St. Augustine’s University will not play football this fall, leaving a lot of holes in CIAA schedules and a lot of sadness in Division II and HBCU football circles.
Interim president Dr. Marcus Burgess told a Raleigh TV station earlier this week that he’s hoping for a miracle to keep the school open long-term but that the Falcons would not field a gridiron team in 2024.
“The only sport that we are going to suspend is going to be football,” Burgess told CBS17’s Greg Funderburg in an exclusive interview (see full story HERE).
The Falcons had posted a nine-game football schedule on its athletics Web site several weeks ago, which included a season opener at Benedict on Sept. 7 followed by eight conference games. But that schedule was taken down recently. The Raleigh HBCU is facing accreditation issues, an IRS lien and steep financial issues. The school has had to take drastic measures to address these issues, for instance sending most students home at the beginning of April and switching to all virtual classes.
St. Augustine’s athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division II level. The Falcons have a long history of national prominence in sports like track and field. The school has been a member of the CIAA since 1933.
The CIAA has been a 12-school football conference since 2011. Chowan left the league after 2022, but Bluefield State rejoined in 2023 to take that spot.
St. Aug’s competes in the CIAA’s Southern Division in football with state rivals Shaw, Fayetteville State, Winston-Salem State, Johnson C. Smith and Livingstone. The Falcons also were slated to play Bluefield State, Elizabeth City State and Lincoln from the CIAA Northern this season as well.
For now, there are extra open dates on eight CIAA schedules, including fellow Raleigh rival Shaw University. Those two teams typically have played in the season finale. Shaw won last year’s contest 21-14 and prevailed in overtime 30-27 in 2022. The rivalry typically has been one of the state’s most passionate among its smaller football schools.
The Falcons are the only school currently in the CIAA not to have won a conference championship on the gridiron. The football team went 0-10 a year ago and fired coach Howard Feggins midseason. Feggins announced in December he planned to file a lawsuit against the school and alleges he was fired unlawfully.
Jody Owens served as the interim coach after Feggins was let go. The Falcons placed five players on the 2023 All-CIAA team. Second-team all-conference linebacker Jamieson Alston announced earlier this year his plans to transfer to Winston-Salem State.
St. Augustine’s has only won one or two games per season since 2018. The 2017 squad finished 5-5. The last winning record came in 2012 when the Falcons posted a 6-4 mark, 4-3 in league play.
The 2010 squad went 9-2, losing only to Shaw (10-6) in CIAA action. That SAU team advanced to the Pioneer Bowl, where the Falcons topped Fort Valley State 20-9.
Another Division II school, Notre Dame College in Ohio, announced a few weeks ago it was closing its doors, scuttling all of its athletics teams including a solid football program. Another D2 program, Mercyhurst, announced plans to move to Division I this week. Birmingham-Southern, a Division III school, announced last week it was disbanding its football program as the school planned to close its doors.
Burgess told CBS17 he remained hopeful St. Augustine’s can navigate through its issues and stay open for students. But he acknowledged the tall task at hand to make that happen.
“It will take roughly 27 to 28 million dollars and 30 million for good judgment because there’s still deferred maintenance pieces that have to happen,” he said in the CBS17 interview.
