On December 16, 2017, East Texas A&M (then A&M-Commerce) won its first NCAA Division II national championship, by defeating West Florida, 37–27, in Kansas City.

[3] Nonetheless, the president's son, Marion Mayo, quietly organized a team that practiced off campus with the support of his mother.

[5] The football team also received President Mayo's formal approval during the 1916 season, and became officially accepted as an on-campus extracurricular activity.

In 1918, the school did not play any games at all due to President Randolph B. Binnion's decision to suspend the football program during American participation in World War I.

[11] The 1934 team, which achieved a perfect record and only allowed six points all season, is generally regarded as one of the greatest in the school's history.

[10] Before LSC football competition went on hiatus for three years during American participation in World War II, the Lions won another conference title in 1942.

[13] In 1946, the football team finished the season with a 5–2–2 record under the direction of head coach Bob Berry, good enough for second place in the LSC, although it was mired in mediocrity until 1949.

[13] In 1954, Jules V. Sikes took over as head coach following Smith's departure, and continued the successful ways of his predecessor; the Lions won (either outright or a share of) five straight conference championships from 1951 to 1955,[13] and again in 1958 and 1959.

[16] After the university integrated in 1964, African American athletes quickly became prominent players on East Texas State teams, with star running backs Curtis Guyton and "King" Arthur James leading the way in the mid to late 1960s.

[19] The 1972 team, a two-loss LSC champion[11][20] considered by some to be the greatest in the program's history, was led by star defensive end Harvey Martin, who would later win a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys.

[19] Other Lions who would later play in the National Football League included Autry Beamon (Minnesota Vikings), Dee Mackey (Baltimore Colts), Alan Veingrad (Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys), Dwight White (Pittsburgh Steelers), and Wade Wilson (Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons).

[23] Vowell's Lions won one LSC Championship in 1990 and finished second 4 times, posted 6 winning seasons and went to the NCAA Division II playoffs.

[20] On January 7, 2009, Guy Morriss was offered the job to succeed Conley by athletic director Carlton Cooper and university president Daniel Jones.

After Morriss's first season, players from his football team coordinated an effort to illegally remove all copies of a student newspaper from campus because it contained an unfavorable article about a teammate who had been arrested on drug charges.

The Lions christened their newly renovated stadium by routing Upper Iowa, 33–10, giving Morriss six straight wins as head coach.

On January 22, 2013 after a nationwide search for a new coach, University President Dr. Daniel Jones and new athletic director Ryan Ivey hired former West Texas A&M defensive coordinator Colby Carthel.

[27] The 2015 Lions repeated as conference champions and returned to the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time in 20 years where they bowed out in the first round to the Ferris State Bulldogs.

[29] Another trip to the postseason produced the program's first playoff win since 1991,[30] over Colorado-Mesa, but the team would again bow out before the title game as they fell on the road to top-seeded Grand Valley State.

[32] This season, however, their postseason fortunes would improve as a road matchup against the top-seeded Central Washington Wildcats saw the Lions trailing 28–7 at halftime, but a ferocious comeback would produce a 34–31 double-overtime win[33] and TAMC's first opportunity to advance past the second round of the playoffs in school history.

In the quarterfinals, Carthel's squad would face off against another top team on the road in Minnesota State and pull off another surprising victory.

[34] This moved them into a quarterfinal matchup against a low-ranked program in Harding, who also knocked off the top seed in their division on their way through the bracket.

The Lions played a full slate of games during the 2021 season, which included a neutral site contest against LSC foe Midwestern State University at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

[44] The 2021 season saw a regression in the on-field play of the Lions, with the team finishing with a 7–4 overall record and a 5–2 mark in Lone Star Conference competition.

Beginning with the 2022 season, the Lions moved up to NCAA Division I as a member of the Southland Conference, competing at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level.

[52] The President's Cup is a traveling trophy that is awarded to the winner of the annual football game between East Texas A&M and the Tarleton State Texans.

[53] Though not a trophy game, the annual match-up between the Lions and the Buffaloes of West Texas A&M University has developed into a fierce cross-state rivalry.