2017
The upset at LSU
Troy goes into Tiger Stadium and beats LSU — the program's defining giant-killing
Program outlook
Program outlook
In 2017, Troy walked into Tiger Stadium and beat LSU. In 2025, Gerad Parker engineered a four-win turnaround, won the Sun Belt West, and then lost the conference title game to James Madison 31-14. The Trojans measure themselves by conference trophies. They are one short.
Since Oct 28: W 24-21 at James Madison. 4-4 this season.
Read the full essay — 4 more paragraphs
The LSU win in 2017 is the program's permanent credential — a small south-Alabama school went into one of the loudest stadiums in the country as a heavy underdog and won, the kind of result that defines a program's identity for decades. Troy built that identity into a system: coach Neal Brown left for West Virginia after three straight ten-win seasons, Jon Sumrall won back-to-back Sun Belt titles including a 12-2 season in 2022, and then Sumrall left for Tulane. The pattern is consistent. Troy builds winning coaches and exports them, and the program measures itself by whether the next man can sustain what the previous one built.
Gerad Parker's 2025 season was the evidence the fanbase needed that the machine hadn't stopped. A four-win improvement, a Sun Belt West division title, a legitimate shot at the conference championship — the architecture was there. Then James Madison won the title game 31-14, and a 17-13 bowl loss to Jacksonville State closed a season that felt like a setup rather than a conclusion. Parker enters his third year with the program back near the top of the league and a cleaner path in front of him.
The 2026 Sun Belt race is Troy's to claim or not. The West division title in 2025 proved the program's contender status. The question Parker has to answer is whether this team finishes what last year's didn't — whether the conference trophy, absent since 2022, is coming back to south Alabama. Veterans Memorial Stadium is loud with the expectation.
Update (Oct. 28, 2026): Troy is 3-4. It lost 27-17 at Missouri on Sept. 19, 21-10 at Utah State on Sept. 26, 33-6 at Louisiana on Oct. 17, and 21-14 to UL Monroe on Oct. 24. The Oct. 24 loss to UL Monroe came as a 13.5-point favorite.
On the field
Deep-South Sun Belt grit — physical, fearless, recruiting-savvy football built in the Alabama pipeline that both SEC schools and bigger G5 programs often overlook. Troy's identity is toughness-first: a defense that hits, an offense that doesn't ask for more than the roster can execute, and a roster constructed to spring upsets on programs that treat the Trojans as a stepping-stone. The brand of football is earned stubbornness from a small school that has no interest in its budget determining its ceiling.
Troy has won 55% of its games since 1935 — 72% at home, 41% on the road.
180-149 all-time · 35 seasons · 1935–2026
Home
102-40
Away
72-104
Neutral
6-5
1 g
1930s
1 g
1970s
8 g
1990s
55%
2000s
52%
2010s
58%
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
Troy’s 2014–2026 record is 92-68.
Gerad Parker
Gerad Parker is in year 3. The methodology is taking shape.
Era Gerad Parker · 2024–presentPrev: Greg Gasparato (interim) (2023)OC: Adam AustinPrev OC: Sean Reagan (2024–2025)DC: Nathan Burton (co) / Dontae WrightPrev DC: Greg Gasparato (2023)
3
years · era
Troy and South Alabama, meeting by meeting
Troy leads the series 10-4-0 (since 2012); in the last 10 meetings, Troy is 8-2
2025: Troy won 31-24. After this game, Troy led 10-4-0.
Last 14 meetings: ▲ Troy won, ▼ South Alabama won, by how much
Each step is one meeting: up when Troy wins, down when South Alabama wins, flat for a tie. Counts every game in our records since 2012. Tap the line for any season.
Moments in Troy history
- Troy hires Gerad Parker2023
- UL Monroe 29, Troy 16Sep 25, 2021
- South Alabama 19, Troy 8Oct 11, 2017
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
The 2022 Sun Belt title
Jon Sumrall's 12-2 team wins the conference and the New Mexico Bowl
Losing the 2025 title game
Troy wins the West but falls to James Madison 31-14 in the Sun Belt Championship
Heartbreak
Moment of the year · 2026
Won 24-21 at James Madison
Week 9 of 2026. Won as a 17.5-point underdog — the result the market didn't see coming. It turned on one snap in Q5 — Hayden Wolfe, a 72-point win-probability swing.
2023–2024
Troy has sent 3 players to the NFL Draft since 2023 — none in the first round.
Developing. Pipeline emerging.
3
picks · 0 in round 1
#107
Jake Andrews
Center · 2023 · 
New England Patriots
New England Patriots
#168
Javon Solomon
Defensive Edge · 2024 · 
Buffalo Bills · #2/577 final season
Buffalo Bills · #2/577 final season
#181
Kimani Vidal
Running Back · 2024 · 
Los Angeles Chargers · #15/310 final season
Los Angeles Chargers · #15/310 final season
#106 all-time · 2 first-round picksthe talent factory →
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Ladder finish
Season standing · 2026 · 4-4
Season standing · 2026 · 4-4Troy is 4-4 — competitive, unranked, not yet bowl-eligible.
Competitive in FBS but not bowl-eligible — the close-loss tier.
FBS competitive
Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Conference
Sun Belt standing · 2026
11th in the Sun Belt
Troy is 11th of 14 in the Sun Belt at 2-2. The path to the title is steep — the focus is on bowl access and rivalry wins.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Louisiana Tech | 4-0 |
| 2 | James Madison | 4-2 |
| 3 | Georgia Southern | 3-1 |
| 4 | App State | 2-2 |
| 5 | Arkansas State | 2-2 |
| 6 | Coastal Carolina | 2-2 |
| 7 | Louisiana | 2-2 |
| 8 | Marshall | 2-2 |
| 9 | South Alabama | 2-2 |
| 10 | Southern Miss | 2-2 |
| 11 | Troy | 2-2 |
| 12 | Georgia State | 1-3 |
| 13 | UL Monroe | 1-3 |
| 14 | Old Dominion | 1-5 |
Coaching history
Coaching history
- Hired Gerad Parker
- Hired Greg Gasparato (interim)
- Jon Sumrall departs
- Greg Gasparato departs (interim)
- Hired Jon Sumrall
- Hired Brandon Hall
- Chip Lindsey departs
- Brandon Hall departs
Coordinator lineage
Troy’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.
Offense2014–2026
2014–2015 · Kenny Edenfield (co)2016–2017 · Kenny Edenfield (co) / Matt Moore (co)2018 · Matt Moore (co) / Sean Reagan (co)2019–2020 · Ryan Pugh2021 · Luke Meadows2022–2023 · Joe Craddock2024–2025 · Sean Reagan2026 · Adam Austin
Defense2014–2026
2014 · Wayne Bolt2015–2018 · Vic Koenning2019–2021 · Brandon Hall2022 · Shiel Wood2023 · Greg Gasparato2024–2026 · Nathan Burton (co) / Dontae Wright
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
FBS Reclassification (2001)
since 2001
more
Troy reclassified from FCS Division I-AA to FBS in 2001 — earlier than most Sun Belt programs. The 2001 jump produced rapid ascent through Sun Belt championships + multiple bowl appearances + the program's identity as Alabama's second football program (behind only Bama / Auburn / UAB in the state pecking order).
Bleed Cardinal Identity
since 2000s
more
'Bleed Cardinal' — Troy's defiance-rooted fan mantra — captures the program's identity in the shadow of Alabama's three larger programs (Bama, Auburn, UAB). The cardinal-red color + the post-FBS ascent + the multiple Sun Belt championships create permanent identity positioning.
Neal Brown 2017 / Jon Sumrall 2022 Eras
since 2017
more
Neal Brown's 2017 11-2 + Sun Belt championship + Dollar General Bowl + the LSU upset (24-21) made Troy a national G5 disruptor. Jon Sumrall's 2022 12-2 + New Mexico Bowl championship + multiple Sun Belt championships continued the era. The 2017 LSU win + 2022 12-win season cement modern relevance.
Cultural identity
2025 L
2023 L
2022 W
2018 W
2017 WReddit blowups
r/CFB moments
7.2k
[Postgame Thread] Appalachian State Defeats Troy 32-28
213
[Postgame Thread] Troy Defeats Appalachian State 49-23
138
[Postgame Thread] BYU Defeats Troy 48-7
All-time top community posts
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