- 1965–1970
The university fielded a club football team from 1965 to 1970 and it was the first team sport played at UNO. The team had a modest beginning, losing 21–0 to Loyola University-New Orleans in their only game in 1965. The Privateers played two games in 1966, finishing 1–1, beating Spring Hill College for their first victory ever but losing 20–6 to Loyola once again. The Privateers recorded their first winning season in 1967, finishing 2–1, but lost to Loyola for the third year in a row.
In 1968 head coach Tom Gruber directed the Privateers to a 3–1 record, defeating cross-town rival Loyola to win the South District championship of the National Club Football Association. That same year the Privateers finished the season ranked 8th in the NCFA national poll. George Baud, a Privateer defensive lineman was named a club football All-American as well.
In 1969 the Privateers, under new coach Dale Hoffpauir, again beat Loyola and finished 3–2–1, repeating as the South District champs and attaining a No. 4 preseason national ranking in the NCFA poll. The 1969 season was the first in which the Privateers played under the UNO banner rather than LSUNO, even though it would be five more years before the university officially became the University of New Orleans. Also in 1969, the Privateers moved their home field to East Jefferson Stadium from Tad Gormley Stadium where they had played their first four seasons.
The 1970 Privateers played a seven-game schedule, finishing 3–4 but winning the South District for the third consecutive season because of their 2–0 district record which included a victory over Loyola. 1970 again saw a change in venue for the Privateers as they alternated home games between East Jefferson Stadium and West Jefferson Stadium.
In its first six seasons of football, UNO's overall record was 12–10–1 with three district championships. The series record with arch-rival Loyola stands at 3–3. UNO owns a 2–0 advantage over Nicholls State after beating the Colonels in 1969 and 1970. The Privateers did play the Tulane JV squad in 1970 at Tulane, with the Green Wave beating UNO 56–13. UNO's Founding Chancellor Homer Hitt recalled the six years of Privateer football as a "kind of glory period for LSUNO. We competed with schools from all over, including Loyola and Nicholls."
- 1971–2007
In 1971, when club football programs faded and the NCFA folded, UNO dropped the program while Nicholls State, [21] a club football rival of the Privateers, elevated their team to full intercollegiate status. UNO had considered expanding its football program to a fully funded level, but it was thought to be too costly at the time. The club football team had spent $22,000 in 1970. Doc Costanza stated in his 1989 Driftwood article on UNO football: "When one considers the costs and benefits of a modern college football team, it seems that it may have been a mistake for UNO to phase out its team rather than expand it."
Between 1971 and 2007 there were several unsuccessful attempts to establish NCAA football at UNO. In 1984, UNO Football, Inc. was organized by Professor Stephen Ambrose to secure the funding for a full-fledged Division I football program at UNO. Dr. Ambrose was ambitious. He was quoted by the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate in April, 1984 as offering this scenario: "September 1990: LSU 58, UNO 0. September 1991: LSU 28, UNO 7. And then in the third year...watch out!" UNO athletic director Ron Maestri was also supportive of the plan to bring football to UNO at the time. He was quoted in the same Morning Advocate article as saying, "Our students are hooked on football. They attend LSU and Tulane games. Students, faculty and staff can rally around a football program. It's a dimension most other major universities have." But because the 1980s were times of financial crisis in Louisiana and because academic and athletic budgets were being slashed around the state, the fundraising drive for UNO football stalled and the idea was dropped.
In April, 2000 a proposal for non-scholarship football at UNO was released to the public. This proposal was authored by Roy Raspanti, former executive director of the UNO Athletic Association. In May, 2000 the UNO Athletic Association was reorganized as the Privateer Athletic Foundation. During then-AD Bob Brown's tenure, a PAF committee was formed to study the feasibility of football at UNO. The committee researched the issues extensively, but no action was ever taken to move forward with implementing the football program. UNO went 38 years without football until the club program was revived for the 2008 season.
- 2008–2011
Football was reinstated in 2008 with the university's admissions director, Andy Benoit, as head coach. Operating on a limited budget and with only eight players, the Privateers set out to raise the funds and build a team in order to play. In their first season on the gridiron, the Privateers played two games and drew 3,700 fans to its first game at Tad Gormley Stadium; which was the team's home stadium from 2008–2011. During the 2008 season, UNO club football outdrew NCAA Division I, II and III programs for some of their home games. The 2009 season saw UNO finish with a 5–3 record.
In 2010, the team finished with a record of 7–2 and won the 2010 NCFA National Championship. [22] [23]
In 2011, the team played under the direction of Sean Santos and later Austin Thomas.
- 2012
The 2012 season played at Pan American Stadium was suspended due to fielding players who were not enrolled at UNO; claims that the season was cancelled due to budget cuts were incorrect as club football was privately funded.
- Future endeavors
UNO has not fielded a team since the 2012 season and the UNO athletic department is studying the feasibility of fielding a football team on the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level.
