The Western Illinois Leathernecks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Western Illinois University, located in Macomb, Illinois. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). They are members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), and play their games as part of the OVCâÂÂBig South Football Association, which combines teams from the Ohio Valley and Big South conferences. The team plays its home games at the 16,368 seat Hanson Field.
Western Illinois had an unofficial football team in 1902, the year the school was established. The team played four games against regional high schools and the Western Illinois Normal & Business Institute going 2âÂÂ2. In 1903, the school formed an athletic association for the fall football season, which is considered the official beginning of Western Illinois football by the school.
The team adopted its nickname in 1927 when coach Ray Hanson, a decorated officer in the United States Marine Corps, asked the U.S. Navy for permission to use the Corps' Fighting Leathernecks nickname and logo for his team. Western Illinois is the only college which officially takes its nickname from a branch of the U.S. military.
From 2008 through 2023, the Leathernecks were members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The football team joined the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) in 2024. The other Leathernecks athletic programs transitioned to the OVC one year prior, on July 1, 2023.
â Co-championship
<nowiki>*</nowiki>Note: Since 1981, the NCAA Division I-AA/Division I FCS Playoffs Regional Championships were commonly referred to as the Boardwalk Bowl (East Region Championship), Pecan Bowl (Midwest Region Championship), Grantland Rice Bowl (South Region Championship), and Camellia Bowl (West Region Championship).
â Acting head coach first seven games of 2008 season and last eight games of 2009 season.
Announced schedules as of January 13, 2026.