truly golden for the ET Lions. Prior to the start of the 1959 season, ET had reached a position of national prominence. Since 1951 The Lions had won 8 Conference Championships, 3 Tangerine Bowls, and had notched 4 seasons with at least 10 wins. Firmly one of the best in the NAIA,…
At the start of the 1958 season, expectations were high for the ET Lions. They had won the conference outright, brought home a Tangerine Bowl Title and had double digit wins. They were also returning an All-American Quarterback that was leading an offense that was almost as potent passing as it was running and featured…
After 3 years as Head Football Coach at East Texas State College, J.V. Sikes had won a share of two conference titles and had two winning seasons, but after a disastrous 1956 season where the Lions went 2-8, he decided that the attention needed to be on revamping the offense. Sikes was a running coach,…
J.V. Sikes had navigated a tough schedule and pulled out a tie for the LSC Championship during the 1954 season. The Lions of ET were going to face an even tougher year in the 1955 season. The team was top-heavy with many Seniors and many true Freshman that would be playing. It would be as…
At the conclusion of the 1953 season, Milburn Smith, who had won 30 games and won 29 of them in a row, decided to leave the collegiate ranks and return to East Texas to coach at Longview High School. The decision was just as much of a head scratcher then as it would be now.…
While the 2017 schedule has only 2 new opponents on it, the schedule has the Lions playing in some pretty tough places this year. Road trips to the tougher half of the conference will be a true test as one would expect that Midwestern and Kingsville will be tough, but Tarleton and West Texas will…
Heading into the ’53 season, the Lions of East Texas State Teacher’s College were riding high off an unprecedented 19 game winning streak, an undefeated season, and the program’s first ever postseason win. It was a dominating performance in every way, shape and form. The stands at Commerce’s Memorial Stadium were filled the brim every…
Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, the so-called “bible of Texas Football” hit the shelves last week. I have done my obligatory reading of the sacred in-state text and hat tip to Brock Calloway of the Lion Football Radio Network for his write up on the Lone Star Conference. Despite being a Lion, Brock has always written…
For years, especially recently, the question has been raised “What ET/Commerce team is the greatest in school history?” In my opinion, this team that will be featured is without a doubt the greatest in school history, but before I give you the rationale for that, let me tell the story of arguably the greatest team…
Ahhh, the greatest generation. In more ways than one. In the 10 decades that Texas A&M-Commerce has been playing Football, there has only been one decade that stands out head and shoulders above the rest, the Golden Fifties. The decade actually started out with a subpar season in 1950 with Bob Berry’s final season. A…
