Early years (1911–1953) The school was founded in 1909, and, two years later, Arkansas State fielded its first football team. In 1918, the team was temporarily disbanded due to the First World War. Arkansas State played without conference affiliation until 1929 when it joined the
Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference. From 1937 until 1953, Arkansas State competed as a member of the
National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). After the 1941 season, the football program was interrupted due to World War II and did not resume until the 1945 season. The school left the AIC in 1950 and would remain independent of conference affiliation for the next 12 years. During the 1950s under coach
Forrest England, A-State emerged as a bit of a regional football power, appearing in four post-season bowl games from 1951 to 1953. The Indians compiled a 48–22–9 record under England. The Indians played in two bowls at the end of the 1951 season, winning the
Refrigerator Bowl and losing the
Tangerine Bowl (now known as the Capital One Bowl). The Indians lost the 1952 Refrigerator Bowl and tied the 1953 Tangerine Bowl.
College Division years (1953–1972) In 1953, Arkansas State moved to the
NCAA, and played as a member of the College Division through 1972. Running backs coach David Gunn was named the interim head coach and led the team to Mobile, Alabama for the
2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl. In that bowl, held on January 8, 2012, the Red Wolves were led by quarterback Ryan Aplin, as they squared off against the
Northern Illinois Huskies at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Northern Illinois rallied back from a thirteen-point deficit for a 38–20 victory. Also in attendance in Mobile was
Gus Malzahn, who was named Arkansas State's new head football coach on December 14, 2011.
Gus Malzahn came to the Red Wolves from
Auburn, where he had served the previous three seasons as offensive coordinator. In 2012, Arkansas State lost only one game in the Sun Belt Conference. For the first time in school history, they had back to back 10 win seasons (10–3 in 2012) and back to back Sun Belt conference championships. On December 4, 2012, Malzahn announced his return to
Auburn as head coach, thus making it two years in a row the team would be coached by an interim in the post season. John Thompson coached the team to 17–13 victory at the
2013 GoDaddy.com Bowl against No. 25
Kent State on January 6, 2013. Former
Texas Longhorns football offensive coordinator
Bryan Harsin was named on December 11, 2012, to succeed the departing Malzahn. In 2013, Arkansas State under
Bryan Harsin won the Sun Belt Conference, and received a bid to the GoDaddy Bowl for the 3rd time in as many years with a 7–5 (5–2 conference) regular season record. They were deemed co-champions this year with the UL-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns who were also 5–2 in conference. Before the GoDaddy Bowl, Harsin joined his predecessors in announcing his departure after one season to coach at his alma mater,
Boise State. Harsin's contract included a $1.75 million buyout which was paid by Boise State. Defensive Coordinator
John Thompson coached the team in the
GoDaddy Bowl where Arkansas State blocked a Ball State field goal in the final seconds to hold on to a 23–20 win. A noteworthy point of interest of all three of these coaches, they would all eventually go on to become the head coach of the
Auburn Tigers.
Blake Anderson era (2014–2020) On December 19, 2013, Arkansas State hired
Blake Anderson as the new head coach away from his offensive coordinator post at the
University of North Carolina. In an attempt to end the "One and Done" era and provide much-needed coaching stability, Arkansas State placed a hefty
buyout provision in Anderson's $700,000 per year five-year contract specifying a $3 million buyout for the first two years, $2 million for the third and fourth years, and $1 million in the final year. The Red Wolves opened the
2015 season 0–2 with losses to both No. 8
USC and No. 21
Missouri. Arkansas State would go on to win 9 of the next 11 with victories over
App State and rival
Louisiana-Monroe. With their win over App State on November 5, the Red Wolves glided to their 4th
Sun Belt title since 2010 and an appearance in the
New Orleans Bowl. Expectations were high for the
2016 season but the Red Wolves started the campaign with four straight losses to
Toledo,
Auburn,
Utah State and in-state
FCS opponent
Central Arkansas. But during
Sun Belt Conference play the Red Wolves reeled off six straight victories including a road win against No. 25
Troy that denied the Trojans a share of the Sun Belt crown. The Red Wolves had a chance to secure a sole conference championship by winning its last two games but faltered when a last-second touchdown was reversed by replay at
Louisiana. The Red Wolves secured a win in their final regular season game at
Texas State which assured them of a shared conference championship with
Appalachian State. The Red Wolves were selected for the
2016 Cure Bowl where they defeated
UCF 31–13 in their own hometown. On Dec 10, 2020, Anderson resigned.
Butch Jones era (2020–present) Butch Jones was announced as the Red Wolves head coach on December 12, 2020. Jones had previous head coaching stints at
Central Michigan,
Cincinnati and
Tennessee and prior to his hire at Arkansas State was a special assistant to
Nick Saban at
Alabama. ==Division history==