San Diego State Aztecs football

The San Diego State football team represents the San Diego State Aztecs in college football. The Aztecs, a Division I FBS team and a member of the Mountain West Conference, play their home games at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The field is natural grass and has a maximum capacity of 71,294. The current head coach of the Aztecs is Rocky Long. Coaching the 2011-12 Aztecs is his first year as the head coach. San Diego State had a 465-359-32 all-time record entering the 2009 football season. They have won thirteen conference championships and three national championships at the small college division. Their rivals are the BYU Cougars, the UNLV Rebels, and the Fresno State Bulldogs.

History
San Diego State University was originally two separate schools. San Diego Normal School had school colors of white and gold. San Diego Junior College had school colors of blue and gold. They decided to merge schools in 1921 to form San Diego State College. The first school colors of SDSC were blue, white and gold. During the 1921 school year they had their first football game. The 1943-44 seasons were not played, due to the circumstances involving WWII.

Years later the school decided to adopt purple and gold as the new school colors. However, local confusion between the Aztecs and St. Augustine High School forced the school to change their colors yet again. The school voted on new colors and landed on scarlet and black. It is now a very well known tradition that the Aztecs wear all black on home games.

Night games
Night games have become a San Diego State University football tradition. The first SDSU night game was played on September 25, 1930 at Lane Field. Over 5,000 fans attended the game to watch the Aztecs beat the San Diego Marines 39-0. Since that day, over 75% of all Aztec games, home and away, have been played at night.

Coaching
Coach (Alma Mater)/Years/Win Percentage
 * C.E. Peterson 1921-29, .577
 * W.B. Herreid 1930-34, .489
 * Leo Calland (Southern Calif. ’23) 1935-41, .600
 * John Eubank (Washington St. ’33) 1942, .071
 * Bob Breitbard (San Diego St. ’41) 1945, .286
 * Bill Terry (Western Kentucky ’32) 1946, .600
 * Bill Schutte (Idaho ’33) 1947-55, .568
 * Paul Governali (Columbia ’43) 1956-60, .310
 * Don Coryell (Washington ’50) 1961-72, .840
 * Claude Gilbert (San Jose St. ’59) 1973-80, .697
 * Doug Scovil (Pacific ’52) 1981-85, .432
 * Denny Stolz (Alma College ’55) 1986-88, .457
 * Al Luginbill (Cal Poly - Pomona ’67) 1989-93, .534
 * Ted Tollner (Cal Poly ’62) 1994-01, .473
 * Tom Craft (San Diego St. ’77) 2002-05, .396
 * Chuck Long (Iowa ’85) 2006-08, .250
 * Brady Hoke (Ball State '80) 2009–2011, .520
 * Rocky Long (New Mexico '71) 2011-present, .667

Notable alumni
San Diego State athletics have contributed to the National Football League (NFL). NFL head coaches were members of the Aztec Football program:
 * Joe Gibbs - Hall of Fame NFL head coach of the Washington Redskins, Super Bowl winning coach, NASCAR team owner, former Aztec player and assistant coach.
 * John Madden - Hall of Fame AFL/NFL head coach of the Oakland Raiders, Super Bowl winning coach, former Aztec assistant coach.
 * Don Coryell - Former NFL head coach of the San Diego Chargers, former Aztec head coach.
 * Ted Tollner - Current NFL assistant coach for the Oakland Raiders, former assistant coach of the Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers, former Aztec head coach.
 * Herman Edwards - NFL head coach of the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs, former Aztec player.
 * John Fox - Current NFL head coach of the Denver Broncos, former NFL head coach of the Carolina Panthers, former Aztec player.
 * Sean Payton - NFL head coach of the New Orleans Saints, Super Bowl Winning Coach, former Aztec offensive assistant, former Aztec running backs coach
 * Tom Cable - Former NFL head coach of the Oakland Raiders, former Aztec assistant coach
 * Brian Billick - Former NFL head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, Super Bowl Winning Coach, former Aztec assistant coach

Some of the more famous San Diego State students to later star in the NFL are: .
 * Marshall Faulk - Hall of Fame, 7-time Pro Bowl running back for the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams.
 * Dennis Shaw - 1970 AFC Offensive Rookie of the Year, played eight years in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, and Kansas City Chiefs.
 * Dan McGwire - QB was the 16th pick in 1991 by the Seattle Seahawks, playing six years in the NFL. Dan is the brother of former Major League slugger Mark McGwire.
 * Brian Sipe - NFL quarterback; part of the "Kardiac Kids" for the Cleveland Browns.
 * Isaac Curtis - 4-time Pro Bowl wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals.
 * Kirk Morrison - Star linebacker for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
 * Kassim Osgood - 3-time Pro Bowl wide receiver and top special teams player for the Jacksonville Jaguars - All American transfer from Cal Poly.
 * Roberto Wallace - NFL Wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins.
 * Fred Dryer - NFL Defensive end for the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams. Film and television actor, notably starring in the series Hunter.


 * See List of San Diego State Football Players

Facilities
The football team plays at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly known as "Jack Murphy" Stadium). See also The Q.

Seasons

 * 1993 San Diego State Aztecs football team
 * 2008 San Diego State Aztecs football team
 * 2009 San Diego State Aztecs football team
 * 2010 San Diego State Aztecs football team
 * 2011 San Diego State Aztecs football team