| Teamname: | Nelson Lions football |
| Firstyear: | 1996 |
| Athleticdirector: | Jesse Godding |
| Headcoach: | Jared Hudgins |
| Headcoachyear: | 1st |
| Hcwins: | 0 |
| Hclosses: | 0 |
| Stadium: | Lumpkins Stadium |
| Stadiumbuilt: | 1972 |
| Stadcapacity: | 9,500 |
| Stadsurface: | FieldTurf |
| Location: | Waxahachie, Texas |
| Conference: | SAC |
| Pastaffiliations: | NCCAA independent (1996–1997) NAIA independent (1998–1999, 2005–2007, 2012) CSFL (2000–2004, 2008–2017) |
| Atwins: | 97 |
| Atlosses: | 173 |
| Atties: | 2 |
| Mascotdisplay: | Judah the Lion |
| Websitename: | sagulions.com |
| Websiteurl: | https://sagulions.com/sports/football |
The Nelson Lions football team represents Nelson University (formerly Southwestern Assemblies of God University) in college football in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The Lions are members of the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC), fielding its team in the GPAC since 2013. The Lions play their home games at Lumpkins Stadium in Waxahachie, Texas.[1]
Their head coach is Jared Hudgins, who took over the position for the 2024 season.
| Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Allen | 1996–1997 | 13 | 2 | 9 | 2 | — | — | — | |||
| 2 | Tommy Sugg | 1998 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 3 | Paul Burgard | 1999 | 10 | 1 | 9 | — | — | — | ||||
| 4 | Tim Truman | 2000–2001 | 20 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | |||
| 5 | Jesse Godding | 2002–2014 | 137 | 43 | 94 | 0 | 12 | 24 | 0 | |||
| 6 | Frank Tristan[2] | 2015–2017 | 32 | 20 | 12 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 0 | |||
| 7 | Ryan Smith[3] [4] | 2018–2021 | 37 | 18 | 19 | 0 | 13 | 19 | 0 | |||
| 8 | Greg Ellis[5] | 2022–present | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| National champions | Conference champions | Bowl game berth | Playoff berth |
| Season | Year | Head coach | Association | Division | Conference | Record | Postseason | Final ranking | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Conference | |||||||||||||
| Win | Loss | Tie | Finish | Win | Loss | Tie | ||||||||
| Nelson Lions | ||||||||||||||
| 1996 | 1996 | John Allen | NCCAA | — | Independent | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | — | ||||
| 1997 | 1997 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1998 | 1998 | Tommy Sugg | NAIA | Independent | 2 | 8 | 0 | — | — | |||||
| 1999 | 1999 | Paul Burgard | 1 | 9 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 2000 | 2000 | Tim Truman | CSFL | 2 | 8 | 0 | 6th | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||
| 2001 | 2001 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 4th | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2002 | 2002 | Jesse Godding | 0 | 9 | 0 | N/A | — | — | ||||||
| 2003 | 2003 | 2 | 8 | 0 | T–5th | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2004 | 2004 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 7th | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2005 | 2005 | Independent | 2 | 8 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 2006 | 2006 | 2 | 8 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2007 | 2007 | 1 | 9 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2008 | 2008 | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 2009 | 2009 | CSFL | 3 | 7 | 0 | 4th | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2010 | 2010 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 7th | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2011 | 2011 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 5th | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2012 | 2012 | Independent | 4 | 6 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 2013 | 2013 | CSFL | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2nd | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2014 | 2014 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 2nd | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2015 | 2015 | Frank Tristan | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3rd | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2016 | 2016 | 4 | 6 | 0 | T–4th | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2017 | 2017 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2nd | 7 | 1 | 0 | — | 19 | ||||
| 2018 | 2018 | Ryan Smith | SAC | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||
| 2019 | 2019 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 9th | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2020 | 2019 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3rd | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2021 | 2021 | 9 | 3 | 0 | T–4th | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2022 | 2022 | Greg Ellis | 7 | 3 | 0 | T–4th | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2023 | 2023 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 6th | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| Nelson Lions | ||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2024 | Jared Hudgins | NAIA | — | SAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |