The Troy Trojans decade review highlights the team’s turn in a new direction. Neal Brown reshaped the focus of Troy football in his three-year tenure as head coach. With Power Five wins over LSU and Nebraska, and a near win at Clemson, the Trojans became the face of the Sun Belt. Now, Chip Lindsey is leading the ship for the Trojans. But the last decade for Troy Trojans football was one that would change the outlook of the program for years to come. The decade saw the Trojans win two Sun Belt championships and numerous bowl games. The 2010-2019 era for Troy football is one fans will never forget.
Troy Trojans Decade Review: End of an Era
Legendary head coach Larry Blackeney brought Troy Trojans football to new heights. He coached the team from 1990-2014. During his tenure, he led the Trojans to 178 total wins, including five Sun Belt titles and three Southland Conference championships. Blackeney was the 20th head coach in school history. He was part of the era that saw Troy shift from Division I-AA to Division I-A, which is now called the FBS. Under Blackeney, Troy won their first winover a BCS conference school.
In the Trojans’ first year in the Sun Belt in 2004, they defeated #17 Missouri 24-14 in Troy. The game will go down as one of the biggest wins in program history. In 2006, Blackeney coached the Trojans to their first ever Sun Belt title after the team defeated Middle Tennessee State in a game dubbed ” The Miracle in Murfreesboro.” The Trojans played in the New Orleans Bowl against the Rice Owls and won 41-17. It was Troy’s first bowl win in school history.
The end of the Larry Blackeney era saw the Trojans win four more Sun Belt championships in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. What Blackeney accomplished while at Troy will forever be written in history with the program.
Neal Brown Era
In 2015, Kentucky and former Troy assistant coach Neal Brown was hired to be the successor to Larry Blackeney. The Trojans finished 4-8 in Brown’s first season. But the next season was much improved. Troy became the first Sun Belt team to be ranked in the Top 25. A near-win at Clemson showed the college football world that the Trojans can play with just about any team. That season, Troy finished 10-3 and earned a trip to the Dollar General Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. They defeated the Ohio Bobcats 28-23.
The 2017 season saw the Trojans make another improvement. Quarterback Brandon Silvers played exceptionally well that year. The Trojans 11-2 finish included a big win at #25 LSU by a score of 24-21. The season would end with Troy defeating Arkansas State 32-25 to win another Sun Belt championship. Their opponent in the New Orleans Bowl was the North Texas Mean Green. A former Sun Belt rival, Troy defeated North Texas 50-30 in a high-scoring Trojans affair. The game was Silvers’ last game as a Troy Trojan.
Troy opened the 2018 season against Boise State in Troy. Neal Brown’s final season would get off to a rough start as Troy lost 56-20. Mid way through the year, Kaleb Barker suffered a season-ending knee injury. Troy would suffer a loss to the Liberty Flames before going on a four-game winning streak. The streak included a win over in-state rival South Alabama.
The Trojans were in the conference championship race until they faced the Appalachian State Mountaineers. App State defeated the Trojans 21-10 to knock Troy out of the Sun Belt title hunt. Overall, Troy finished 2018 with a 9-3 record. They faced the Buffalo Bulls in the Dollar General Bowl and won 42-32.
The 2018 season would be Neal Brown’s last in Troy as he departed for the West Virginia job after the season.
Chip Lindsey Era
The Chip Lindsey era was off to a rough start. 2019 was not a good year for the Trojans, as they saw many players enter the transfer portal. To go along with that, the Trojans only won five games in Lindsey’s first season as head coach. The former Kansas offensive coordinator was hired as the 22nd head coach in school history on January 10, 2019. After only spending two months as the offensive coordinator at Kansas, Lindsey opted to become the head man at Troy. His vision for the team is bright.
With a young defense led by sophomore linebacker Carlton Martial, the Trojans needed a spark. The offense was having trouble. Barker was playing well, but Troy just couldn’t make the pieces fit. After crushing losses to Southern Miss and Arkansas State, Troy traveled to Columbia, Missouri to face off with the Tigers. The Trojans would lose 42-10. After earning a win over South Alabama at home, the Trojans would go on a two-game skid with losses to Georgia State and Coastal Carolina. Two more wins came by way of Georgia Southern and Texas State. The final two weeks of the season, the Trojans lost 53-3 to Louisiana and 48-13 to the hands of Appalachian State.
Despite the 5-7 record in 2019, Lindsey signed the top-ranked recruiting class in school history for 2020. The Troy Trojans decade review highlights some of the highest points in Trojans program history. Over the past ten seasons, the Trojans have won six conference championships and multiple bowl games. If that is any indication of the future, this new decade should treat the program well.
