2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season

2016 NCAA Division I FCS season
2016 NCAA Division I FCS season
Regular season
Number of teams	125
Duration	August 26 – December 3
Payton Award	Jeremiah Briscoe, Sam Houston State
Buchanan Award	Karter Schult, Northern Iowa
Playoff
Duration	November 26 – December 17
Championship date	January 7, 2017
Championship site	Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
Champion	James Madison
NCAA Division I FCS football seasons
	«2015 2017»

The 2016 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 FCS Championship Game was played on January 7, 2017, in Frisco, Texas. The James Madison Dukes defeated the Youngstown State Penguins, 28–14, to capture their second National Championship in team history.

Rule changes

The following rule changes were voted on by the NCAA Football Rules Committee for the 2016 season:^[1]

Requiring replay officials to review all aspects of targeting penalties, including the option to call a targeting foul missed by the on-field officials if the foul is deemed egregious.
Allowing electronic devices to be used for coaching purposes in the press box and locker room during the game. Electronic devices will still be prohibited on the field and sideline.
Coaches can now be ejected after receiving two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in one game, the same as players.
A ball carrier who "gives himself up" (e.g., by sliding) will now be considered a defenseless player.
Deliberate tripping of a ball carrier with the leg is now a penalty (15 yards for tripping).
Players who leave the tackle box are now prohibited from blocking below the waist toward the initial position of the ball.
An exception to a rule introduced for the 2015 season regarding low hits to passers (i.e., at or below the knee) was eliminated. Last season, a defensive player would not have been penalized for such a hit if making a bona fide attempt at a tackle, but will now be penalized in the same situation.
Teams attempting a scrimmage kick (field goals/PATs/punts) must have five offensive linemen (numbered 50–79) on the scrimmage line unless the kicking team has at least two players seven yards OR one player at least 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Previously only one player had to be lined up seven yards behind the line to avoid using five linemen, causing confusion in kick coverage on defense.

The committee, once again, took no action on changing the ineligible receiver downfield rule from three yards to one yard; however it will once again be a "point of emphasis" and will adjust officiating mechanics to better officiate those plays.

In addition to the above changes, the NCAA approved an experimental rule on kickoffs and touchbacks to be used this season by the Ivy League in conference games only. In those games, kickoffs were taken from the 40-yard line instead of the 35, and touchbacks were brought back to the 20-yard line instead of the 25. The Ivies proposed the experiment in the interest of player safety, believing that increasing the frequency of touchbacks would reduce injury risk from kick returns. The Ivies were scheduled to report the results of the experiment to the NCAA in February 2017.^[2]

Conference changes and new programs

Membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Coastal Carolina	Big South	FCS independent
East Tennessee State	FCS independent	SoCon

Note

Coastal Carolina began a two-year transition to FBS in 2016, playing as an FCS independent while housing most of its other sports in the FBS Sun Belt Conference. The Chanticleers will join Sun Belt football in 2017.^[3]

Other headlines

January 29 – East Tennessee State and Bristol Motor Speedway announced that the Buccaneers' September 17 home game against Western Carolina, which would be ETSU's first Southern Conference game after a 12-season absence, would be played at the NASCAR racetrack. The playing surface was a temporary fieldturf field installed for the Tennessee–Virginia Tech game held one week earlier.^[4]
April 20 – The NCAA banned five schools from this year's postseason for failure to meet Academic Progress Rate criteria. They are Florida A&M, Howard, Morgan State, Savannah State and Southern.
April 28 – Following the March 1 announcement by the Sun Belt Conference that it would not renew its football-only membership agreements with Idaho and New Mexico State when they expire at the end of the 2017 season,^[5] Idaho announced that it would return to FCS football in its all-sports league, the Big Sky Conference, in 2018.^[6] The Vandals will become the first team ever to voluntarily drop from FBS to FCS.^[7]
September 13 – The Big South Conference and the Division I non-football ASUN Conference announce a football partnership. Under its terms, any current or future member of either conference, as long as it lies within the general geographic footprint of the two leagues, that adds football or upgrades from non-scholarship to scholarship football is automatically entitled to Big South football membership. At the time of agreement, ASUN member Kennesaw State was already a Big South football member, and three other all-sports members of the two leagues played non-scholarship FCS football in the Pioneer Football League.^[8]
November 14 – The Big South announces that Campbell, a full conference member that plays football in the Pioneer League, will upgrade to scholarship football and become a football member in 2018.^[9]
November 19 – Joe Thomas Sr., a 55-year-old walk-on at South Carolina State, appeared for one play in the first quarter of the Bulldogs' season finale against Savannah State, running for 3 yards. Although the NCAA does not keep statistics on player ages, the father of Green Bay Packers linebacker Joe Thomas Jr. is believed to be the oldest player ever to take the field in a Division I game.^[10]
December 6 – The University of North Alabama, ASUN, and Big South announce that the Division II Lions will move to Division I and eventually to FCS football. North Alabama will join the ASUN as an all-sports member in 2018,^[11] with Big South football membership following in 2019. The Lions will not be eligible for the conference title or the FCS playoffs until the completion of their Division I transition in 2022.^[12]

Updated stadiums

South Dakota State debuted the Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium which seats 19,340. The stadium was half finished for the 2015 season and finished in time for the Luke Bryan concert on September 8, 2016, and the first football game the evening of September 10.
New Hampshire debuted a major renovation and expansion of the renamed Wildcat Stadium. The venue, previously with a capacity of 6,500, now seats slightly over 11,000.
William & Mary also debuted a major renovation and expansion to its Zable Stadium, which the saw the addition of an upper deck and an increase in capacity to 12,259.
Prairie View A&M started its home schedule on September 3, 2016 in the new on-campus 15,000 seat Panther Stadium against Texas Southern.^[13]^[14]

Two teams played their final season in their then-current venues:

Abilene Christian left the off-campus Shotwell Stadium after this season for the new on-campus Wildcat Stadium.
East Tennessee State left local high school venue Kermit Tipton Stadium for a new on-campus William B. Greene Jr. Stadium.

FCS team wins over FBS teams

(FCS rankings from the STATS poll)

September 2:
- Albany 22, Buffalo 16
September 3:
- #14 Eastern Washington 45, Washington State 42
- #5 Northern Iowa 25, Iowa State 20
- #4 Richmond 37, Virginia 20
September 10:
- Eastern Illinois 21, Miami (OH) 17
- #10 Illinois State 9, Northwestern 7
- #23 North Carolina A&T 39, Kent State 36 ^4OT
September 17:
- #1 North Dakota State 23, No. 13 (FBS) Iowa 21
  - NDSU went to No. 13 FBS Ranked Iowa and became just the 4th FCS team to beat an AP ranked FBS team by beating the Hawkeyes on a game-winning field goal 23–21. This was Iowa's first loss to a non FBS opponent. The next day NDSU received 74 votes for the AP top-25 rankings (No. 27 overall), which is the most votes ever received by an FCS team, beating the old record held by North Dakota State in 2013 when they received 17 and were No. 33 after the 2013 season.^[15]
September 24:
- Central Arkansas 28, Arkansas State 23
- #13 Western Illinois 28, Northern Illinois 23

Conference standings

2016 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 4 Eastern Washington +^	8	–	0	12	–	2
No. 12 North Dakota +^	8	–	0	9	–	3
No. 25 Weber State ^	6	–	2	7	–	5
No. 24 Cal Poly ^	5	–	3	7	–	5
Southern Utah	5	–	3	6	–	5
Northern Colorado	4	–	4	6	–	5
Northern Arizona	4	–	4	5	–	6
Montana	3	–	5	6	–	5
Montana State	2	–	6	4	–	7
Portland State	2	–	6	3	–	8
UC Davis	2	–	6	3	–	8
Sacramento State	2	–	6	2	–	9
Idaho State	1	–	7	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

2016 Big South Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 15 Charleston Southern +^	4	–	1	7	–	4
Liberty +	4	–	1	6	–	5
Kennesaw State	3	–	2	8	–	3
Gardner–Webb	3	–	2	5	–	6
Presbyterian	1	–	4	2	–	9
Monmouth	0	–	5	4	–	7

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

2016 Colonial Athletic Association football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 James Madison $^	8	–	0	14	–	1
No. 11 Villanova ^	6	–	2	9	–	4
No. 17 New Hampshire ^	6	–	2	8	–	5
No. 8 Richmond ^	5	–	3	10	–	4
Maine	5	–	3	6	–	5
Albany	4	–	4	7	–	4
Stony Brook	4	–	4	5	–	6
William & Mary	3	–	5	5	–	6
Towson	3	–	5	4	–	7
Delaware	2	–	6	4	–	7
Elon	1	–	7	2	–	9
Rhode Island	1	–	7	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

2016 Ivy League football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Princeton +	6	–	1	8	–	2
Penn +	6	–	1	7	–	3
Harvard	5	–	2	7	–	3
Brown	3	–	4	4	–	6
Yale	3	–	4	3	–	7
Cornell	2	–	5	4	–	6
Columbia	2	–	5	3	–	7
Dartmouth	1	–	6	4	–	6

+ – Conference co-champions

2016 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 22 North Carolina Central $	8	–	0	9	–	3
No. 20 North Carolina A&T ^	7	–	1	9	–	3
Hampton	5	–	3	5	–	6
South Carolina State	5	–	3	5	–	6
Bethune–Cookman	4	–	4	4	–	6
Florida A&M *	4	–	4	4	–	7
Norfolk State	3	–	5	4	–	7
Savannah State *	3	–	5	3	–	7
Morgan State *	3	–	5	3	–	8
Howard *	2	–	6	2	–	9
Delaware State	0	–	8	0	–	11

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant * Florida A&M, Howard, Morgan State, and Savannah State ineligible for postseason due to APR violations Rankings from STATS Poll

2016 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 North Dakota State +^	7	–	1	12	–	2
No. 6 South Dakota State +^	7	–	1	9	–	4
No. 2 Youngstown State ^	6	–	2	12	–	4
Illinois State ^	4	–	4	6	–	6
Northern Iowa	4	–	4	5	–	6
Western Illinois	3	–	5	6	–	5
South Dakota	3	–	5	4	–	7
Indiana State	2	–	6	4	–	7
Missouri State	2	–	6	4	–	7
Southern Illinois	2	–	6	4	–	7

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

2016 Northeast Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Duquesne +	5	–	1	8	–	3
Saint Francis (PA) +^	5	–	1	7	–	5
Wagner	4	–	2	6	–	5
Bryant	4	–	2	5	–	6
Sacred Heart	1	–	5	6	–	5
Central Connecticut	1	–	5	2	–	9
Robert Morris	1	–	5	2	–	9

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant

2016 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 6 Jacksonville State $^	7	–	0	10	–	2
UT Martin	6	–	2	7	–	5
Tennessee Tech	5	–	3	5	–	6
Tennessee State	4	–	3	7	–	4
Eastern Illinois	4	–	4	6	–	5
Murray State	4	–	4	4	–	7
SE Missouri State	3	–	5	3	–	8
Eastern Kentucky	2	–	6	3	–	8
Austin Peay	0	–	8	0	–	11

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

2016 Patriot League football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 21 Lehigh $^	6	–	0	9	–	3
Fordham	5	–	1	8	–	3
Colgate	4	–	2	5	–	5
Bucknell	3	–	3	4	–	7
Holy Cross	2	–	4	4	–	7
Lafayette	1	–	5	2	–	9
Georgetown	0	–	6	3	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

2016 Pioneer Football League standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 19 San Diego $^	8	–	0	10	–	2
Dayton	7	–	1	9	–	2
Drake	6	–	2	7	–	4
Marist	5	–	3	5	–	6
Jacksonville	4	–	3	5	–	5
Campbell	3	–	4	5	–	5
Morehead State	3	–	5	4	–	7
Valparaiso	3	–	5	4	–	7
Butler	2	–	6	4	–	7
Stetson	2	–	6	4	–	7
Davidson	0	–	8	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

2016 Southern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 10 The Citadel $^	8	–	0	10	–	2
No. 9 Wofford ^	6	–	2	10	–	4
No. 13 Chattanooga ^	6	–	2	9	–	4
No. 23 Samford ^	5	–	3	7	–	5
Mercer	4	–	4	6	–	5
Furman	3	–	5	3	–	8
East Tennessee State	2	–	6	5	–	6
Western Carolina	1	–	7	2	–	9
VMI	1	–	7	3	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

2016 Southland Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 5 Sam Houston State $^	9	–	0	12	–	1
No. 14 Central Arkansas ^	8	–	1	10	–	3
SE Louisiana	7	–	2	7	–	4
McNeese State	5	–	4	6	–	5
Nicholls State	5	–	4	5	–	6
Stephen F. Austin	4	–	5	5	–	6
Houston Baptist	3	–	5	4	–	7
Incarnate Word *	3	–	6	3	–	8
Lamar	3	–	6	3	–	8
Abilene Christian *	2	–	7	2	–	9
Northwestern State	0	–	9	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant * – ineligible for FCS playoffs due to transition from NCAA Division II Rankings from STATS poll

2016 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Alcorn State xy	5	–	4	5	–	6
Alabama A&M	4	–	5	4	–	7
Alabama State	3	–	6	4	–	7
Jackson State	3	–	6	3	–	8
Mississippi Valley State	1	–	8	1	–	10
West Division
No. 16 Grambling State xy$	9	–	0	12	–	1
Southern *	8	–	1	8	–	3
Prairie View A&M	7	–	2	7	–	4
Texas Southern	4	–	5	4	–	7
Arkansas–Pine Bluff	1	–	8	1	–	10
Championship: Grambling State 27, Alcorn State 20
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant * – ineligible for postseason due to APR violations Rankings from STATS Poll

2016 NCAA Division I FCS independents football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 18 Coastal Carolina		–		10	–	2

Coastal Carolina ineligible for FCS playoffs as part of FBS transition Rankings from STATS Poll

Conference summaries

Championship games

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Score	Offensive Player of the Year	Defensive Player of the Year	Coach of the Year
SWAC	Grambling State 11–1 (9–0)	Alcorn State 5–6 (5–4)	27–20	Devante Kincade (Grambling State)	Tiger Donovan McCray (Grambling State)	Broderick Fobbs (Grambling State)

Other conference winners

Note: Records are regular-season only, and do not include playoff games.

Conference	Champion	Record	Offensive Player of the Year	Defensive Player of the Year	Coach of the Year
Big Sky	Eastern Washington North Dakota	10–1 (8–0) 9–2 (8–0)	Gage Gubrud (Eastern Washington) Cooper Kupp (Eastern Washington)	Cole Reyes (North Dakota)	Bubba Schweigert (North Dakota)
Big South	Charleston Southern Liberty	7–3 (4–1) 6–5 (4–1)	Tyrell Maxwell (Gardner–Webb)	Anthony Ellis (Charleston Southern)	Jamey Chadwell (Charleston Southern)
CAA	James Madison	10–1 (8–0)	Bryan Schor (James Madison)	Tanoh Kpassagnon (Villanova)	Mike Houston (James Madison)
Ivy	Penn Princeton	7–3 (6–1) 8–2 (6–1)	John Lovett (Princeton)	Folarin Orimolade (Dartmouth)	Bob Surace (Princeton)
MEAC	North Carolina Central	9–2 (8–0)	Tarik Cohen (North Carolina A&T)	Darius Leonard (South Carolina State)	Jerry Mack (North Carolina Central)
MVFC	North Dakota State South Dakota State	10–1 (7–1) 8–3 (7–1)	Taryn Christion (South Dakota State)	Karter Schult (Northern Iowa)	John Stiegelmeier (South Dakota State)
NEC	Duquesne Saint Francis (PA)	8–3 (5–1) 7–4 (5–1)	Kamron Lewis (Saint Francis)	Christian Kuntz (Duquesne)	Chris Villarrial (Saint Francis)
OVC	Jacksonville State	10–1 (7–0)	Eli Jenkins (Jacksonville State)	Darius Jackson (Jacksonville State)	John Grass (Jacksonville State)
Patriot	Lehigh	9–2 (6–0)	Nick Shafnisky (Lehigh)	Pat Afriyie (Colgate)	Andy Coen (Lehigh)
Pioneer	San Diego	9–1 (8–0)	Jonah Hodges (San Diego)	Donald Payne (Stetson)	Dale Lindsey (San Diego)
Southern	The Citadel	10–1 (8–0)	Devlin Hodges (Samford)	Keionta Davis (Chattanooga)	Brent Thompson (The Citadel)
Southland	Sam Houston State	11–0 (9–0)	Overall: Jeremiah Briscoe (Sam Houston State) Offensive: Yedidiah Louis (Sam Houston State)	P. J. Hall (Sam Houston State)	K. C. Keeler (Sam Houston State)

Playoff qualifiers

Automatic berths for conference champions

Conference	Team	Appearance	Last bid	Result
Big Sky Conference	Eastern Washington	12th	2014	Quarterfinals (L – Illinois State)
Big South Conference	Charleston Southern	2nd	2015	Quarterfinals (L – Jacksonville State)
Colonial Athletic Association	James Madison	13th	2015	National Champions (W – Youngstown State)
Missouri Valley Football Conference	South Dakota State	6th	2015	First Round (L – Montana)
Northeast Conference	Saint Francis (PA)	1st	–	–
Ohio Valley Conference	Jacksonville State	7th	2015	Championship Game (L – North Dakota State)
Patriot League	Lehigh	10th	2011	Quarterfinals (L – North Dakota State)
Pioneer Football League	San Diego	2nd	2014	First Round (L – Montana)
Southern Conference	The Citadel	5th	2015	Second Round (L – Charleston Southern)
Southland Conference	Sam Houston State	10th	2015	Semifinals (L – Jacksonville State)

At large qualifiers

Conference	Team	Appearance	Last bid	Result
Big Sky Conference	Cal Poly	4th	2012	Second Round (L – Sam Houston State)
	North Dakota	1st	–	–
	Weber State	5th	2009	First Round (L – William & Mary)
Big South Conference	None
Colonial Athletic Association	New Hampshire	15th	2015	First Round (L – Colgate)
	Richmond	11th	2015	Semifinals (L – North Dakota State)
	Villanova	11th	2014	Quarterfinals (L – Sam Houston State)
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference	North Carolina A&T	5th	2003	First Round (L – Wofford)
Missouri Valley Football Conference	Illinois State	7th	2015	Quarterfinals (L – Richmond)
	North Dakota State	7th	2015	Semifinals (L - James Madison)
	Youngstown State	14th	2006	Semifinals (L – Appalachian State)
Northeast Conference	None
Ohio Valley Conference	None
Patriot League	None
Pioneer Football League	None
Southern Conference	Chattanooga	4th	2015	Second Round (L – Jacksonville State)
	Samford	6th	2013	First Round (L – Jacksonville State)
	Wofford	6th	2012	Quarterfinals (L – North Dakota State)
Southland Conference	Central Arkansas	3rd	2012	Second Round (L – Georgia Southern)
Southwestern Athletic Conference	None

Abstentions

NC Central and Grambling, as the winners of the MEAC and SWAC, will face off in the 2016 Celebration Bowl on December 17 for the unofficial HBCU national championship.

Postseason

NCAA FCS Playoff bracket

First round November 26 Campus sites ESPN3		Second round December 3 Campus sites ESPN3			Quarterfinals December 9 and 10 Campus sites ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3			Semifinals December 16 and 17 Campus sites ESPN2, ESPNU			National Championship January 7 12:00 pm Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas ESPN2

		1	North Dakota State*	45
Cal Poly*	21		San Diego	7
San Diego	35				1	North Dakota State*	36
					8	South Dakota State	10
		8	South Dakota State*	10
Villanova*	31		Villanova	7
Saint Francis (PA)	21							1	North Dakota State*	17
								4	James Madison	27
		4	James Madison*	55
New Hampshire*	64		New Hampshire	22
Lehigh	21				4	James Madison*	65
					5	Sam Houston State	7
		5	Sam Houston State*	41
Chattanooga*	45		Chattanooga	36
Weber State	14										4	James Madison	28
												Youngstown State	14
		2	Eastern Washington*	31
Central Arkansas*	31		Central Arkansas	14
Illinois State	24				2	Eastern Washington*	38
						Richmond	0
		7	North Dakota*	24
Richmond*	39		Richmond	27
North Carolina A&T	10							2	Eastern Washington*	38
									Youngstown State	40
		3	Jacksonville State*	24
Youngstown State*	38		Youngstown State	40
Samford	24					Youngstown State*	30
						Wofford	23
		6	The Citadel*	3
Wofford*	15		Wofford	17
Charleston Southern	14

* Home team
Winner
All times in Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05:00)

Bowl games

Game	Date/TV	Location	Winning Team	Losing Team	Score	Offensive MVP	Defensive MVP
Celebration Bowl	December 17 ABC	Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia	Grambling State 12–1 (9–0)	North Carolina Central 9–3 (8–0)	10–9	Martez Carter (RB, Grambling State)	Jameel Jackson (DB, Grambling State)

Awards and honors

Walter Payton Award

The Walter Payton Award is given to the year's most outstanding offensive player. Finalists:
- Jeremiah Briscoe (QB), Sam Houston State
- Gage Gubrud (QB), Eastern Washington
- Cooper Kupp (WR), Eastern Washington

Buck Buchanan Award

The Buck Buchanan Award is given to the year's most outstanding defensive player. Finalists:
- Dylan Cole (LB), Missouri State
- P. J. Hall (DE), Sam Houston State
- Karter Schult (DE), Northern Iowa

Jerry Rice Award

The Jerry Rice Award is given to the year's most outstanding freshman.
- Winner: A. J. Hines (RB), Duquesne

Coaches

AFCA Coach of the Year: Mike Houston, James Madison
Eddie Robinson Award: K. C. Keeler, Sam Houston State

Coaching changes

In-season

This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2016. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2016, see 2015 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement
Delaware	Dave Brock	October 16	Fired^[16]	Dennis Dottin-Carter (interim)

End of season

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement
Abilene Christian	Ken Collums	November 20	Fired	Mark Ribaudo (interim)
Howard	Gary Harrell	November 20	Contract was not renewed	Mike London ^[17]
Presbyterian	Harold Nichols	November 20	Resigned	Tommy Spangler
UC Davis	Ron Gould	November 20	Fired	Dan Hawkins
Lamar	Ray Woodard	November 21	Fired	Mike Schultz
Bryant	Marty Fine	November 30	Resigned	James Perry
Lafayette	Frank Tavani	December 1	Fired	John Garrett
Furman	Bruce Fowler	December 2	Resigned	Clay Hendrix
Villanova	Andy Talley	December 3	Retired	Mark Ferrante^[18]
Delaware	Dennis Dottin-Carter (interim)	December 13	Permanent replacement	Danny Rocco^[19]
Richmond	Danny Rocco	December 13	Hired by Delaware	Russ Huesman^[20]
Chattanooga	Russ Huesman	December 14	Hired by Richmond	Tom Arth
Indiana State	Mike Sanford	December 16	Resigned	Curt Mallory
Abilene Christian	Mark Ribaudo (interim)	December 18	Permanent replacement	Adam Dorrel
Eastern Washington	Beau Baldwin	January 16	Hired as OC at California	Aaron Best

References

^ "Football Rules Committee Approves Proposals to Enhance Player Safety". NCAA. February 11, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2016.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "Ivy League to move kickoffs to 40-yard line" (Press release). NCAA. July 20, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
^ "Coastal Carolina Announces 2016 Football Schedule" (Press release). Coastal Carolina Athletics. March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016. "This is an important year for our program as we start our transition to the FBS," said fifth-year head coach Joe Moglia. "However, we are still an FCS independent this year and have put together a nationally-competitive schedule to reflect that.
^ "ETSU, WCU to Play at Bristol Motor Speedway" (Press release). Southern Conference. January 29, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
^ "Sun Belt Football to Be 10 Teams in 2018" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
^ "UI Moving Football to Big Sky Conference" (Press release). University of Idaho Office of the President. April 28, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
^ Dodd, Dennis (April 27, 2016). "Idaho will become first team to drop from FBS to FCS in 2018". CBSSports.com. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
^ "Big South and ASUN Conference Establish FCS Membership Partnership" (Press release). ASUN Conference. September 13, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
^ "Campbell Football To Join Big South in 2018" (Press release). Big South Conference. November 14, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
^ "Joe Thomas Sr., 55, becomes oldest D-I football player ever to take field". Sports Illustrated. November 19, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
^ "UNA Accepts ASUN Division I Invitation" (Press release). North Alabama Lions. December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
^ "North Alabama To Join Big South Football in 2019" (Press release). Big South Conference. December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
^ "New Stadium, Pair of FBS Opponents Highlight 2016 Football Schedule". Prairie View A&M University Athletics. February 4, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
^ "The New Look Panther Stadium". Prairie View A&M University Athletics. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
^ "2016 College Football Rankings – Week 4". ESPN.com. September 18, 2016. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
^ "University of Delaware Athletics Announces Changes in Coaching Staff". Delaware Athletics. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
^ http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/terps/tracking-the-terps/bal-mike-london-reportedly-leaving-maryland-to-become-howard-head-coach-20170106-story.html
^ "SDSU slips past 'Nova to end Talley's career". ESPN. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
^ "Delaware 'closer to home' for new football coach Rocco". Delaware Online. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
^ "Huesman Named Head Coach Of Spiders Football". RichmondsSpiders.com. Retrieved December 14, 2016.

[1] "Football Rules Committee Approves Proposals to Enhance Player Safety". NCAA. February 11, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2016.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[2] "Ivy League to move kickoffs to 40-yard line" (Press release). NCAA. July 20, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2016.

[3] "Coastal Carolina Announces 2016 Football Schedule" (Press release). Coastal Carolina Athletics. March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016. "This is an important year for our program as we start our transition to the FBS," said fifth-year head coach Joe Moglia. "However, we are still an FCS independent this year and have put together a nationally-competitive schedule to reflect that.

[4] "ETSU, WCU to Play at Bristol Motor Speedway" (Press release). Southern Conference. January 29, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2016.

[5] "Sun Belt Football to Be 10 Teams in 2018" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.

[6] "UI Moving Football to Big Sky Conference" (Press release). University of Idaho Office of the President. April 28, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.

[7] Dodd, Dennis (April 27, 2016). "Idaho will become first team to drop from FBS to FCS in 2018". CBSSports.com. Retrieved April 30, 2016.

[8] "Big South and ASUN Conference Establish FCS Membership Partnership" (Press release). ASUN Conference. September 13, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2016.

[9] "Campbell Football To Join Big South in 2018" (Press release). Big South Conference. November 14, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2016.

[10] "Joe Thomas Sr., 55, becomes oldest D-I football player ever to take field". Sports Illustrated. November 19, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016.

[11] "UNA Accepts ASUN Division I Invitation" (Press release). North Alabama Lions. December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2016.

[12] "North Alabama To Join Big South Football in 2019" (Press release). Big South Conference. December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2016.

[13] "New Stadium, Pair of FBS Opponents Highlight 2016 Football Schedule". Prairie View A&M University Athletics. February 4, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.

[14] "The New Look Panther Stadium". Prairie View A&M University Athletics. Retrieved June 23, 2016.

[15] "2016 College Football Rankings – Week 4". ESPN.com. September 18, 2016. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.

[16] "University of Delaware Athletics Announces Changes in Coaching Staff". Delaware Athletics. Retrieved October 16, 2016.

[17] ttp://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/terps/tracking-the-terps/bal-mike-london-reportedly-leaving-maryland-to-become-howard-head-coach-20170106-story.html

[Villanova-18] "SDSU slips past 'Nova to end Talley's career". ESPN. Retrieved December 11, 2016.

[Danny_Rocco-19] "Delaware 'closer to home' for new football coach Rocco". Delaware Online. Retrieved December 13, 2016.

[Russ_Huesman-20] "Huesman Named Head Coach Of Spiders Football". RichmondsSpiders.com. Retrieved December 14, 2016.

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v t e NCAA football seasons
Pre-NCAA	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905
NCAA pre-divisional	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961
NCAA University Division	1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
NCAA Division I	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
NCAA Division I-A/FBS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 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
NCAA Division I-AA/FCS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 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
NCAA College Division	1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
NCAA Division II	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 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
NCAA Division III	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 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