The Northern Colorado Bears football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Northern Colorado located in Greeley, Colorado. The team competes in the Big Sky Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The university's first football team was fielded in 1893. They joined Division I in 2004. The team plays home games at the 8,533 seat Nottingham Field on campus. The Bears announced the hiring of Ed Lamb on December 6, 2022, replacing Ed McCaffrey, who went 6–16 in two seasons.
Contents
Conference affiliations
Below is the list of conferences in which Northern Colorado has been a member.
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (1923–1971)
Great Plains Athletic Conference (1972–1975)
NCAA Division II independent (1976–1979)
North Central Conference (1980–2002)
Great West Football Conference (2004–2005)
Big Sky Conference (2006–present)
Championships
National championships
Northern Colorado made two appearances in the NCAA Division II National Championship Game. The Bears defeated Carson–Newman, 23–14 in 1996, and later defeated New Haven, 51–0 in 1997.
Conference championships
† Co-champions
Playoff appearances
NCAA Division II
The Bears appeared in the Division II playoffs nine times with an overall record of 12–7.
Attendance
Highest attendance
Below is a list of the Bears best-attended home games at Nottingham Field.
As of the 2014 season.
Yearly attendance
Source:
Below is the Bears home attendance by season at Nottingham Field.
As of the 2015 season.
Retired Numbers
Northern Colorado has retired the following jersey numbers for their football program:
Notable former players
Notable alumni include:
Reed Doughty
Vincent Jackson
Dirk Johnson
Jeff Knapple
Bill Kenney
Corte McGuffey
Brad Pyatt
Tony Ramirez
Aaron Smith
Loren Snyder
Dave Stalls
Frank Wainright
Jed Roberts
Herve Tonye-Tonye
Cedric Tillman
Brian Scott
Kyle Sloter
Head coaching records in FCS
Since moving to the Big Sky Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in 2006, the Bears have struggled. Their FCS record since 2006 is 39–146 as of the 2025 season.
FCS head coaching records
Scott Downing: 9–47
Earnest Collins Jr.: 19–53
Ed McCaffrey: 6–16
Ed Lamb: 5–30 as of the end of the 2025 season
Team FCS record as of the end of 2025: 39–146 (.211)
Future non-conference opponents
Announced schedules as of August 18, 2026.