The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III includes 240 teams. Each team has one head coach. [1] As of the 2024 season, Division III is composed of 30 conferences: the American Rivers Conference (ARC), American Southwest Conference (ASC), College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW), Centennial Conference, Conference of New England (CNE), Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC), Empire 8, Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC), Landmark Conference, Liberty League, Middle Atlantic Conferences (MAC), Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC), Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), Midwest Conference (MWC), Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), Northwest Conference (NWC), Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC), Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), Southern Athletic Association (SAA), Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC), USA South Athletic Conference, and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC).
As of the start of the 2024 season, the longest-tenured coach in Division III, and all of college football[ citation needed ], is expected to be Norm Eash of Illinois Wesleyan, who has been head coach at the school since 1987. In all, 36 Division III programs have new head coaches in 2024.
Conference affiliations are current for the 2024 season. Three future Division III teams have hired their head coach; the teams are indicated with a light blue background. Records are current as of 10/3/24.
Joshua Kenneth Heupel is an American college football coach and former player who is the head football coach at the University of Tennessee. Previously he was head coach at the University of Central Florida, where he compiled a 28–8 record.
Stephen Sarkisian is an American football coach and former player who is the head football coach at the University of Texas at Austin. He previously was the head football coach at the University of Washington from 2009 to 2013 and the University of Southern California (USC) from 2014 to 2015.
The Washington Huskies football team represents the University of Washington in college football. Washington competed in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Big Ten Conference, after having been a charter member of the Pac-12 Conference until the end of the 2023-2024 season. Husky Stadium, located on campus in Seattle, has been the Huskies' home field since 1920.
Jerry Schmitt is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Duquesne University, a position he had held since the 2005 season. Schmitt served as the head coach at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania from 2000 to 2004. He is an alumnus of Westminster College, where he played as an offensive lineman on the football team. Prior to receiving the head coach position at Westminster, Schmidt was an assistant at Duquesne and a high school football coach in Pennsylvania.
Michael Anthony Locksley is an American college football coach. He is currently the head football coach at the University of Maryland, a position he has held since 2019.
The Texas State Bobcats football program Texas State University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. They play in the Sun Belt Conference. The program began in 1904 and has an overall winning record. The program has a total of 14 conference titles, nine of them being outright conference titles. Home games are played at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos, Texas.
The Wisconsin–Whitewater Warhawks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The team competes in NCAA Division III and is a member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). Wisconsin-Whitewater's first football team was fielded in 1889. The team plays its home games at the 13,500-seat Perkins Stadium in Whitewater, Wisconsin. Jace Rindahl has served as the head coach for the Warhawks since 2023, taking over for eight-year head coach Kevin Bullis.
The Shepherd Rams are the athletic teams that represent Shepherd University, located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, in Division II intercollegiate sports of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Rams compete as members of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) for all 15 varsity sports since the 2019–20 academic year. They previously competed in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) from 2013–14 to 2018–19, and before that, the now-defunct West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) from 1924–25 to 2012–13.
James Walter Hopson is an American college football coach and former player. He is the cornerbacks coach for the University of South Alabama, a position he has held since 2023. He has been a head coach at Southern Miss and Alcorn State. In the latter role, he was the first white head football coach in the history of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, an organization composed of historically black colleges and universities. Hopson has also served as an assistant coach at Tulane, Delta State, LSU, Florida, Marshall, Southern Miss, Ole Miss, Michigan, and Memphis.
The Bethel Royals football program represents Bethel University of Arden Hills, Minnesota in college football. Bethel competes at the NCAA Division III level as members of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). The head coach of the Royals is Mike McElroy, who has held the position since 2024.
The York Lions Football team represents York University in Toronto, Ontario, in the sport of Canadian football in U Sports. The York Lions football team has been in continuous operation since 1968 and are one of two teams currently playing in U Sports football to have never won a conference championship. The other team, the Sherbrooke Vert et Or, did not begin their current program until 2003.
James Paul Lake is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). Previously, he was the head coach for the Washington Huskies from 2020 to 2021. Lake has coached at both the National Football League (NFL) and college football levels, primarily overseeing defensive backs. He played college football as a strong safety at Eastern Washington from 1995–1998.
James Christopher Strausser is an American football coach who is currently the offensive line coach for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the offensive line coach for the Colts in 2022. He was the offensive line coach for tackles for the Denver Broncos in 2018, and the assistant offensive line coach for them in 2017. Prior to his stint with the Broncos, he was a college football coach who had worked at programs such as Boise State, Colorado, and Washington.
Tim Polasek is an American college football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at North Dakota State. Prior to becoming the 32nd head coach in program history, he served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2021–2023 at Wyoming under former Bison head coach, Craig Bohl.
Ryan Grubb is an American football coach who is the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Washington from 2022 to 2023.
The 2021 NCAA Division III football season was the component of the 2021 college football season organized by the NCAA at the Division III level in the United States. The regular season began on September 4 and ended on November 13.
The 2022 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati during the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats, members of the American Athletic Conference, played their home games at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. 2022 was the program's sixth and final season under head coach Luke Fickell.
The Wartburg Knights football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Wartburg College located in Waverly, Iowa. The team competes in the NCAA Division III and a member of the American Rivers Conference (ARC). Wartburg's first football team was fielded in 1929 with varsity play starting in 1935. The team plays its home games at Walston-Hoover stadium in Waverly, Iowa.
The 2023 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tar Heels were led by head coach Mack Brown, who was in the fifth season of his second stint at North Carolina and 15th overall season at the university. The team played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium. The North Carolina Tar Heels football team drew an average home attendance of 50,095 in 2023.
Greg Breitbach is an American former college football coach. He was the head football coach for Millersville University of Pennsylvania from 2013 to 2017 and the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point from 2018 to 2021.