The Davenport Panthers football program represented Davenport University ("Davenport") in college football during the earliest years of the school's participation in intercollegiate football from 2016 to the present.
Davenport passed a resolution in November 2013 to plan for the development of an intercollegiate football team. The school hired Lou Esposito as the program's first head coach in May 2014 and built a football stadium on land donated by Farmers Insurance Group. The school fielded its first team in 2016, competing as an independent in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and compiling a 6–5 record. Esposito left Davenport after the 2016 season. In February 2017, Davenport hired Ferris State assistant coach Sparky McEwen as its new head coach.[1] Also for the 2017 season, Davenport moved to NCAA Division II as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). McEwen led the Panthers to their best seasons in 2023 (8–3) and 2024 (8–2), with the 2023 team receiving the program's first (and as of 2025 only) berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs. McEwen remains Davenport's head coach as of the 2025 season.
Davenport plays its home games at the Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex located on the school's campus in Caledonia Township, Michigan.
In November 2013, under the leadership of athletic director Paul Lowden, Davenport passed a resolution to develop a plan for a football program.[3] Preparations for fielding a football team proceeded in 2014 and 2015, including:
Farmers Insurance Group donated 45 acres for the construction of a football stadium that would also include a track and would also host Davenport's soccer and rugby teams. The site also included parking, a concourse, and a concession stand and ticket sales building.[4][5][6]
Lou Esposito was hired as the school's first head football coach in May 2014, more than two years before the first game was played. Esposito had been a defensive coordinator at Ferris State and prior to that the defensive line coach at Western Michigan.[7] (Esposito now serves as the defensive line coach at Michigan.)
Steve Casula was added as the offensive coordinator in August 2014.[8] (Casula now serves as co-offensive coordinator at Michigan.)
A group of 95 freshmen began practice and scrimmages beginning in August 2015 and continuing through the fall.[5][9]
The 2016 Davenport Panthers football team represented Davenport University as an independent during the 2016 NAIA football season. In their first year of intercollegiate football, and their first and only under head coach Lou Esposito, the Panthers compiled a 6–5 record and outscored opponents by a total of 278 to 175.[10][11]
The team did not have a senior and was made up mostly of freshmen or redshirt freshmen. True freshman Hunter Krause of Fairfield, Ohio, was the team's starting quarterback.[12] Eighteen of the 22 starters were freshmen. The only two players with college game experience were receiver Herman Brunis, a transfer from Ohio University, and linebacker Brent Showers, a transfer from Northern MIchigan.[13]
On October 23, a non-student shooter opened fire on football players in a university dormitory. One football player, Braden Schrotenboer, was shot in his hand.[14]
On offense, the Panthers gained 1,684 rushing yards and 1,269 passing yards. On defenese, they allowed opponents 2,259 rushing yards and 1,565 passing yards.[22] The individual leaders were Holden Majewski (667 passing yards), William Gist (373 rushing yards), and Deondre Moore (24 receptions for 316 yards).[22]
The team's statistical leaders included Deondre Ford (577 passing yards), Jaier Harden (348 rushing yards), Amonte Phillips (28 receptions for 334 yards), and Bryan Plegue (Bryan Plegue (30 points scored on 12 extra points and six field goals).[29] The team also featured linebacker Elysee Mbem-Bosse, a former four-star recruit and Central Africa native who tansferred to Davenport after being dismissed from the Michigan Wolverines football program in late 2017.[31][32]
The 2022 Davenport Panthers football team represented Davenport University as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) during the 2022 NCAA Division II football season. In their fifth year under head coach Sparky McEwen, the Panthers compiled an 8–3 record (4–2 in conference games), finished in third place in the GLIAC, and outscored opponents by a total of 336 to 322.[33][34] The team opened the season with eight consecutive victories, the most victories in program history. For the first time in school history, the team participated in the NCAA Division II playoffs, losing to Ferris State in the first round.
The team was led on offense by quarterback Jason Whitaker, a Rockford, Michigan, native who transferred from Northwestern.[32][35] Whitaker completed 185 of 346 passes for 2,309 yards, 26 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and a 127.96 passer rating.[33]
The team's other statistical leaders included Sy Barnett (694 receiving yards), Caleef Jenkins (575 rushing yards), and Brandon Gielow (65 points scored on 38 extra points and nine field goals).[33]
The team's statistical leaders included Jason Whitaker (1,812 passing yards, 14 touchchdown passes, 127.94 passer rating), Peyton Brown (34 receptions for 551 yards), Myren Harris (976 rushing yards), and Brandon Gielow (59 points scored on 29 extra points and 10 touchdowns).[43]
The team's statistical leaders included Myren Harris (849 rushing yards), Mike O'Hara (1,010 passing yards), Preston Smith (36 receptions for 430 yards, and Brandon Gielow (67 points on 31 extra points and 12 field goals).[46]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.