It’s a shame how overlooked football in the state of New Jersey has been over the years. For a long time, the Monmouth Hawks have been one of the best-hidden secrets of New Jersey football at the FCS level. The program has only been around since 1993, so without a lot of history, it’s a little easier to locate cheap Monmouth football tickets. But the Hawks have continued to raise the profile of the program over the years, making last-minute Monmouth football tickets a hot commodity for New Jersey sports fans.

The One and Only

For the first quarter-century of Monmouth football and beyond, the Hawks have had just one head coach. Kevin Callahan was Monmouth’s coach during the program’s inaugural season in 1993 and has never dreamed of coaching anywhere else. Callahan led the Hawks to their first conference championship in 1996 and oversaw four more conference titles over the next decade. That’s not to say that Monmouth hasn’t had some down years during that time. But Callahan has always been able to pull the Hawks out of trouble and get the program back on track.

Heading South

At a certain point, Monmouth outgrew the college football scene in the Northeast. In 2014, after one season as an independent, the Hawks joined the Big South Conference, moving up to a higher level of competition. While it took a few years to adjust, the Hawks eventually found their stride. In 2017, Monmouth reached the FCS Playoffs for the first time in program history. They followed that up with Playoff appearances in both 2019 and 2020 after winning the Big South Conference championship in both years. With the move to the Big South, Monmouth has reached a new level of success, as the Hawks are well on their way to becoming a force at the FCS level.