100 Days, 100 Reasons G6 Football Matters

In 1946, Jacksonville State football players voted to change their mascot. They were uncomfortable with the horned eagle owl and the colors purple and gold. Athlete E.C. “Baldy” Wilson proposed the gamecock. He raised them. He rented them to people with hen houses. He told his teammates they understood the bird — its willingness to protect its territory and the pride it had being the cock of the walk. Coach Don Salls took the proposal to Dr. Houston Cole. The change was approved. The first images used were photos of Wilson’s own birds.

A decade later, a logo appeared. A standing gamecock, ready to attack. Fans called it the Ass Kickin’ Chicken — the A.K.C. It showed up in media guides through 1986 but was never the official version.

Then Jacksonville State moved to FBS.

With the jump to Conference USA, the school leaned into the retro look. The A.K.C. went on helmets. It went on merch. It became an officially recognized secondary mark for JSU Athletics. The fan base lost its mind. The school winks at the “Ass Kickin’” part. The fans do not wink. They mean every word of it. In 2024, the A.K.C. went to midfield.

The timing made sense. This is a program that beat Ole Miss 49-48 in double overtime as an FCS team — erasing a 31-10 halftime deficit at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. That stunned Florida State 20-17 on a 59-yard touchdown as time expired. That won a bowl game in its first FBS season — the first program in NCAA history to do it. That won the Conference USA championship 52-12 in its first year eligible.

For decades, the Ass Kickin’ Chicken was unofficial — a logo the fans loved that the program never fully claimed. Jacksonville State made it official because the program earned it.

They told you it didn’t matter. Here are 100 reasons it does.