Jackson State Tigers
SWACJackson, MSMississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium
2026: 6–1 (3–1 SWAC). Last: beat Florida A&M 27–17 at home. Next: at Bethune-Cookman, Saturday, Oct 24, 1 p.m. ET.
- W 26–24at Tennessee State
- W 66–14Edward Waters
- W 41–7Tuskegee
- W 35–17Southern
- W 31–28vs. Alabama A&M
- L 38–45at Grambling
- W 27–17Florida A&M
- Oct 24at Bethune-Cookman
- Nov 7Mississippi Valley State
- Nov 14at Alabama State
- Nov 21at Alcorn State
Jackson State has played football since 1911 and is officially 510–340–22; 239 of its 872 games are in our file. They have won 19 Southwestern Athletic Conference titles (the last in 2024) and one Midwest Athletic Association title, counting shared titles. Since 1963, the NFL Draft has taken 47 players from here in its first seven rounds, 7 of them in the first round. The AFL draft also took two players from here. The College Football Hall of Fame holds 3 players and 2 coaches from Jackson State. The most-played rival is Southern: 23 meetings, Jackson State leads 14–9. This season, they’re 6–1.
Résumé
- All-time record
- 510–340–22 official; 138–101 on file; how we count
- Postseason
- 1–2 bowls, title games, playoff
- AP No. 1 finishes
- 0
- Weeks at No. 1
- 0 of 0 ranked
- Elo now
- 1437
- Computer rankings
- Massey No. 61 · Composite No. 40 in FCS, Oct 17; up 5 since Oct 11. From Massey Ratings
- Conference titles
- 20 last in 2024
- Bowl record
- 3–2 official, bowls only
- Seasons
- 27 since 1977, 239 games
Identity
- Fight song
- Cheer Boys
- Band
- Sonic Boom of the South 300+ members
2026 season 6–1
RosterFull 2026 season| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 29 | at Tennessee State | W 26–24 | 72% |
| Sep 5 | vsEdward Waters | W 66–14 | 87% |
| Sep 19 | vsTuskegee | W 41–7 | 91% |
| Sep 26 | vs SouthernBoombox Classic | W 35–17 | 84% |
| Oct 3 | vs Alabama A&M | W 31–28 | 72% |
| Oct 10 | at Grambling | L 38–45 | 66% |
| Oct 17 | vs Florida A&M | W 27–17 | 82% |
| Oct 24 | at Bethune-Cookman | Preview | 64% |
| Nov 7 | vs Mississippi Valley State | Preview | 90% |
| Nov 14 | at Alabama State | Preview | 49% |
| Nov 21 | at Alcorn State | Preview | 66% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
This season, game by game
Players
The 2026 rosterThe moneyOn the 2026 team
- Jared Lockhart1,493 passing yards, 14 TD (leads Jackson State in passing yards)
- Nate Blount IV562 rushing yards, 5 TD (leads Jackson State in rushing yards)
- Nathan Rembert28 catches, 545 yards, 2 TD (leads Jackson State in receiving yards)
- Li’Darius Pryor350 rushing yards, 5 TD (leads Jackson State in rushing touchdowns)
- Keith Bass Jr.38 tackles, 1 sack (leads Jackson State in tackles)
- Jabari Jones18 catches, 323 yards, 3 TD (leads Jackson State in receiving touchdowns)
Program greats See all
Heisman finalists, College Football Hall of Famers, consensus All-Americans, national award winners and first-round picks, for what they did at Jackson State.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
Program strength since 1977
Best seasons everHead coaches
| Coach | Years | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Tony Hughes | 2018 | 3–4 |
| John Hendrick | 2018 | 2–1 |
| W.C. Gorden | 1977 | 8–3 |
Most-played series
All rivalries- Southern
14–9 in 23
- 2019 L 34–40
- 2020 L 14–34
- 2021 W 21–17
- 2022 W 35–0
- 2022 W 43–24
- 2023 W 27–14
- 2024 W 33–15
- 2024 W 41–13
- 2025 W 38–13
- 2026 W 35–17
Won the last eight; holds the BoomBox Classic.
- Tennessee State
6–14 in 20
- 2012 L 12–38
- 2013 L 16–26
- 2014 L 7–35
- 2015 L 25–35
- 2016 L 26–40
- 2017 L 15–17
- 2019 W 49–44
- 2021 W 38–16
- 2022 W 16–3
- 2026 W 26–24
Won the last four.
- Mississippi Valley State
19–1 in 20
- 2016 W 16–14
- 2017 W 24–5
- 2018 W 23–7
- 2019 W 31–28
- 2020 W 43–7
- 2021 W 28–19
- 2022 W 49–7
- 2023 W 21–6
- 2024 W 51–14
- 2025 W 42–3
Won the last 10.
Next: Nov 7
| Opponent | Games | JKST record |
|---|---|---|
| Southern | 23 | 14–9 |
| Tennessee State | 20 | 6–14 |
| Mississippi Valley State | 20 | 19–1 |
| Alabama A&M | 20 | 13–7 |
| Alabama State | 20 | 11–9 |
| Alcorn State | 20 | 13–7 |
| Grambling | 17 | 3–14 |
| Arkansas–Pine Bluff | 15 | 12–3 |
Rivals the program names: Alcorn State, Southern.
The trophy it holds: BoomBox Classic (Southern). Who holds each comes from the games on file; the trophies from Wikipedia.
Every opponent (37)
Every program Jackson State has played, A to Z, with Jackson State’s record against it. Each links to the series, game by game.
- Alabama A&M 13–7
- Alabama State 11–9
- Alcorn State 13–7
- Arkansas–Pine Bluff 12–3
- Bethune-Cookman 5–2
- Campbell 1–0
- Concordia (AL) 1–0
- Delta State 2–1
- Edward Waters 2–0
- Florida A&M 7–2
- Grambling 3–14
- Hampton 1–2
- Kentucky State 0–1
- Lane College 1–0
- Middle Tennessee 0–1
- Mississippi State 0–2
- Mississippi Valley State 19–1
- Morgan State 1–0
- North Alabama 0–1
- North Carolina A&T 0–1
- North Carolina Central 0–1
- Northwestern State 0–2
- Prairie View A&M 8–6
- South Alabama 0–1
- South Carolina State 2–1
- Southern 14–9
- Southern Miss 0–4
- Stillman 1–0
- TCU 0–1
- Tennessee State 6–14
- Texas Southern 12–1 †
- Texas State 0–1
- Tulane 0–1
- Tuskegee 2–1
- UL Monroe 0–2
- UNLV 0–1
- Virginia Lynchburg 1–0
Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated, or with forfeits counted. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file.
Conference titles
20, counting shared titles- Southwestern Athletic Conference 19
- 1961, 1962, 1972 (shared), 1973 (shared), 1975 (shared), 1980 (shared), 1981, 1982, 1985 (shared), 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1996, 2007, 2021, 2022, 2024
- Midwest Athletic Association 1
- 1957
As the program counts them in its Wikipedia article, shared titles included, and listed under each conference’s current name (a Western Conference title of the 1900s counts as a Big Ten title); season pages use the name the conference had that year. A title the article files under a conference the team wasn’t in that season is listed under the one it was. Division titles include years the team tied for its division.
Black college football
Black college national titles 5
Who named them
- 1962 10–1: Pittsburgh Courier (Sheridan Poll)
- 1985 8–3: Atlanta Daily World & 100% Wrong Club–W. A. Scott II Memorial Trophy (1953–1992, 2010); Coca-Cola National Historical Black College Football Championship Award (1993–2009); Sheridan Broadcasting Network (Sheridan Poll)
- 1996 10–2: American Sports Wire (Dick Simpson) (declined automatic bid to McDonald’s Heritage Bowl VI to participate in NCAA Division I-AA playoffs)
- 2021 11–2: Black College National Championship for NCAA Division I FCS teams; Black College Sports Network for NCAA Division I FCS teams
- 2024 11–2: Cricket Celebration Bowl (Celebration Bowl)
Black College Football Hall of Fame: 11 inductees from Jackson State.
Black college national champions as Wikipedia’s list gives each season’s selections since 1920 (the black press’s polls, bowls and later media polls; some seasons have several). Black college football history: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Conferences
- Independent 1946
- South Central Athletic Conference 1947–1950
- Independent 1951
- Midwest Athletic Conference 1952–1957
- SWAC since 1978
Jackson State’s football conferences by season, from CollegeFootballData.com’s memberships (renamed conferences keep the name of the time).
In the Hall of Fame
Every inductee- Players
- 3
- Coaches
- 2
| 2008 | W.C. Gorden coach here, 1977 |
| 2006 | Kevin Dent S |
| 2003 | Willie Richardson WR/S |
| 1999 | Walter Payton RB |
| 1994 | John Merritt coach, career 1952–1983 |
In the draft
By college- NFL picks, rounds 1–7
- 47 since 1963
- First-round picks
- 7
- AFL picks
- 2 1963–64
| 2000 | Sylvester Morris WR | No. 21, Kansas City Chiefs |
| 2000 | Rashard Anderson DB | No. 23, Carolina Panthers |
| 1993 | Lester Holmes OG | No. 19, Philadelphia Eagles |
| 1975 | Walter Payton RB | No. 4, Chicago Bears |
| 1975 | Robert Brazile LB | No. 6, Houston Oilers |
| 1974 | Don Reese DE | No. 26, Miami Dolphins |
| 1972 | Jerome Barkum TE | No. 9, New York Jets |
The school
Jackson State University- Enrollment
- 6,326 4,650 undergraduates, fall 2024
- Where
- Jackson, Mississippi
- Public or private
- Public Research 2
- Founded
- 1877
- Graduates’ median earnings
- $39,060 10 years after starting
Enrollment, place and Carnegie research tier from the National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS, public domain). Earnings from the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard (CC BY 4.0): the median for students who received federal aid and were working, not in school. Founding year from Wikidata. Every school’s in the data.
Films
Films: Wikidata (CC0) and Wikipedia’s lists and categories (CC BY-SA), about the program, its seasons, games and rivalries.
Season by season
National champions| Season | Record | Conf. | AP pre | AP final | Coach | Elo | SP+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 6–1 | 3–1 | 1437 | ||||
| 2025 | 9–3 | 7–1 | 1485 | ||||
| 2024 | 12–2 | 9–1 | 1516 | ||||
| 2023 | 7–4 | 6–3 | 1403 | ||||
| 2022 | 12–1 | 9–0 | 1515 | ||||
| 2021 | 11–2 | 8–0 | 1399 | ||||
| 2020 | 4–3 | 1228 | |||||
| 2019 | 4–8 | 3–5 | 1158 | ||||
| 2018 | 5–5 | 4–3 | Tony Hughes, John Hendrick | 1217 | |||
| 2017 | 3–8 | 3–5 | 1157 | ||||
| 2016 | 3–8 | 3–6 | 1144 | ||||
| 2015 | 2–8 | 2–6 | 1170 | ||||
| 2014 | 5–7 | 3–6 | 1221 | ||||
| 2013 | 7–3 | 7–1 | 1377 | ||||
| 2012 | 7–4 | 7–2 | 1408 | ||||
| 2011 | 9–2 | 7–2 | 1450 | ||||
| 2010 | 7–3 | 5–3 | 1364 | ||||
| 2009 | 3–7 | 3–5 | 1237 | ||||
| 2008 | 7–4 | 6–2 | 1342 | ||||
| 2007 | 7–4 | 7–2 | 1325 | ||||
| 2006 | 0–1 | 1241 | |||||
| 2005 | 0–1 | 1225 | |||||
| 2004 | 0–3 | 1216 | |||||
| 2003 | 0–4 | 1246 | |||||
| 2002 | 0–1 | 1385 |
Every season back to 1977 (2 more)
Officially 510–340–22 since 1911 (per Wikipedia, rechecked weekly); game by game here, 138–101 (239 of its 872 games are on file). Our file starts in 1977; the program began in 1911. Some games are missing from our source.
No season on file for 1978–86, 1988–2001: the program may not have played, or our source may be missing them.
Records are computed from every game on file at CollegeFootballData.com, whose coverage of the earliest seasons can be incomplete. Elo is this site’s own rating; see how it works on the records page.