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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

As we get back to the Championship Chronicles, this is a team that gave the conference and the country a taste of what they were about to get for almost a decade. The “Golden Fifties” were upon us, but before that amazing period in Lions Football happened, the Lions and Coach Bob Berry, who had…

In the Fall of 1942, Football season was not the only things on people’s minds in rural Northeast Texas. Not even a year before, Japanese Air Raiders attacked Pearl Harbor, and before long, The United States declared war on Japan, and in turn Nazi Germany declared war on the United States. The peaceful days were…

In the 1930’s winning was the name of the game for the ETSTC Lions. Bob Berry’s teams continued to be a potent force in the Lone Star Conference and in the entire country, and heading into the ’38 season, the Lions were expected to once again have a tough defense that few would be able…

After tying for first place in the 1935 season, the Lions finished with 8 wins in 1936, but did not win a conference title, denying them 4 straight conference titles. However, 1937 proved to be the year in which the Lions would reign supreme again the Lone Star conference with a defense that continued to…