2017
Upset of Florida State
FCS Jacksonville State stuns Florida State in Tallahassee — the program's giant-killer calling card
Program outlook
Program outlook
Jacksonville State joined the FBS in 2023. Three years in, three nine-win seasons. Rich Rodriguez left after one of them. It didn't matter.
Since Jun 14: W 23-13 vs Middle Tennessee; W 27-26 at Kennesaw State; W 27-24 vs Florida International; W 24-0 at New Mexico State. 6-2 this season.
Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs
Jacksonville State is not supposed to be here, and it has never let that stop it. A small school in Jacksonville, Alabama — enrollment under eleven thousand — that spent years as an FCS giant-killer, most famously stunning Florida State in Tallahassee in 2017 before anyone had any reason to watch. The FBS jump came in 2023, and instead of the stumble newcomers are supposed to take, the Gamecocks won nine games. Then nine more. Then nine more again.
Rich Rodriguez built the first two seasons, then left for West Virginia after 2024. First-year head coach Charles Kelly didn't miss a beat — nine wins, a second straight Conference USA Championship Game appearance, and a bowl win over in-state rival Troy in the Salute to Veterans Bowl that reclaimed the Ol' School Bell. That's four straight coaches who won nine games in year one at Jacksonville State, which is either program-building at its purest or the most extraordinary streak of transition luck in the sport. The fanbase has chosen to believe the former.
The 2026 question in Jacksonville is the one that keeps getting deferred: when does house money become a Conference USA title? Two championship-game trips, two losses. The Gamecocks have proved they belong. The next step is proving they can close. Kelly has the roster returning, the schedule is manageable, and a small Alabama town has gotten very comfortable with the idea of winning in a league that didn't expect them to.
On the field
Fast, physical, fearless football from a program built on the belief that preparation and toughness outweigh enrollment numbers. The scheme under Rodriguez and now Kelly emphasizes ball control and defensive pressure — not the spread-and-score identity you'd expect from a newcomer trying to recruit its way in, but a grind-and-suffocate approach that makes programs with bigger rosters uncomfortable. The fan culture is tight, loud, and grateful in the exact way of a small town that knows what it has.
Jacksonville State has won 64% of its games since 1909 — 80% at home, 51% on the road.
187-103 all-time · 46 seasons · 1909–2026
Home
99-24
Away
72-70
Neutral
16-9
1 g
1900s
1 g
1910s
7 g
1920s
2 g
1930s
6 g
1970s
2 g
1980s
5 g
1990s
64%
2000s
73%
2010s
67%
2020s
The CFP era
13 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.
Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program quality
AP rank (inverted)
CFP appearance
Swipe left for earlier seasons
Jacksonville State’s 2014–2026 record is 108-43.
Charles Kelly
Charles Kelly is in year 2. The methodology is taking shape.
Era Charles Kelly · 2025–presentPrev: Rich Rodriguez (2023–2024)OC: Taylor HousewrightPrev OC: Clint Trickett (2025)DC: Brian WilliamsPrev DC: Luke Olson (2024)
2
years · era
Moments in Jacksonville State history
- Western Kentucky 19, Jacksonville State 17Nov 30, 2024
- Eastern Michigan 37, Jacksonville State 34Sep 14, 2024
- Jacksonville State 37, Western Kentucky 34Nov 29, 2025
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
2024
New Mexico Bowl title
JSU wins its first FBS bowl under Rich Rodriguez, capping a 9-win debut FBS-bowl season
2025
Salute to Veterans Bowl over Troy
Charles Kelly's Gamecocks beat in-state Troy 17-13 to reclaim the Ol' School Bell and finish 9-5
Moment of the year · 2026
Won 49-7 vs Eastern Kentucky
Week 1 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.
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Ladder finish
Season standing · 2026 · 6-2
Season standing · 2026 · 6-2Jacksonville State is 6-2 — bowl-eligible, unranked.
6+ wins, bowl access secured. The baseline of a successful FBS year.
Bowl eligible
Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Conference
Conference USA standing · 2026
1st in the Conference USA
Jacksonville State sits at the top of the Conference USA at 4-0. Everyone else is chasing.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacksonville State | 4-0 |
| 2 | Liberty | 4-0 |
| 3 | Delaware | 2-2 |
| 4 | Middle Tennessee | 2-2 |
| 5 | Missouri State | 2-2 |
| 6 | New Mexico State | 2-2 |
| 7 | Western Kentucky | 2-2 |
| 8 | Florida International | 1-3 |
| 9 | Kennesaw State | 1-3 |
| 10 | Sam Houston | 0-4 |
Coaching history
Coaching history
- Hired Charles Kelly
- Rich Rodriguez departs
- Hired Rich Rodriguez
Coordinator lineage
Jacksonville State’s offense and defense, by coordinator
FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.
Offense2023–2026
2023–2024 · Rod Smith2025 · Clint Trickett2026 · Taylor Housewright
Defense2023–2026
2023 · Zac Alley2024 · Luke Olson2025–2026 · Brian Williams
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
Rich Rodriguez Tenure (2022-2024)
since 2022
more
Rich Rodriguez's 2022 hire — coming from Arizona/West Virginia/Michigan-era ASU departure — was an unconventional FCS/G5 hire. The 2024 9-4 + New Mexico Bowl championship (first FBS bowl win) opened the Conference USA-era ascent. Rodriguez's spread-option offensive identity + recruiting reach gave Jacksonville State sudden national-narrative legitimacy at the C-USA tier. He left after the 2024 season; Charles Kelly has been head coach since 2025.
2023 FBS Reclassification + Conference USA Entry
since 2023
more
Jacksonville State's 2023 FBS reclassification + Conference USA entry was the most-recent FCS-to-FBS-conference ascent in CFB. The transition opened bowl eligibility + national TV exposure + recruiting upside. The 2024 9-4 second-FBS-season + New Mexico Bowl win confirmed the program's competitive viability.
Jacksonville Alabama Gamecock Mascot
since 1947
more
Jacksonville State's Gamecock mascot — adopted 1947 — predates the more-famous South Carolina Gamecock by decades in terms of program-identity ownership. The Alabama-Gamecock-not-South-Carolina-Gamecock distinction matters in CFB recruiting + cultural identity. The mascot's Cocky-the-Gamecock costumed character + the rooster-iconography in marketing make the identity uniquely JSU.
Cultural identity
2025 W
2024 L
2023 WReddit blowups
r/CFB moments
546
[Postgame Thread] UAB Defeats Jacksonville State 31-0
473
[Postgame Thread] UCF Defeats Jacksonville State 17-10
377
[Game Thread] Jacksonville State vs. UAB (7:30PM ET)
247
[Postgame Thread] Jacksonville State Defeats FIU 19-10
111
[Postgame Thread] Jacksonville State Defeats WKU 20-17
All-time top community posts
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