The University of Richmond will leave CAA football in 2025 and become a member of the Patriot League exclusively for that sport. Dissatisfaction with the direction of CAA football over the past few years led to UR's desire to find another home.
The Spiders are expected to officially announce the move Tuesday afternoon.
UR considered the Patriot League and Southern Conference, but in both cases it was only football, with the Spiders remaining members of the Atlantic 10 Conference for other sports. The Patriot League and SoCon have expressed interest in UR for soccer memberships multiple times over the years.
The University of Richmond considered the Patriot League and Southern Conference after deciding CAA football was no longer the right fit.
James H. Wallace, Times-Dispatch
Southern Conference football includes VMI, Furman, Mercer, Chattanooga, Western Carolina, Sanford, East Tennessee State, Wofford and The Citadel. The Patriot League includes Lafayette, Holy Cross, Colgate, Georgetown, Fordham, Lehigh and Bucknell.
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Patriot League members began awarding football scholarships in 2013 and are allowed to award up to 63 scholarships to the FCS. The Southern Conference is historically one of the most competitive FCS leagues.
For a variety of reasons, including the infrastructure of a private school with an undergraduate enrollment of 3,145 students, FBS is not a realistic option for Richmond.
CAA Football released its 2024 schedule in January, and Richmond's eight league games will be the last the Spiders will play in the conference. UR shared his 2023 CAA Football Championship.
The Richmond Spiders have been affiliated with CAA Football, or its derivative leagues, since 1986.
Shaban Usman/Times-Dispatch
Joined the league since 1986
The Spiders have been affiliated with CAA Football, or its predecessor (Yankee Conference, Atlantic 10 Football), since 1986.
UR is parting ways with the CAA Football League, which includes 16 members for the 2024 season: Richmond, William & Mary, Hampton, Albany, Bryant, Campbell, Delaware, Elon, Maine, Monmouth, New Hampshire, North Carolina A&T, Rhode Island, Stony Brook, Towson, Villanova.
In 2025, Delaware State moves to FBS and Conference USA. James Madison, which was a flagship program in CAA football, left for the FBS and Sun Belt conferences in 2021. These two were UR's greatest competitors.
If the Spiders decide CAA football isn't for them anymore, where will they land?
Each member of CAA football plays eight league games each year, and while UR plays William & Mary each year, games against the Spiders and other attractive or nationally competitive league opponents , schedule rotation was unreliable.
William & Mary, like Hampton, is a full CAA member in all sports.
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What has been puzzling and disappointing for UR in recent years has been the expansion strategy of CAA football. Bryant, Monmouth, Hampton, North Carolina A&T and Campbell were in attendance at the meeting. They come from the Big South, a lower-level league that lowered the level of competition in CAA football, which was once the premier FCS league.
“As we have made over the past eight years, we will continue to make decisions that are in our best interest as a conference to move the conference forward in building both a sustainable and a competitive model. We're going to continue to win,” CAA Commissioner Joe D'Antonio told the Times-Dispatch last week when contacted about schools' concerns about the state of UR and the state of the league. .
The University of Richmond has been one of the most consistently competitive programs in CAA football for many years.
Mark Gomes, Times-Dispatch
UR Vice President and Athletic Director John Hurt said in a December interview with the Times-Dispatch that “business as usual is not an accurate term at this point” regarding the relationship between the Spiders and CAA football. . He added, “In the modern world of college sports, institutions need to prepare for and embrace change. That is the reality of intercollegiate competition (currently) at the DI level.”
W&M is part of the CAA for all sports
At William & Mary, athletic director Brian Mann pledged allegiance to CAA football in an interview with the Times-Dispatch in January, saying: To me, there's a great opportunity there to evolve as a conference into something new and different. And I don't think we're there yet. ”
CAA football is yankee conference
CAA Football, a division of the Coastal Athletic Association, began as the Yankee Conference (1947-1996) and evolved into Atlantic 10 Football (1997-2006) before the CAA assumed operational control in 2007. The Spiders were Southern Conference rivals from 1936 until 1975, when he joined the Yankees in 1986, and W&M from UR and W&M from 1936 until 1975.
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Richmond women's golf already participates in the Patriot League, which began competition in 1986. League offices are located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
About 20 years ago, UR, W&M and Villanova explored the possibility of partnering with the Patriot League's football division. That didn't happen because the Tribe and Wildcats (or Big East in other sports) weren't unanimous about leaving CAA football and thought moving in together was the best approach. .
Photo: Spiders bonding while playing video games
(LR) University of Richmond football player Andrew Zangeos joins teammates at Dave & Busters on Monday, August 19, 2019, as the team holds a non-football bonding session near the end of preseason camp. Watch Devin Campbell play Wack 'n Win.
alexa welch edlund
(LR) University of Richmond football players Trent Williams and Bo English at Dave & Buster's on Monday, August 19, 2019, as the team holds a non-football bonding session near the end of preseason camp. Play Cruise N Blast.
alexa welch edlund
(LR) University of Richmond football players Trent Williams and Bo English at Dave & Buster's on Monday, August 19, 2019, as the team holds a non-football bonding session near the end of preseason camp. Play Cruise N Blast.
alexa welch edlund
(LR) University of Richmond football players Devon Perry and Daniel Jones play hockey at Dave & Buster's on Monday, August 19, 2019, as the team plays non-football games near the end of preseason camp. We are holding a social session.
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Brandon Famster
Alexa Welch Edlund/Times-Dispatch
Left: (From left to right) The Spiders' Ben Muff, Milan Howard, Andrew Zangeos, and Tyler Dressler play Halo: Fireteam Raven.
alexa welch edlund
Richmond football players Seyoum Settepani (left) and Roland Williams played Spider-Man: Homecoming at Dave & Buster's in Richmond on Monday. Coaches viewed the Spiders' trip as a break from football and a reward for preseason work.
Alexa Welch Edlund/Times-Dispatch
