Jacksonville State — Conference USA
HC
Charles Kelly · AmFirst Stadium · Jacksonville, AL · 24,000 cap
PPA off / def
0.19 / 0.15
2025
Class rank
#86
class of 2026
Returning PPA
50%
returning production
2026 schedule
2025 results (9–5)
Statistical comps — 2025 Jacksonville State's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (21 in / 14 out)
| Incoming |
|---|
| Rob Billings IV | S | ← Clemson | ★★★ |
| Caleb Holmes | IOL | ← Pittsburgh | ★★★ |
| Ronnel Johnson | WR | ← Missouri State | ★★★ |
| Hadine Diaby | IOL | ← Nevada | ★★★ |
| Vernon Woodward III | CB | ← Illinois | ★★★ |
| Darius Cannon | WR | ← Murray State | ★★★ |
| Kaden Cook | CB | ← California | ★★★ |
| Marvin Stringfellow | DL | ← Concordia University, St. Paul | ★★★ |
| + 13 more |
Origins
Rodriguez rebuilt his career here before returning to West Virginia. The 2015 team lost the FCS title game and the program moved up in 2023 with the momentum intact.
Founded 1883 · State normal school in the Alabama hills · first football 1904 · defined by Rich Rodriguez
All-time record
Win %
64.6%
45 seasons played
Winning seasons
22
49% of seasons
By level: ii/iii 1–10 (1909–1931) · D-II 3–7 (1974–1995) · FCS 157–72 (1996–2022) · FBS 27–14 (2023–2025)
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 2015 | 13 | 2 | OVC |
| 2017 | 10 | 2 | OVC |
| 2016 | 10 | 2 | OVC |
| 2014 | 10 | 2 | OVC |
| 2020 | 10 | 3 | OVC |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1909 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 401 | 70% |
46% | 35 of 136 | 6.4 | 15% |
| 2nd down | 295 | 67% |
44% | 51 of 136 | 5.5 | 12% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 53 | 81% |
58% | — | 3.3 | 6% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 63 | 27% |
33% | — | 5.7 | 19% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 67 | 28% |
28% | — | 8.1 | 21% |
| 4th down | 29 | 83% |
55% | — | 3.5 | 7% |
163 drives · 39% ended in points · 7.3 plays and 44.9 yards per drive · 1.15 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 14 | Western Kentucky |
(11:33) Shotgun #12 C.Creel rush right for 70 yards gain to the WKU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 11:… |
70 | 6.66 |
| 12 | Kennesaw State |
Deondre Johnson 62 Yd pass from Gavin Wimsatt (Cade Cunningham Run for Two-Point Conversio… |
62 | 6.60 |
| 3 | Georgia Southern |
Gavin Wimsatt pass complete to Brock Rechsteiner for 56 yds for a TD (Garrison Rippa KICK) |
56 | 6.33 |
| 11 | UTEP |
(11:17) No Huddle-Shotgun #12 C.Creel pass complete deep right to #11 D.Johnson caught at … |
77 | 6.21 |
| 5 | Southern Miss |
Caden Creel run for 73 yds to the USM 2 for a 1ST down |
73 | 4.86 |
| 8 | Delaware |
Cam Cook run for 66 yds to the DEL 6 for a 1ST down |
66 | 4.80 |
| 12 | Kennesaw State |
(11:34) No Huddle-Shotgun #12 C.Creel pass complete deep middle to #11 D.Johnson caught at… |
50 | 4.38 |
| 10 | Middle Tennessee |
(07:28) No Huddle-Shotgun #2 G.Wimsatt pass complete deep right to #11 D.Johnson caught at… |
56 | 4.37 |