2024 NAIA football season - Misplaced Pages

American college football season

2024 NAIA football season
Total No. of teams	97
Regular season	August 24 – November 16, 2024
Postseason	November 23 – December 21, 2024
National Championship	Durham County Memorial Stadium Durham, NC December 21, 2024
Player of the Year	Jackson Waring, QB, Grand View
← 2023 NAIA football season

The 2024 NAIA football season is the component of the 2024 college football season organized by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in the United States.

The regular season began on August 24 and ended on November 16.

The playoffs, known as the NAIA Football National Championship, began on November 23 and will end with the championship game on December 21 at Durham County Memorial Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

Membership changes

Team	Former conference	New conference
Defiance Yellow Jackets	HCAC (NCAA D-III)	Mid-States
Jamestown Jimmies	Great Plains	North Star
Roosevelt Lakers	Mid-States	GLIAC (NCAA D-II)
Simpson Red Hawks	New program	Independent
St. Ambrose Fighting Bees	Mid-States	Heart of America
Waldorf Warriors	North Star	Great Plains
William Woods Owls	New program	Heart of America

Headlines

March 1 – Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) announced that they would change their name to Nelson University, effective on August 1.

Milestones and records

November 16 – Pikeville quarterback Lee Kirkland threw for 646 yards and 11 touchdowns in the Bears' 90–14 win over St. Andrew's, setting a new NAIA single-game record for yardage and tying the overall college football record for single-game TD passes held by David Klingler of Houston since 1991.

Conference standings

2024 Appalachian Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Reinhardt +	5	–	1	7	–	4
Pikeville +^	5	–	1	5	–	5
Bluefield	4	–	2	5	–	6
Point	4	–	2	4	–	7
Union Commonwealth	2	–	4	3	–	7
Kentucky Christian	1	–	5	2	–	9
St. Andrews	0	–	6	0	–	9

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2024 Frontier Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 4 Montana Western $^	7	–	1	9	–	1
No. 8 Montana Tech ^	6	–	2	9	–	2
Carroll (MT)	6	–	2	7	–	3
No. 22 Southern Oregon	5	–	3	8	–	3
College of Idaho	5	–	3	7	–	4
Eastern Oregon	4	–	4	5	–	6
Arizona Christian	1	–	7	2	–	8
Rocky Mountain	1	–	7	2	–	8
Montana State–Northern	1	–	7	1	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2024 Great Plains Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 6 Morningside $^	10	–	0	10	–	1
No. 9 Northwestern (IA) ^	8	–	2	8	–	2
No. 17 Concordia (NE)	8	–	2	8	–	2
No. 18 Dordt	8	–	2	8	–	2
Mount Marty	5	–	5	6	–	4
Midland	5	–	5	6	–	5
Dakota Wesleyan	4	–	6	4	–	7
Doane	3	–	7	3	–	8
Briar Cliff	2	–	8	2	–	9
Hastings	2	–	8	2	–	9
Waldorf	0	–	10	0	–	11

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2024 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
North
No. 2 Grand View x^	6	–	0	10	–	0
Graceland	5	–	1	7	–	4
Peru State	5	–	2	7	–	3
Culver–Stockton	3	–	3	3	–	8
William Penn	2	–	4	4	–	6
St. Ambrose	1	–	5	3	–	8
Clarke	0	–	6	1	–	10
South
No. 9 Benedictine (KS) x^	5	–	1	9	–	2
No. 12 Baker x^	5	–	1	9	–	1
No. 13 MidAmerica Nazarene x^	5	–	1	9	–	1
Missouri Baptist	3	–	3	6	–	4
Missouri Valley	2	–	4	4	–	6
Central Methodist	1	–	5	1	–	10
William Woods	0	–	7	1	–	10

x – Division champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2024 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Bissell Division
Kansas Wesleyan x^	5	–	0	7	–	4
Tabor	3	–	1	6	–	5
Avila	3	–	2	4	–	7
Sterling	2	–	3	2	–	9
Ottawa	1	–	4	1	–	10
Saint Mary (KS)	0	–	4	1	–	9
Kessinger Division
No. 19т Southwestern (KS) x^	4	–	1	10	–	1
No. 19т Friends x^	4	–	1	10	–	1
McPherson	3	–	2	8	–	3
Evangel	3	–	2	8	–	2
Bethel (KS)	1	–	4	5	–	6
Bethany (KS)	0	–	5	3	–	8

x – Division champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2024 Mid-South Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 11 Georgetown (KY) $^	6	–	0	8	–	2
No. 21 Campbellsville	4	–	2	9	–	2
Bethel (TN)	3	–	3	7	–	3
Cumberland (TN)	3	–	3	7	–	3
Lindsey Wilson	3	–	3	5	–	4
Cumberlands (KY)	2	–	4	5	–	5
Faulkner	0	–	6	2	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2024 Mid-States Football Association standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Mideast League
No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan x^	5	–	0	10	–	1
No. 22 Taylor	4	–	1	9	–	2
Concordia (MI)	3	–	2	5	–	6
Siena Heights	2	–	3	3	–	7
Lawrence Tech	1	–	4	2	–	8
Madonna	0	–	5	0	–	11
Defiance	0	–	0	4	–	7
Midwest League
No. 25 Saint Francis (IN) x^	4	–	1	8	–	3
No. 24 Marian (IN) x	4	–	1	8	–	2
St. Francis (IL)	3	–	2	7	–	3
Olivet Nazarene	3	–	2	6	–	4
Saint Xavier	1	–	4	5	–	6
Judson	0	–	5	1	–	9

x – League champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2024 North Star Athletic Association football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 14 Dickinson State $^	8	–	0	10	–	1
Dakota State	4	–	4	6	–	4
Mayville State	3	–	5	4	–	6
Jamestown	3	–	5	3	–	7
Valley City State	2	–	6	3	–	7

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2024 Sooner Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 7 Texas Wesleyan $^	8	–	0	10	–	0
No. 15 OUAZ ^	7	–	1	8	–	1
Texas College	5	–	3	7	–	3
Langston	5	–	3	6	–	4
OK Panhandle State	3	–	5	4	–	6
Wayland Baptist	3	–	5	4	–	6
Louisiana Christian	3	–	5	4	–	7
Nelson	2	–	6	4	–	6
North American	1	–	6	2	–	9
Arkansas Baptist	0	–	8	1	–	10

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2024 Sun Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Keiser $^	6	–	0	–	0	9	–	0	–	0
No. 5 St. Thomas (FL) ^	6	–	1	–	0	9	–	1	–	0
No. 16 Southeastern	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Florida Memorial	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	1
Webber International	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Ave Maria	2	–	4	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Thomas	1	–	5	–	0	1	–	8	–	0
Warner	0	–	6	–	0	0	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Florida Memorial's game against Clark Atlanta was delayed at halftime due to weather, but was never rescheduled and resulted in a tie Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2024 NAIA independents football records
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Simpson (CA)		–		0	–	9

Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

Postseason

Teams

Automatic bids (13)

Automatic bids
Conference		School	Record	Appearance	Last
Appalachian		Pikeville	5–5	2nd	2005
Frontier		Montana Western	9–1	6th	2023
Great Plains		Morningside	10–1	21st	2023
Heart of America	North Division	Grand View	10–0	13th	2023
Heart of America	South Division	Benedictine (KS)	9–2	16th	2022
KCAC	Bissell Division	Kansas Wesleyan	7–4	7th	2021
KCAC	Kessinger Division	Friends	10–1	5th	2008
Mid-South		Georgetown (KY)	8–2	24th	2023
Mid-States	Mideast League	Indiana Wesleyan	10–1	4th	2023
Mid-States	Midwest League	Saint Francis (IN)	8–3	20th	2019
North Star		Dickinson State	9–1	25th	2023
Sooner		Texas Wesleyan	10–0	1st	—
Sun		Keiser	9–0	6th	2023

At-large bids (7)

At-large bids
School	Conference	Record	Appearance	Last
Baker	Heart of America	9–1	21st	2023
MidAmerica Nazarene	Heart of America	9–1	12th	2014
Montana Tech	Frontier	9–2	11th	2023
Northwestern (IA)	Great Plains	8–2	26th	2023
OUAZ	Sooner	8–1	3rd	2021
Southwestern (KS)	KCAC	10–1	8th	2022
St. Thomas (FL)	Sun	9–1	2nd	2023

Bracket


First Round November 23 Campus sites			Second Round November 30 Campus sites			Quarterfinals December 7 Campus sites			Semifinals December 14 Campus sites			Championship December 21 Durham County Memorial Stadium Durham, North Carolina



			5	St. Thomas (FL)	21

			10	Georgetown (KY)	27
						10	Georgetown (KY)	22

						1	Keiser	38
			1	Keiser	56

13	Baker	35	20	Pikeville	21
									1	Keiser	42
20	Pikeville	42
									9	Benedictine (KS)	38
			8	Texas Wesleyan	33

			9	Benedictine (KS)	42
						9	Benedictine (KS)	20

						3	Indiana Wesleyan	9
			3	Indiana Wesleyan	24

15	Southwestern (KS)	31	15	Southwestern (KS)	13
												1	Keiser
18	Saint Francis (IN)	24
												2	Grand View
			6	Morningside	35

			12	MidAmerica Nazarene	0
						6	Morningside	31

						4	Montana Western	24
			4	Montana Western	41

14	Dickinson State	27	14	Dickinson State	14
									6	Morningside	13
19	Kansas Wesleyan	20
									2	Grand View	36
			7	Montana Tech	29

			11	Northwestern (IA)	32
						11	Northwestern (IA)	0

						2	Grand View	17
			2	Grand View	21

16	Friends	47	16	Friends	17

17	OUAZ	35

Rankings

Main article: 2024 NAIA football rankings

Coaching changes

Preseason and in-season

This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2024, and will include any changes announced after a team's last regularly scheduled games but before its playoff games.

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement	Previous position
Sterling	Darren Jackson	June 4, 2024	Fired	Reggie Langford Jr.	Sterling assistant head coach and offensive coordinator (2023)
Bethel (KS)	A. B. Stokes	July 8, 2024	Resigned	Daylon Markham (full-season interim)	Bethel (KS) defensive coordinator (2023)
Kansas Wesleyan	Matt Myers	October 9, 2024	Fired	Chris Snyder / David Leonard (co-interim head coaches)	Kansas Wesleyan recruiting coordinator (2023–2024) / Kansas Wesleyan defensive coordinator (2021–2024)
Rio Grande	Quincy Wilson	November 13, 2024	Fired	Mark Thurston	Rio Grande defensive coordinator (2024)

End of season

This list includes coaching changes announced during the season that did not take effect until the end of the season.

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement	Previous position
Kansas Wesleyan	Chris Snyder / David Leonard	November 25, 2024	Permanent replacement hired	Matt Middleton	Harding quarterbacks coach and fullbacks coach (2023–2024)
Bethel (KS)	Daylon Markham (full-season interim)	December 3, 2024	Resigned
Georgetown (KY)	Chris Oliver	December 10, 2024	Resigned	John Perin	Georgetown (KY) defensive coordinator (2022–2024)
Faulkner	Rob Gray	December 11, 2024	Resigned	Randy Ragsdale	Faulkner associate head coach (2021–2024)
Mount Mercy	—	December 11, 2024	—	MD Daniels	Bethel (TN) co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach (2024)
Bethel (TN)	Michael Jasper	December 20, 2024	Hired as head coach by Stetson

The Rio Grande football program was established in 2023 and will not begin official NAIA play until the 2025 season.
The Mount Mercy football program was announced in 2024 and will not begin official NAIA play until the 2026 season.

References

"NAIA Football Scoreboard". NAIA.com. NAIA. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
"Defiance College Board of Trustees approve athletic program's return to NAIA". defianceathletics.com. October 6, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
"Membership Statement from the Great Plains Athletic Conference". Great Plains Athletic Conference. October 11, 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
"University of Jamestown (N.D.) returns to North Star Athletic Association". North Star Athletic Association. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
"ROOSEVELT JOINS NCAA DIVISION II". roosevelt.edu. Roosevelt University. July 13, 2023. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
"Lakers Litter All-MSFA Teams For Final NAIA Season". rooseveltlakers.com. Roosevelt University. November 20, 2023. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
"Simpson University Announces Addition of Football". Simpson University Athletics. October 26, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
^ "St. Ambrose and William Woods Football to Join the Heart of America Athletic Conference in 2024". Heart of America Athletic Conference. July 24, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
"Waldorf University Joins Great Plains Athletic Conference". Waldorf University Athletics. September 18, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
"William Woods University announces the historic addition of intercollegiate football". William Woods University. May 22, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
"The Future is Here: SAGU To Become Nelson University" (Press release). SAGU.edu. 2024-03-01. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
Samuels, Doug (November 18, 2024). "NAIA quarterback threw for more touchdowns Saturday afternoon than 21 FBS teams have all season". Football Scoop. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
Samuels, Doug (2024-06-04). "NAIA head coach dismissed shortly after interviewing for Division II opening". Footballscoop. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
"Warrior Athletics Announces Change in Football Leadership". 2024-06-04.
"Stokes Resigns as Head Football Coach; Markham named as Interim Head Football Coach". 2024-07-08.
"KWU Announces Football Program Leadership Change". Kansas Wesleyan University. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
"Rio names Thurston head football coach". University of Rio Grande Athletics. November 13, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
"Matt Middleton named Head Football Coach at Kansas Wesleyan University". Kansas Wesleyan University. 2024-11-25. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
"Daylon Markham Resigns as Head Football Coach". Bethel College. December 3, 2024. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
"John Perin elevated to Head Football Coach". Georgetown College. December 10, 2024. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
"Faulkner Eagles head coach steps down after 4 seasons". WSFA 12. December 11, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
"Daniels Named First Head Football Coach in Program History". Mount Mercy University. December 11, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
"Mount Mercy names MD Daniels its first football coach". The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa). December 11, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
"Mike Jasper Named Head Football Coach". Stetson University. December 20, 2024. Retrieved December 20, 2024.

NAIA football

Seasons

1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970–1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Division I	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
Division II	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
Women's flag	2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Championships

1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970–1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Division I	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
Division II	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Records & statistics

Category:

2024 NAIA football season