The team competes as a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), which is a conference in the NCAA Division II.

On December 15, 2006, former Hornets quarterback Garin Higgins became the team's 24th head coach, following the resignation of Dave Wiemers.

In August 2017, Hero Sports named Emporia State the "best football team in Kansas, regardless of division".

[3] The most successful era for ESU football was from 1928 to 1954, when the program was coached by Fran Welch and posted an overall .578 winning percentage.

From 1955 to 1982, the Hornets struggled to find success on the football field, as the team's overall winning percentage during that era slipped to .295 (74–182–8).

[5] Trusler suggested to a local writer, Cecil Carle of the Emporia Gazette, that the university's athletic teams should be called the "Yellow Jackets" but instead, the name was changed to "Hornets" due to the lack of newspaper space.

The 1899 football season was the first of the "Turnpike Tussle" series, which is played between the Hornets and the Washburn Ichabods.

[11] KSN alum Fran Welch was hired by his alma mater as the 13th head football coach in 1928, taking over after Bill Hargiss left for the University of Kansas.

[8] In his 12 years as head coach at KSTC, he only had one winning season; in 1958, the Hornets went 5–4–1, which included a 0–21 loss to Lincoln (MO) at the Mineral Water Bowl.

[19] After nearly two decades of being unsuccessful, KSTC hired Harold Elliott as the 17th head coach in hopes that he could rebuild the program.

Kramer resigned after the 1994 season to become an assistant coach for the Kansas State Wildcats, leaving ESU with an overall record of 71–54–0 (.568).

[31][32] After the 2000 season, he left with a tied record of 11–11–0 (.500) to be the head coach at the Southern Illinois Salukis.

[citation needed] Dave Wiemers took the helm as the 23rd Hornet football coach in 2001, replacing Jerry Kill.

[33] In 2003, the Hornets won a co-conference championship and made their first–ever trip to the NCAA Division II playoffs, losing to Winona State 3–10.

[36] On December 14, 2006, Higgins was introduced as the 24th head football coach of Emporia State University,[37] replacing Dave Wiemers who resigned after three consecutive losing seasons.

[39] Higgins led the Hornets to their first 3–0 season since 2003, but that quickly ended once they began conference play losing their final eight games.

[42] During his third year as head coach of the Hornets, Higgins led his team to the program's lowest overall winning record since 1980 – 2–8.

[45] With the new leadership change, came a new atmosphere on campus and Higgins led the Hornets to their first winning season since 2003.

[46] The Hornets started the season off strong winning their first eight games – the program's first since 1988[47] – earning them national rankings as well for the first time since 2003.

[49] Quarterback Tyler Eckenrode finished his career at Emporia State with school records and as a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy.

[50] After a successful season and losing a record-breaking quarterback,[51] the Hornets were chosen to finish in seventh place in the MIAA preseason polls.

The Hornets started the season 6–0, scoring 38+ points in the first five games, and quickly regained their national rankings after being unranked for a year.

The Hornets once again returned to the NCAA playoffs winning the first two games, and falling to Northwest Missouri State in the third round.

Higgins selected a redshirt sophomore who had played in during his freshman year when both Wilson and the back-up quarterback were injured.

[74] Source: [75] Francis G. Welch Stadium serves as home to the Hornets football team.

[80] The stadium, which is named for long–time Emporia State football coach and athletic director Fran Welch, opened in 1947 and since then has gone under a few renovations.

In 1994, the east and west side concession areas, restroom facilities, and entrances were renovated, a new scoreboard was hoisted into place at the south end of the stadium and a new landscaped fence was erected.

[5] Trusler suggested to Cecil Carle of the Emporia Gazette that the university's athletic teams should be called the "Yellow Jackets".