This football season marks the ten-year anniversary of football in the Sun Belt Conference. A lot of football took place over the years of the fledgling conference. Some players furthered their career to play in the professionally and lasting memories have been made.
Arguably the greatest moment came when ULM upset Alabama 21-14 in 2007. The win still holds significant value, as the Warhawks are the last team to beat the Crimson Tide at home.
There were other notable games as well, including the near sellout crowd that saw the Warhawks play the Grambling Tigers for the first time in 2007 and when ULM upset eventual Sun Belt champion Troy two years ago.
“The best game was definitely the win over Troy in the 2008 season,” said Logan Thibideaux, a second-year pharmacy student from Opelousas. “It was a huge, unexpected upset. The kick bounced off the goal as time expired, and I rushed the field when we won.”
Charlie Weatherbie handled most the coaching duties in the first decade with the Sun Belt. He began leading the team in 2003 when the Warhawks were still known as the ULM Indians.
In 2005, Weatherbie lead the Indians to a co-conference championship for the first time since 1992 with quarterback Steven Jyles and Pro Bowler and current Chicago Bear safety Chris Harris. However, under Weatherbie’s reign, the team never had a winning season or made a bowl game. They only managed to finish the season 6-6 twice in 2007 and 2009.
Weatherbie’s contract was not renewed after the 2009 season, and Todd Berry took the control of the Warhawk football team this season. He made the decision to start redshirt freshman quarterback Kolton Browning over senior Trey Revell, and in his short tenure so far as coach, Berry has created a team that is one game under .500 with one game remaining and a potential bowl bid on the line.
The Warhawks seem to be on the right track to start the next ten years of Sun Belt play even better than the first.
If you have a favorite ULM football moment or think you know a current or former player that deserves to be on the 10th Anniversary Football Celebration Football Team, you can vote at sunbeltsports.org.
