The Blue Raiders compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and are a member of Conference USA.

The Blue Raiders play their home games at the Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 30,788.

Middle Tennessee State University first fielded a football team in 1911 under the direction of head coach L. T. "Mutt" Weber.

[8] Ernest Alley was named the next head coach of MTSU football, and in his one-season, the Blue Raiders compiled a 1–6–1 record.

[9] Elwin W. Midgett led the Blue Raiders for four seasons (MTSU did not field a football team from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II.

[13] Succeeding Murphy as the Blue Raiders head coach was Donald Fuoss, who only lasted for one season, a 1–9 campaign in 1969[14] that resulted in his firing.

In 2001, McCollum oversaw an offense that ranked fifth nationally and MTSU finished 8–3 as the runner-up behind North Texas which won the Sun Belt Conference championship.

[21] In his first season, Stockstill led the Blue Raiders to the program's second bowl game as well as a share of the Sun Belt Conference title.

[26][27] After the successful 2009 season, he turned down several offers from other schools, including Conference USA's East Carolina[28] and Memphis,[29] citing that it was not the right time to leave the Blue Raiders.

In 2016, Stockstill led the Blue Raiders to an 8–5, 5–3 in C-USA play to finish in third place in the East Division.

[32] In 2017, Stockstill led the Blue Raiders to a 7–6, 4–4 in C-USA play to finish for a tie in third place in the East Division.

On December 6, 2023, former Vanderbilt head coach, Derek Mason, was hired to be MTSU's next headcoach.

[33]: 128–134, 156 [34] † Co-championship As a member of Conference USA since 2013, Middle Tennessee competes in the East Division.

[36] Middle Tennessee has appeared in 13 bowl games including four prior to joining NCAA Division I.

The Blue Raiders were invited to the Motor City Bowl in 2006 after a shared conference title with Troy.

Middle Tennessee finished the 2009 regular season with a 9–3 record and was invited to play in the New Orleans Bowl on December 20.

†non-Division I bowl game The Blue Raiders appeared in the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs seven times with a record of 6–7.

No official nickname existed prior to 1934, when teams were called "Normalites", "Teachers", and "Pedagogues".

Official record (including any NCAA imposed vacates and forfeits) against all current CUSA opponents through the 2023 season:[46] Announced schedules as of July 24, 2024.