text: As the university itself worked its way towards full recognition by the Texas State Legislature in 1921, the school began making moves to improve its young football program. The university hired Theron J. Fouts in 1920, and joined the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1922. The jump in prestige allowed the school to schedule games against some of the conferences former members, including SMU and Baylor, who had moved from the TIAA to the Southwest Conference just a few years prior. The Eagles' first year in the TIAA saw them open up the season with a 55–0 loss to Baylor in Denton, also marked the first game in the history of the Safeway Bowl with rival SMU, with North Texas falling to the Mustangs 66–0.
  The next few seasons saw average performances on the field. In 1929, the university hired Jack Sisco to coach the program. Sisco lead the team through some of its first years as a consistently-winning college football unit. The program won its first conference title in 1931 as members of the TIAA. In 1932, North Texas became a charter member of the new Lone Star Conference, compiling an 8–1–1 record, winning eight straight games after a 0–1–1 start, six of them via a shutout while allowing just 12 points against in that span. Sisco's tenure continued with conference championships in 1935, 1936, and a three-peat from 1939–-1941. Sisco was replaced by Lloyd Russell in 1942, who would only spend one season at the helm before the school temporarily disbanded its football program from 1943 to 1945 as many students went off to fight in World War II.