Middle Tennessee

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Middle Tennessee honors Dolly Parton with jersey patch in season openerour readThe Western Kentucky rivalry

Conference USA · Derek Mason, year 3 (7-19) · Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium · 30,788 · 16,227 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#112 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #127 (-20.8) · FPI #126
The marketNevada by 3.5vs Nevada · our model 72% Middle Tennessee · a number, not a pick

LastL 26–28 at Marshall · Sat Sep 12 · Roman Gagliano 243 pass yds, 2 TD, 1 INT

Nextvs Nevada · Sat Sep 19 · 7 pm ET · Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium · Nevada by 3.5 · series 1-0 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

Zeitgeist statureRegional Program IV#168 all-time– holding
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 67-80 12 seasons
Best season 8-5 2022
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 6-6 '15 7-6 '16 8-5 '17 7-6 '18 8-6 '19 4-8 '20 3-6 '21 6-6 '22 8-5 '23 4-8 '24 3-9 '25 3-9

Middle Tennessee's 2014–2025 record is 67-80. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.455
Ranked seasons (AP)
0/12
Best AP finish
—

Program outlook

Rick Stockstill ran Middle Tennessee for 18 years and left the program with bowl trips, a Hawaii Bowl title, and a reputation for occasionally walking into a bigger stadium and walking out with a win. Derek Mason is 6-18 in two seasons since. Murfreesboro is trying to remember which of those is the real program.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

The Stockstill era defined what Middle Tennessee could be: not a program that overachieves relative to talent, but one with a stable identity. Multiple bowl trips. A 2018 Hawaii Bowl championship. A reputation as the Conference USA team that showed up to play the Vanderbilts and Syracuses of the non-conference schedule and sometimes came home with a scalp. Kevin Byard became an NFL All-Pro safety out of Floyd Stadium. The Blue Raiders had a floor, and the floor was real.

Stockstill was let go after the 2023 season. Derek Mason, his replacement, went 3-9 in 2024 and 3-9 again in 2025 — 2-6 in Conference USA in year two, the program sitting at the bottom half of a league the Stockstill era had made it a fixture in. Six wins in two seasons is the kind of stretch that changes what a fanbase believes is structurally possible. Mason still has the job entering 2026, which means he gets a third year to show the 6-18 start is a valley, not a new baseline.

The 2026 season asks the specific question the past two years have deferred: is there enough of the Stockstill foundation remaining that the right adjustments produce a bowl-eligible fall? Murfreesboro doesn't need a marquee run to answer it — six wins and a bowl game restores the argument that the program Stockstill built survived the transition. Fewer than that and the conversation turns to whether Mason is the right person to find it.

On the field

Resourceful, opportunistic Conference USA football — built on doing more with less and being harder to beat than recruiting rankings suggest. MTSU's best teams under Stockstill were defined by defensive physicality and an efficient offense that didn't try to be something it wasn't. Mason's teams have not yet established a clear scheme identity, which is part of the 2026 question. The portal has been the primary roster-building tool across both Mason seasons.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · Middle Tennessee

Middle Tennessee has won 43% of its games since 1911 — 59% at home, 31% on the road.

161-213-1 all-time · 63 seasons · 1911–2026

Home 91-62
Away 65-143-1
Neutral 5-8
2 g 1910s
7 g 1920s
2 g 1930s
6 g 1950s
1 g 1960s
27% 1970s
7 g 1980s
19% 1990s
49% 2000s
50% 2010s
40% 2020s

Coaching Era · Middle Tennessee

Derek Mason

Derek Mason in year 3 of the rebuild. The methodology is taking shape.

Era Derek Mason · 2024–presentPrev: Rick Stockstill (2014–2023)OC: Anthony ScelfoPrev OC: Bodie Reeder (2024–2025)DC: Brian StewartPrev DC: Scott Shafer (2017–2023)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
3 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

The 2018 Hawaii Bowl title

A bowl championship in the heart of the Stockstill era

The 2022 Hawaii Bowl title

A 25-23 win over San Diego State — the program's most recent bowl glory

2023

Stockstill's dismissal

The end of an 18-year tenure opens the unsteady post-Stockstill chapter

Wound

Moment of the season — so far · Middle Tennessee · 2026

Won 38-14 vs Murray State

Week 1 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight. It turned on one snap in Q1 — Roman Gagliano to Hogan Wasson, a 35-point win-probability swing.

Decisive Margin

NFL Draft Pipeline

2026–2026

Middle Tennessee has sent 1 player to the NFL Draft since 2026 — none in the first round.

Thin. Roster development still maturing.

1 picks · 0 in round 1
#240 Parker Hughes Linebacker · 2026 · Jacksonville · #150/583 final season
#168 all-time in draft picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 1-1

Middle Tennessee is 1-1 and unranked in the season's first weeks.

Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Derek Mason2024
  • Rick Stockstill departs113-111, 18 seasons
  • Hired Rick Stockstill2006
  • Andy McCollum departs34-45, 7 seasons
  • Hired Andy McCollum1999
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Middle Tennessee’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
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2015 · Buster Faulkner2016–2020 · Tony Franklin2021 · Brent Dearmon2022–2023 · Mitch Stewart2024–2025 · Bodie Reeder2026 · Anthony Scelfo
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2015 · co-Tyrone Nix / co-Steve Ellis2016 · Tyrone Nix2017–2023 · Scott Shafer2024–2026 · Brian Stewart
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

Rick Stockstill Tenure (2006-2024)

since 2006

more

Rick Stockstill's 2006-2024 tenure — the longest sustained head-coach run in Middle Tennessee history — produced multiple bowl appearances + Conference USA championships + sustained G5 competitive cycles. Stockstill's 18+ year tenure is rare in modern G5 coaching; the era defines the program's modern identity.

Floyd Stadium Tradition

since 1933

more

Floyd Stadium (built 1933, expanded multiple times) — Middle Tennessee's permanent on-campus venue with 31,000 capacity — anchors the program. The 1933-era construction + on-campus location + Murfreesboro setting + the brick-and-concrete architecture create a venue distinct from larger flagship-state programs.

Raider Up Identity

since 2000s

more

'Raider Up' — Middle Tennessee's defiance-rooted fan mantra — captures the C-USA-stalwart identity. The phrase appears in tweets + recruiting + alumni events + the Blue Raider mascot-context creates permanent identity unique among Tennessee G5 programs.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2015-2022): 3-3

Most recent: 2022 — win 23-25 (away). Last 5 postseason: 3-2.

20222021201820172016
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

1.8k
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164
[Postgame Thread] Middle Tennessee Defeats Connecticut 44-13
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[Game Thread] Middle Tennessee @ Army (1:30PM ET)
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105
[Postgame Thread] Austin Peay Defeats Middle Tennessee 34-14
Aug 2025 · r/cfb

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