With a history dating back to 1931, ULM competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS),[2] as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, and play their home games on campus at JPS Field at Malone Stadium in Monroe, Louisiana.

[3] During the junior college era, the Indians were coached by J. Paul Kemerer from 1931 to 1933 and James L. Malone from 1934 onward.

In 1951, the Indians completed their first season in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) as Northeast Louisiana State College.

[3] With Malone remaining at the helm, the team compiled a record of 12–15 in their first three seasons of senior college football.

[7] Longtime Louisiana Tech assistant coach Pat Collins was hired to take over the Indians football team in 1981.

[8] Led by first team All-America Stan Humphries, the 1987 Indians squad completed the regular season with an overall record of 9–2.

[3] En route to the championship game in Pocatello, Idaho, NLU defeated North Texas, Eastern Kentucky, and Northern Iowa.

[3] Played at the ISU MiniDome in Pocatello, the Indians faced off against the Marshall Thundering Herd for the I-AA National Championship.

[11] During the tenure of head coach Dave Roberts, the Indians continued to experience success and prominence, reaching the NCAA Division IAA Quarterfinals and a 10–3 campaign in 1992 that was followed by a 9–3 mark in 1993.

[12] Roberts left Monroe following the 1993 season to join Lou Holtz's staff at Notre Dame as an assistant coach.

[19] The highlight of the Weatherbie era came in 2007, when ULM, who were 25-point underdogs heading into the game,[20] beat Alabama, coached by Nick Saban, in Tuscaloosa 21-14 on November 16.

In January 2006, it was announced that ULM would replace its Indian mascot due to concerns the name was offensive to Native Americans.

The Warhawks began their season by defeating eighth-ranked Arkansas 34–31 in overtime, ULM's fourth win over an SEC team in program history.

[39] Bowden was fired one day after the Warhawks finished the 2023 season with a 2-10 overall record without a single Sun Belt Conference win.

Led by first team All-America Stan Humphries, the 1987 Indians squad completed the regular season with an overall record of 9–2.

[3] En route to the championship game in Pocatello, Idaho, NLU defeated North Texas, Eastern Kentucky, and Northern Iowa.

[3] Played at the MiniDome in Pocatello, the Indians faced off against the Marshall Thundering Herd for the I-AA National Championship.

The early history of the series was dominated by Louisiana Tech, as the Bulldogs won 20 of the first 25 meetings between the two schools.

[47] Following Collins' tenure, however, Louisiana Tech once again began to dominate the matchup, winning 7 of the last 8 meetings, with a 1989 game that the Bulldogs initially won on the field, but later forfeited the victory, as the only blemish.

In the 1992 edition of the rivalry game, the teams' mascots Vic the Demon and Chief Brave Spirit got involved in a fight that distracted television cameras to the point that the entire altercation is caught on video.

In the scuffle, Vic the Demon's head was ripped off as the two crashed to the ground behind one of the end zones, which according to the video clip, breaks a "cardinal rule", i.e. a tradition, of being a mascot.

[49] In 1994, during their first year as a Division I-A team, the-then Northeast Louisiana Indians defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 21-14 at Commonwealth Stadium.

[13] In 1995, the school followed up their victory against Kentucky the previous year, with another win against an SEC team, this time defeating Mississippi State 34-32 in Starkville.

[52] The 2012 ULM football team was led by head coach Todd Berry and quarterback Kolton Browning.