The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference. It has member schools that range from New York, North Carolina, and Florida in the east to California in the west. It is headquartered in St. Louis, in the same complex that also contains the offices of the Missouri Valley Conference and Missouri Valley Football Conference. Unlike most other Division I FCS conferences, the Pioneer League consists of institutions that choose not to award athletic scholarships ("grants-in-aid") to football players.
Kerwin Douglas Bell is an American football coach and former player who has been the head coach of the Western Carolina Catamounts football team since 2021. Bell was born in the rural North Central Florida town of Live Oak and was a star high school football quarterback at Lafayette County High School. Though he led the Lafayette Hornets to their only state championship, he did not attract the attention of top college football programs while playing at the small high school. He enrolled at the University of Florida, made the football team as a walk-on, and was redshirted during his freshman season of 1983.
The Marist Red Foxes football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Marist College located in the U.S. state of New York. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Pioneer Football League. Marist's first football team was fielded in 1978. The team plays its home games at the 5,000 seat Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field in Poughkeepsie, New York. The Red Foxes are coached by Jim Parady.
The Stetson Hatters football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Stetson University located in the U.S. state of Florida. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Pioneer Football League. Stetson's first football team was fielded in 1901, but the school dropped the sport in 1956 and did not reinstate it until 2013. The team plays its home games at the 6,000 seat Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand, Florida. The Hatters are coached by Brian Young.
The 2011 Drake Bulldogs football team represented Drake University as member of the Pioneer Football League (PFL) during the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Chris Creighton, the Bulldogs compiled and overall record of 9–2 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, sharing the PFL title with San Diego. The team played home games at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
The 2011 Jacksonville Dolphins football team represented Jacksonville University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Dolphins were led by fifth-year head coach Kerwin Bell and played their home games at D. B. Milne Field. They are a member of the Pioneer Football League. They finished the season 7–4, 6–2 in PFL play to finish in third place.
The 2010 Jacksonville Dolphins football team represented Jacksonville University in the 2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Dolphins were led by fourth-year head coach Kerwin Bell and played their home games at D. B. Milne Field. They were a member of the Pioneer Football League. They finished the season 10–1, 8–0 in PFL play to finish tied for first place. They won their second PFL Championship in school history.
The 2012 Jacksonville Dolphins football team represented Jacksonville University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Kerwin Bell and played their home games at D. B. Milne Field. They are a member of the Pioneer Football League. They finished the season 7–4, 5–3 in PFL play to finish in a tie for fourth place.
The 2013 Butler Bulldogs football team represented Butler University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by eighth-year head coach Jeff Voris and played their home games at the Butler Bowl. They were a member of the Pioneer Football League, a conference allowed to compete in the FCS playoffs for the first time in 2013. They finished the season 9–4, 7–1 in PFL play to share the league title with Marist. Butler and Marist did not play each other in the regular season, so the PFL used the College Sporting News' Gridiron Power Index to determine who would receive the league's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs. Butler was selected and lost in the first round to Tennessee State.
The 2014 San Diego Toreros football team represented the University of San Diego during the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Dale Lindsey and played their home games at Torero Stadium. They were a member of the Pioneer Football League. They finished the season 9–3, 7–1 in PFL play to be crowned PFL champions. Due to Jacksonville's forfeit of the league season after disclosing financial irregularities, they were designated the league's sole champion and earned the PFL's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs, where they lost in the first round to Montana.
The 2014 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team represented Jacksonville State University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach John Grass, the Gamecocks compiled an overall record of 10–2 with a mark of 8–0 in conference play, winning the OVC title. Jacksonville State received the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs. After a first-round bye, the Gamecocks lost in the second round to Sam Houston State. The team played home games at Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama.
The 2015 Jacksonville Dolphins football team represented Jacksonville University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by ninth-year head coach Kerwin Bell and played their home games at D. B. Milne Field. They were a member of the Pioneer Football League. They finished the season 9–2, 6–2 in PFL play. However, due to PFL rules violations, their official conference record was 0–0 and did not occupy a place in the conference standings.
The 2016 Jacksonville Dolphins football team represented Jacksonville University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Ian Shields and played their home games at D. B. Milne Field. They were members of the Pioneer Football League (PFL). They finished the season 5–5, 4–3 in PFL play to finish in fifth place.
The Gridiron Classic was an annual post-season college football game played from 2006 through 2009. It featured the conference champions from the Pioneer Football League (PFL) and Northeast Conference (NEC), conferences within NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA. The game did not have a set location; it was hosted at the home stadium of one of the participants, alternating between NEC and PFL each playing.
The 2017 Jacksonville Dolphins football team represented Jacksonville University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Ian Shields and played their home games at D. B. Milne Field. They were members of the Pioneer Football League (PFL). They finished the season 7–4, 5–3 in PFL play to finish in a three-way tie for third place.
The 2018 Jacksonville Dolphins football team represented Jacksonville University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Ian Shields and played their home games at D. B. Milne Field. They were members of the Pioneer Football League (PFL). they finished the season 2–8, 1–7 in PFL play to finish in last place.
The 2018 Valparaiso Crusaders football team represented Valparaiso University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Dave Cecchini and played their home games at Brown Field. They competed in the Pioneer Football League. They finished the season 2–9, 2–6 in PFL play to finish in a three-way tie for seventh place.
The 2019 Jacksonville Dolphins football team represented Jacksonville University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Ian Shields and played their home games at D. B. Milne Field. They were members of the Pioneer Football League (PFL). On December 3, 2019, Jacksonville University announced the discontinuation of the football program, making 2019 the final season of Dolphins football.
The 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level.
The 2009 Jacksonville Dolphins football team represented Jacksonville University as a member of the Pioneer Football League (PFL) during the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Dolphins were led by third-year head coach Kerwin Bell and played their home games at D. B. Milne Field in Jacksonville, Florida. They finished the season 7–4 overall and 6–2 in PFL play to tie for fourth place.
