Program Prestige · Arkansas-Pine Bluff2012 SWAC Championship
UAPB beats Jackson State 24-21 in overtime at Legion Field in Birmingham (Dec. 8, 2012) to win the SWAC championship, capping a 10-2 season under Monte Coleman and a share of the HBCU/black-college national title.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
1-2SWAC · Golden Lion Stadium · 16,000
The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The marketno line yetvs Central State · our model 93% Arkansas-Pine Bluff · a number, not a pick
LastL 51–53 vs Alcorn State · Sat Sep 12 · Garrison Davis 167 pass yds, 4 TD, 1 INT
Nextvs Central State · Sat Sep 19 · 5 pm ET · Golden Lion Stadium · series 0-1 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2
Program Prestige · Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Power Program
Program outlook
Arkansas-Pine Bluff is rebuilding under head coach Alonzo Hampton, who enters his fourth season in 2026 with a 9-26 record since 2023, still measured against a 2012 SWAC championship coached by three-time Super Bowl winner Monte Coleman.
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Arkansas-Pine Bluff has played football since 1916, first as Arkansas AM&N College, a historically black land-grant institution that became the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in 1972. The program has moved through several conference homes, rejoining the SWAC for good in 1998, and its all-time record sits at 351-460-44 — a program without a long stretch of sustained dominance.
The clearest peak came in 2012, when head coach Monte Coleman — a 16-year Washington linebacker with three Super Bowl rings (XVII, XXII, XXVI) before he returned home to coach — led UAPB to a 10-2 record, an 8-1 SWAC mark, and a 24-21 overtime win over Jackson State at Legion Field in Birmingham for the SWAC championship, a season also recognized as a black-college national co-championship. UAPB also won the SWAC West in 2006 and 2020, losing the conference title game both times to Alabama A&M.
The program has produced NFL talent that outpaces its overall record: L.C. Greenwood, a 1969 Pittsburgh Steelers draft pick who became part of the Steel Curtain and won four Super Bowls; Terron Armstead, a five-time Pro Bowl tackle for the Saints and Dolphins who retired in 2025; and punter Jamie Gillan, 'The Scottish Hammer,' now with the New York Giants.
Alonzo Hampton, hired for 2023, has gone 9-26 through three seasons (2-9 in year one, 4-8 in year three), and the 2025 team was ruled ineligible for FCS postseason play over an insufficient Academic Progress Rate. The program's biggest annual stage is now the Southern Heritage Classic in Memphis against Alcorn State — a booking UAPB inherited from Jackson State in 2023 and won most recently, 24-20, on September 27, 2025.
On the field
Arkansas-Pine Bluff plays resource-constrained SWAC West football: a program whose ceiling (the 2012 SWAC title, division titles in 2006 and 2020) has been real but occasional, currently rebuilding under a fourth-year coaching staff.
All-time record · Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Arkansas-Pine Bluff has won 32% of its games since 1977 — 41% at home, 23% on the road.
66-138 all-time · 22 seasons · 1977–2026
Home
38-54
Away
19-64
Neutral
9-20
3 g
1970s
34%
2000s
36%
2010s
24%
2020s
Program memory
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
2023
Southern Heritage Classic debut vs. Alcorn State
UAPB replaces Jackson State (which had played in the Classic for 29 games) as Alcorn State's Southern Heritage Classic opponent in Memphis, giving the Golden Lions their highest-profile annual neutral-site game.
2025 Academic Progress Rate postseason ban
Despite an improved 4-8 (2-6 SWAC) record in Alonzo Hampton's third season, UAPB is ruled ineligible for FCS postseason play due to an insufficient Academic Progress Rate.
Heartbreak
Moment of the season — so far · Arkansas-Pine Bluff · 2026
Moment of the season — so far · Arkansas-Pine Bluff · 2026Lost 14-54 at Missouri
Week 1 of 2026. A reckoning loss — the data point the next season must answer.
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Conference
SWAC standing · 2026
10th in the SWAC
Arkansas-Pine Bluff is 10th of 12 in the SWAC at 0-1. The path to the title is steep — the focus is on bowl access and rivalry wins.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama State | 1-0 |
| 2 | Alcorn State | 1-0 |
| 3 | Prairie View A&M | 1-0 |
| – | Alabama A&M | 0-0 |
| – | Bethune-Cookman | 0-0 |
| – | Florida A&M | 0-0 |
| – | Grambling | 0-0 |
| – | Jackson State | 0-0 |
| – | Mississippi Valley State | 0-0 |
| 10 | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 0-1 |
| 11 | Southern | 0-1 |
| 12 | Texas Southern | 0-1 |
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
Southern Heritage Classic vs. Alcorn State
since 2023
more
UAPB replaced Jackson State as the Southern Heritage Classic's visiting participant in December 2022 (Jackson State had played in the Classic for 29 games), taking on Alcorn State in Memphis starting in 2023. It is now the Golden Lions' highest-profile annual game. UAPB won the most recent meeting, 24-20, on September 27, 2025.
Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South (M4)
since 2009
more
UAPB's marching band, known as M4, is a five-drum-major band accompanied by the M4 Golden Girls dance auxiliary and the 24K Golden Silks flag auxiliary. It was selected to perform in the 2009 U.S. Presidential Inaugural Parade -- a rare national stage for a SWAC band -- and remains a central pillar of home gameday atmosphere alongside the football program.
Cultural identity
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