2024 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.

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
← 2023 NAIA football season

The regular season will begin on August 24 and will culminate on November 16.^[1]

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

Membership changes

Team	Former conference	New conference	Ref
Defiance Yellow Jackets	HCAC (NCAA D-III)	Mid-States	[2]
Jamestown Jimmies	Great Plains	North Star	[3][4]
Roosevelt Lakers	Mid-States	GLIAC (NCAA D-II)	[5][6]
Simpson Red Hawks	New program	Independent	[7]
St. Ambrose Fighting Bees	Mid-States	Heart of America	[8]
Waldorf Warriors	North Star	Great Plains	[9]
William Woods Owls	New program	Heart of America	[10][8]

Headlines

• March 1 – Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) announced that they would change their name to Nelson University, effective on August 1.^[11]

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.^[12]

Conference standings

2024 Appalachian Athletic Conference football standings v t e Conf Overall 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 Conf Overall 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 Conf Overall 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 Conf Overall 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 Conf Overall 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 Conf Overall 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 Conf Overall 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 Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 14 Dickinson State $^   8 – 0     9 – 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 Conf Overall 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 Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Simpson (CA)   –     0 – 9   Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

Postseason

Teams

See also: List of NAIA national football championship series appearances by team

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 South Division Benedictine (KS) 9–2 16th 2022 KCAC Bissell Division Kansas Wesleyan 7–4 7th 2021 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 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

13

Baker

20

Pikeville

14

Dickinson State

19

Kansas Wesleyan

15

Southwestern (KS)

18

Saint Francis (IN)

16

Friends

17

OUAZ

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[13][14]	Reggie Langford Jr.	Sterling assistant head coach and offensive coordinator (2023)
Bethel (KS)	A. B. Stokes	July 8, 2024	Resigned[15]	Daylon Markham	Bethel (KS) defensive coordinator (2023)
Kansas Wesleyan	Matt Myers	October 9, 2024	Fired[16]	Chris Snyder / David Leonard (co-interim head coaches)	Kansas Wesleyan recruiting coordinator (2023–2024) / Kansas Wesleyan defensive coordinator (2021–2024)

See also

• 2024 NCAA Division I FBS football season
• 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season
• 2024 NCAA Division II football season
• 2024 NCAA Division III football season
• 2024 U Sports football season
• 2024 NAIA flag football season

References

1. "NAIA Football Scoreboard". NAIA.com. NAIA. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
2. "Defiance College Board of Trustees approve athletic program's return to NAIA". defianceathletics.com. October 6, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
3. "Membership Statement from the Great Plains Athletic Conference". Great Plains Athletic Conference. October 11, 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
4. "University of Jamestown (N.D.) returns to North Star Athletic Association". North Star Athletic Association. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
5. "ROOSEVELT JOINS NCAA DIVISION II". roosevelt.edu. Roosevelt University. July 13, 2023. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
6. "Lakers Litter All-MSFA Teams For Final NAIA Season". rooseveltlakers.com. Roosevelt University. November 20, 2023. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
7. "Simpson University Announces Addition of Football". Simpson University Athletics. October 26, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
8. "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.
9. "Waldorf University Joins Great Plains Athletic Conference". Waldorf University Athletics. September 18, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
10. "William Woods University announces the historic addition of intercollegiate football". William Woods University. May 22, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2024.
11. "The Future is Here: SAGU To Become Nelson University" (Press release). SAGU.edu. 2024-03-01. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
12. 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.
13. Samuels, Doug (2024-06-04). "NAIA head coach dismissed shortly after interviewing for Division II opening". Footballscoop. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
14. "Warrior Athletics Announces Change in Football Leadership". 2024-06-04.
15. "Stokes Resigns as Head Football Coach; Markham named as Interim Head Football Coach". 2024-07-08.
16. "KWU Announces Football Program Leadership Change". Kansas Wesleyan University. Retrieved 2024-10-22.