| Teamname: | Northwestern Red Raiders football |
| Currentseason: | 2023 Northwestern Red Raiders football team |
| Firstyear: | 1950 |
| Athleticdirector: | Tony Hoops |
| Headcoach: | Matt McCarty |
| Headcoachyear: | 8th |
| Hcwins: | 81 |
| Hclosses: | 19 |
| Stadium: | De Valois Stadium |
| Fieldname: | Korver Field |
| Stadiumbuilt: | 2003 |
| Stadcapacity: | 3,100 |
| Stadsurface: | FieldTurf |
| Location: | Orange City, Iowa |
| Conference: | GPAC |
| Pastaffiliations: | Tri-State (1960–1980) NAIA D-II independent (1981–1987, 1991) Tri-State Athletic (1988–1990) |
| Atwins: | 457 |
| Atlosses: | 195 |
| Atties: | 7 |
| Playoffapps: | 24 |
| Playoffs: | NAIA D-II: 19–23 NAIA: 14–11 |
| Natltitles: | 2 NAIA D-II (1973, 1983) 1 NAIA (2022) |
| Conftitles: | 10 Tri-State (1971–1980) 1 Tri-State Athletic (1988) 5 Nebraska-Iowa / GPAC (1994, 1996, 2000, 2014, 2022) |
| Heismans: | NAIA 1 (2020) |
| Mascotdisplay: | Red Raiders |
| Websitename: | nwcraiders.com |
| Websiteurl: | https://nwcraiders.com/sports/football |
The Northwestern Red Raiders football team represents Northwestern College in college football in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The Red Raiders are members of the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), fielding its team in the GPAC since 1992 when it was known as the Nebraska–Iowa Athletic Conference (NIAC). The Red Raiders play their home games at Korver Field at De Valois Stadium in Orange City, Iowa.[1]
The school's head coach is Matt McCarty, who took over the position for the 2016 season.[2]
| Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Welton | 1960–1966 | 54 | 17 | 36 | 1 | 12 | 30 | 0 | |||
| 2 | Larry Korver[3] | 1967–1994 | 295 | 212 | 77 | 6 | 65 | 20 | 2 | |||
| 3 | Orv Otten[4] | 1995–2008 | 150 | 105 | 45 | 78 | 36 | 0 | ||||
| 4 | Kyle Achterhoff[5] | 2009–2015 | 75 | 56 | 19 | 49 | 16 | 0 | ||||
| 5 | Matt McCarty[6] | 2016–present | 85 | 67 | 18 | 52 | 12 | 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 | ||||||||
| Northwestern Red Raiders | ||||||||||||||
| 1950 | 1950 | Two year college(does not reflect in overall record) | 3 | 3 | 1 | — | — | |||||||
| 1951 | 1951 | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1952 | 1952 | 2 | 4 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1953 | 1953 | 8 | 0 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1954 | 1954 | 7 | 1 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1960 | 1960 | Joe Welton | NAIA | — | Tri-State | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7th | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — |
| 1961 | 1961 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4th | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1962 | 1962 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 7th | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1963 | 1963 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4th | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1964 | 1964 | 6 | 2 | 0 | T–2nd | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1965 | 1965 | 2 | 6 | 0 | T–6th | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1966 | 1966 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 7th | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1967 | 1967 | Larry Korver | 0 | 7 | 1 | 7th | 0 | 5 | 1 | — | — | |||
| 1968 | 1968 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 3rd | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1969 | 1969 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 3rd | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1970 | 1970 | Division II | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3rd | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1971 | 1971 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1st | 4 | 1 | 0 | Conference champions | — | ||||
| 1972 | 1972 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | |||||
| 1973 | 1973 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1st | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | |||||
| 1974 | 1974 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1st | 5 | 0 | 0 | Conference champions | — | ||||
| 1975 | 1975 | 7 | 2 | 1 | T–1st | 3 | 1 | 0 | Conference co-champions | — | ||||
| 1976 | 1976 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1st | 4 | 0 | 0 | Conference champions | — | ||||
| 1977 | 1977 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1st | 2 | 0 | 0 | Conference champions | — | ||||
| 1978 | 1978 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1st | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | |||||
| 1979 | 1979 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1st | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | |||||
| 1980 | 1980 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1st | 2 | 0 | 0 | Conference champions | — | ||||
| 1981 | 1981 | Independent | 6 | 2 | 1 | — | — | |||||||
| 1982 | 1982 | 12 | 1 | 0 | — | |||||||||
| 1983 | 1983 | 14 | 0 | 0 | — | |||||||||
| 1984 | 1984 | 11 | 2 | 0 | — | |||||||||
| 1985 | 1985 | 9 | 1 | 1 | — | |||||||||
| 1986 | 1986 | 8 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1987 | 1987 | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1988 | 1988 | Tri-State Athletic | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | ||||
| 1989 | 1989 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2nd | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1990 | 1990 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2nd | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1991 | 1991 | Independent | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | — | |||||||
| 1992 | 1992 | NIAC | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2nd | 4 | 1 | 1 | — | ||||
| 1993 | 1993 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5th | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1994 | 1994 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1st | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | |||||
| 1995 | 1995 | Orv Otten | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2nd | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1996 | 1996 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1st | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | |||||
| 1997 | 1997 | — | 5 | 5 | 0 | T–3rd | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1998 | 1998 | 7 | 3 | 0 | T–3rd | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1999 | 1999 | 5 | 4 | 0 | T–3rd | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2000 | 2000 | GPAC | 9 | 4 | 0 | T–1st | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | ||||
| 2001 | 2001 | 5 | 5 | 0 | T–5th | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2002 | 2002 | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–5th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2003 | 2003 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2nd | 9 | 1 | 0 | 7 | |||||
| 2004 | 2004 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4th | 7 | 3 | 0 | — | 17 | ||||
| 2005 | 2005 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3rd | 7 | 3 | 0 | — | 17 | ||||
| 2006 | 2006 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2nd | 9 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |||||
| 2007 | 2007 | 8 | 2 | 0 | T–2nd | 8 | 2 | 0 | — | 15 | ||||
| 2008 | 2008 | 7 | 3 | 0 | T–3rd | 7 | 3 | 0 | — | 19 | ||||
| 2009 | 2009 | Kyle Achterhoff | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4th | 7 | 3 | 0 | — | 25 | |||
| 2010 | 2010 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 3rd | 8 | 2 | 0 | — | 18 | ||||
| 2011 | 2011 | 9 | 2 | 0 | T–2nd | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | 17 | ||||
| 2012 | 2012 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 2nd | 7 | 2 | 0 | 12 | |||||
| 2013 | 2013 | 8 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd | 7 | 2 | 0 | 13 | |||||
| 2014 | 2014 | 9 | 2 | 0 | T–1st | 8 | 1 | 0 | 12 | |||||
| 2015 | 2015 | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–4th | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2016 | 2016 | Matt McCarty | 3 | 7 | 0 | 6th | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2017 | 2017 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2nd | 7 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |||||
| 2018 | 2018 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2nd | 8 | 1 | 0 | 12 | |||||
| 2019 | 2019 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2nd | 8 | 1 | 0 | L NAIA First Round | 10 | ||||
| 2020 | 2020 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2nd | 8 | 1 | 0 | L NAIA Championship | 2 | ||||
| 2021 | 2021 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2nd | 9 | 1 | 0 | L NAIA Semifinal | 4 | ||||
| 2022 | 2022 | 13 | 1 | 0 | T–1st | 9 | 1 | 0 | W NAIA Championship | 1 | ||||
| 2023 | 2023 | — | — | |||||||||||