Missouri State Bears football

The Missouri State Bears football program is the college football team that represents Missouri State University located in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Missouri State competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and is a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The program is in the two-year transition up to the FBS subdivision; it will join Conference USA in 2025 and become a full FBS member in 2026.^[4]

Missouri State Bears football
2025 Missouri State Bears football team
First season	1909; 116 years ago
Head coach	Ryan Beard 3rd season, 12–11 (.522)
Stadium	Robert W. Plaster Stadium[1] (capacity: 17,500)
Location	Springfield, Missouri, U.S.
NCAA division	Division I FCS
Conference	Missouri Valley (CUSA in 2025)
Past conferences	Independent (1909–1923) MIAA (1924–1980) Mid-Continent (1981–1984)
All-time record	492–532–39[2] (.481)
Playoff appearances	5
Playoff record	1–4
Conference titles	10
Colors	Maroon and white[3]
Fight song	The Scotsman
Mascot	Boomer
Marching band	The Pride
Outfitter	Adidas
Website	missouristatebears.com

The school was known as Southwest Missouri State until 2005 when they changed the name to Missouri State. Missouri State's first football team was fielded in 1909 and the first coach in program history was Walter Langston who went 4–2 in his only season as head coach. Prior to 1923, the team competed as an Independent. From 1923 to 1980, Missouri State were members of the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Association (now Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association), of which Missouri State was a founding member. During that time the Bears were classified in the NCAA College Division from 1958 to 1972. From 1973 to 1980 the Bears played in NCAA Division II. Missouri State moved up to the Association of Mid-Continent Universities in time for the 1981 season, which was their first season in NCAA Division I-AA. In 1985, the Bears became a founding member of the Gateway Football Conference which later became the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2008.

Missouri State has an all-time record of 492–532–39 and have won 10 conference championships. They won their most recent conference championship in 2020. Missouri State was ranked second in the country for 3 weeks from October 15 to 29, 1990. This is still the highest ranking in school history.^[2] The team plays its home games at the 17,500-seat Robert W. Plaster Stadium which has been its home since 1941. The Bears have had 22 head coaches in their history, including their current head coach Ryan Beard.

History

See also: List of Missouri State Bears football seasons

Classifications

• 1958–1972: NCAA College Division
• 1973–1980: NCAA Division II
• 1982–present: NCAA Division I-AA/FCS

Conference memberships

• 1909–1923: Independent
• 1924–1981: Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association†
• 1981–1984: Mid-Continent Conference
• 1985–present: Gateway Football Conference/Missouri Valley Football Conference†

†Founding member of the conference

Head coaches

Since 1909, the Missouri State Bears have had 22 different head coaches. The first coach in program history was Walter Langston who coached the team for one year. Arthur Briggs is the longest tenured head coach with two non consecutive runs as head coach. He coached the Bears for 20 seasons in total. The current coach is Ryan Beard who was hired on December 16, 2022.^[5] There was no team for the 1913 season. Due to World War II, Missouri State did not field a team for the 1943–1944 seasons.^[2]

Tenure	Coach	Record	Win percentage
1909	Walter Langston	4–2	.667
1910–1911	Corliss Buchanan	2–10	.167
1912–1917	Arthur W. Briggs	15–9–2	.615
1918	Paul Andrews	1–2	.333
1919–1933	Arthur W. Briggs	61–50–8	.546
1934–1937	A. J. McDonald	5–22–5	.234
1938–1946	Red Blair	38–21–6	.631
1947–1948	Tommy O'Boyle	16–4–1	.786
1949–1952	Fred Thomsen	19–17–4	.525
1953–1954	Bill Dellastatious	5–12	.294
1955	Harold "Tuffy" Stratton	2–6–1	.278
1956–1960	Aldo Sebben	17–27–1	.389
1961–1964	Orville Pottenger	24–12–2	.658
1965–1968	Jim Mentis	20–21	.488
1969–1975	Don Cross	23–45–3	.345
1976–1985	Rich Johanningmeier	58–44–5	.565
1986–1994	Jesse Branch	55–44–1	.555
1995–1998	Del Miller	21–23	.477
1999–2005	Randy Ball	34–42	.447
2006–2014	Terry Allen	37–64	.366
2015–2019	Dave Steckel	13–42	.236
2020–2022	Bobby Petrino	18–15	.545
2023–present	Ryan Beard	12–11	.522
Total		500–536–39	.483

Facilities

Plaster Stadium

Missouri State plays all home games at Plaster Stadium, which has been their home since 1941. From its opening in 1941 to 1991 the stadium was known as Briggs Stadium. The stadium currently seats 17,500 people. It has undergone several major renovations in 1991 and, most recently, in 2014. After the 1991 renovation which added an upper deck on the west side and a row of sky-boxes and press box, the stadium was renamed in honor of Robert W. Plaster who provided the major gift for the project. The stadium was updated in 2008 with a new video board behind the south end zone. The 2014 renovation made significant changes to the east side of the stadium and the playing surface. The track was removed and the East side was completely rebuilt. The stadium record attendance is 18,386 which was at the 2014 home opener versus North Dakota. Plaster Stadium is the fourth-largest stadium in the conference and the second-largest college football specific venue in Missouri.

Largest crowds

Rank	Date	Attendance	Opponent	Result
1	September 13, 2014	18,386	North Dakota	W, 38–0
2	September 12, 2017	17,835	Chadron State	W, 21–13
3	October 28, 1997	15,672	Pittsburg State	L, 8–9
4	November 2, 1996	15,878	Western Illinois	L, 17–23
5	September 9, 2000	15,647	Missouri Southern	W, 48–3

Indoor practice facility

In July 2018, it was reported that Missouri State was undergoing the process of securing funding to build an indoor practice facility. In a phone interview with the Springfield News-Leader, athletic director Kyle Moats talked at length about the facility. Missouri State would build the indoor facility entirely through private donations to the athletic department. The facility was to be built on the existing ROTC and band practice field. The school's athletic director Kyle Moats said "From a recruiting standpoint, others in the conference have one," Moats said. "We need to at least try and put people on equal bases." He also was quoted that the facility would be a part of their plan to continually upgrade team's facilities. The indoor facility would also be shared by some of the other athletic programs at Missouri State.^[6] In November 2019, athletic director Kyle Moats gave an update to "The Standard", the Missouri State student newspaper. He said the athletic department wasn't able to achieve the funding they needed to build the facility as some other programs became more important to address first. He said they had decided to use a more cost efficient approach and decided to build a dome over Betty and Bobby Allison North Stadium instead, to save the department over $10-$15 million. Moats said that the facility would be used by the club lacrosse team, football, soccer, track and field, baseball and softball. In the interview Moats said "We wouldn't be gaining any traction, we'd just be catching up," and "We're not trying to have the Taj Mahal, just an indoor facility."^[7] As of October 2021, there hasn't been anymore news on the facility.

South end zone facility

In late October 2021, Missouri State announced plans to build a facility in the south end zone of Plaster Stadium. The facility would house the team locker room, meeting rooms, coaches offices, and club seating. A new and upgraded video board would be added on top of the building as well. The estimated cost of the facility would be around $20 million. "We want to try to improve our position and be a contender in FCS football and be a contender for a national championship," Athletic Director Kyle Moats said.^[8]

Honored jerseys

Missouri State has retired four jerseys which are memorialized over the student section of the stadium's East side, but the numbers are still available and can be chosen by future players.^[9]

Missouri State Bears honored jerseys
No.	Player	Pos.	Tenure	Ref.
1	DeAndre Smith	QB	1987–1990	[10]
27	Ray Haley	HB	1947–1951	[10]
71	Rich Johanningmeier	OT[a]	1960–1963	[10]
C	Arthur W. Briggs	HC	1912–1933	[10]

1. Also served as head coach from 1976 to 1985.

Championships

Conference championships

Missouri State have won ten conference championships in their history. The Bears won 7 championships in the MIAA, 2 championships in the Gateway, and one in the Missouri Valley. The first conference championship was won in 1928 under coach Arthur Briggs. Jesse Branch is the only coach to win multiple conference championships. The 1928, 1990, 2020 championships were shared titles.^[11] The Bears won their most recent conference championship in 2020, when they shared the conference title with North Dakota and South Dakota State. This title ended the 30 year conference championship drought.

Season	Conference	Coach	Overall Record	Conference Record
1928†	Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Arthur Briggs	7–1–1	3–0–1
1940		Red Blair	10–0	5–0
1948†		Tommy O'Boyle	9–2	4–1
1951		Fred Thomsen	6–3–1	4–0–1
1963		Orville Pottenger	9–1	5–0
1966		Jim Mentis	7–4	5–0
1978		Rich Johanningmeier	8–3	6–0
1989	Gateway Football Conference	Jesse Branch	12–1	9–0
1990†			8–3	6–2
2020†	Missouri Valley Football Conference	Bobby Petrino	5–5	5–1
Total Conference Championships:			10
† Denotes co-champions

Postseason appearances

Division I-AA/FCS playoffs

Missouri State has appeared in the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs four times. Under head coach Jesse Branch, the Bears made two straight trips in 1989 and 1990. In 1989 they drew a first round matchup with Maine. Missouri State won 38–35 and advanced to play Stephen F. Austin in the quarterfinals where they lost 55–25. Missouri State made it to the playoffs again in the 1990 season. They played at home against Idaho and lost 41–35. Bobby Petrino led the Bears to their third playoff appearance in 2020 and the team lost at North Dakota 44–10. Missouri State made their fourth playoff appearance in 2021 and lost to UT Martin 32–31. All of the Bears playoff appearances have come in back to back years, 1989–1990 and 2020–2021. Their all time record is 1–4.^[12]

Season	Coach	Playoff	Opponent	Result
1989	Jesse Branch	First Round Quarterfinals	Maine Stephen F. Austin	W, 38–35 L, 25–55
1990		First Round	Idaho	L, 35–41
2020	Bobby Petrino	First Round	North Dakota	L, 10–44
2021		First Round	UT Martin	L, 31–32

Bowl games

Missouri State has appeared in four bowl games and are 0–4 all time.

Season	Coach	Bowl	Opponent	Result
1948	Tommy O'Boyle	Missouri-Kansas Bowl	Emporia State	L, 20–34
1963	Orville Pottenger	Mineral Water Bowl	Northern Illinois	L, 14–21
1966	Jim Mentis		Adams State	L, 8–14
1989	Jesse Branch	Pecan Bowl	Stephen F. Austin	L, 25–55

Note: The 1989 Pecan Bowl was the Midwest Regional Championship (NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs Quarterfinal).

Records

Record vs. MIAA teams

^[10]

Opponent	Won	Lost	Tied	Percentage	First meeting	Last meeting
Central Missouri	33	42	5	.444	1912	1984
Lincoln	10	5	0	.667	1970	2017
Missouri S&T	27	29	3	.483	1935	1980
Northwest Missouri	32	22	4	.586	1912	1980
Southeast Missouri	46	28	0	.622	1912	2008
Truman State	21	33	7	.402	1912	1985
Totals	196	159	12	.550

Record vs. former MVFC teams

Opponent	Won	Lost	Tied	Percentage	First meeting	Last meeting
Eastern Illinois	5	13	1	.289	1985	1995
Western Kentucky	2	8	0	.200	2001	2006
Totals	7	21	1	.259

Record vs. current MVFC teams

Opponent	Won	Lost	Tied	Percentage	First meeting
Illinois State	18	22	1	.451	1985
Indiana State	22	14	0	.611	1986
North Dakota	2	3	0	.400	2017†
North Dakota State	2	13	0	.133	2008
Northern Iowa	7	36	0	.163	1985
South Dakota	4	5	0	.444	2012
South Dakota State	1	12	0	.077	2008
Southern Illinois	22	23	0	.489	1985
Western Illinois	20	18	1	.526	1985
Youngstown State	7	16	0	.304	1997
Totals	105	162	2	.394

†note: North Dakota joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2020. The Bears played them twice in non-conference and once in the FCS Playoffs.

Notable players

Current NFL players

Player	Position	1st Year	Draft round	Teams
Dylan Cole	MLB	2017	Undrafted	Tennessee Titans, Chicago Bears
Eric Johnson	DE	2022	5	Indianapolis Colts

Former NFL players

Player	Position	1st Year	Draft round	Teams
Charlie Mitchell	C	1945	28	Chicago Bears
Henry May	T	1951	17	Chicago Cardinals
Bob Dees	T	1952	18	Los Angeles Rams
Paul Mullins	T	1953		New York Giants
Ben Koeneman	C	1957		San Francisco 49ers
Bill Kaczmarek	T	1958	25	San Francisco 49ers
Glenn Sowder	T	1961		Denver Broncos
Rich Johanningmeier	T	1964		Houston Oilers
Pat Talburt	DT	1966	16	Kansas City Chiefs
Sam McDowell	T	1968	9	Miami Dolphins
Tom Mullen	T	1974	2	New York Giants
Tom McIntyre	FB	1974		Houston Oilers
Fred Tabron	RB	1974	7	Minnesota Vikings
Bob Grana	TE	1975		St. Louis Cardinals
Dennis Heim	DT	1978	11	New York Giants
Mike Murphy	LB	1979	6	Houston Oilers
Tim Ries	DB	1979	7	Houston Oilers
Jan Stahle	K	1979		Houston Oilers
Chris Sella	LB	1979		New Orleans Saints
John Finders	FB	1983		Dallas Cowboys
Darrin Newbold	LB	1983	7	New York Jets
Mike Armentrout	DB	1985	9	Kansas City Chiefs
Rick Fulton	DT	1985		New York Giants
Keith Williams	RB	1986	6	Atlanta Falcons
Brad Sellenrick	T	1986		Green Bay Packers
Steve Ache	LB	1987		Minnesota Vikings
Matt Soraghan	LB	1988		Green Bay Packers
Jason Whittle	G	1998		New York Giants, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills
Brad St. Louis	Long snapper	2000	7	Cincinnati Bengals
Clay Harbor	TE	2010	4	Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints, Team 9 (XFL)
David Arkin	G	2011	4	Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks, Indianapolis Colts, St. Louis Rams / Los Angeles Rams

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of February 14, 2025.^[13]

2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030	2031	2032	2033
at USC	at Texas A&M	at Auburn	at Arkansas State	at Missouri	at Tulsa		at Tulsa	at Missouri
at Marshall	vs Marshall	at Cincinnati		at Texas Tech
vs SMU	at SMU	Arkansas State
vs UT Martin

References

1. "Robert W. Plaster Stadium". Missouri State.
2. "Media Guide" (PDF). s3.amazonaws.com. 2019. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
3. "Colors - Identity Standards - Missouri State University". February 5, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
4. Lyndal Scranton, Missouri State to join Conference USA for chance to ‘play at the highest level in all sports’, Springfield Daily Citizen, May 10, 2024.
5. "Beard to be Introduced as New MSU Football Coach". Missouri State.
6. "Missouri State wants to build an indoor football facility".
7. "MSU multipurpose indoor facility needs more funding".
8. "Here's a look at the Missouri State football facility the university hopes to build".
9. Missouri State football roster (retrieved 21 Nov 2022)
10. "2017 Media Guide (PDF) - p. 147" (PDF). Missouri State.
11. "Missouri State Bears Year by Year Summary". Missouri State Bears. 2013. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
12. "FCSb Champ" (PDF). fs.ncaa.org. 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
13. "Missouri State Bears Football Future Schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 14, 2025.

External links

• Official website