St. Andrews University in Laurinburg announced Friday that it will close at the end of the spring semester, folding North Carolina’s only NAIA college football team.
The Knights’ debuted football in 2017. The program had struggled with on-field results in recent years, but seemed ready to turn the corner with the January hire of Matt Quinn, a young and energetic head coach who already had secured a number of 2025 commitments.
Now, those players are scrambling to find new football homes for the upcoming season, which kicks off in four months.
“Heartbroken for our kids, our team, our staff, our recruits, and our community!” Coach Quinn posted on X as the news broke Friday. “To the current team, thank you for believing in me! To the committed recruits, thank you for believing in me! I will continue to advocate for you as we go down this road TOGETHER!”
St. Andrews played football in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. The Knights had yet to release a full 2025 football schedule, but it was known St. Andrews was set to play at Davidson on Sept. 20.
North Carolina has lost two college football programs over the past two years. St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh put its football program on indefinite hold in spring 2024 while the school battled accreditation and financial issues (which continue). The Falcons were long-time members of the CIAA, competing at the NCAA Division II level.
Limestone University in Gaffney, S.C. announced two weeks ago that it was shutting its doors, scuttling its D2 football program that competed in the same conference with North Carolina programs Lenoir-Rhyne, Wingate, Catawba and Mars Hill.
The loss of St. Andrews will leave North Carolina with 33 college football programs heading into 2025: seven FBS, seven FCS, 13 Division II, five Division III and one junior college.
The #BURG⚔️🏈 was on the rise! It’s a tough situation for everyone, but our NEW coaching staff is still fully invested in these kids and helping them find a home. In the coming days, our staff will be reaching out to other schools in our network to help! #BURGforever! — SAU Football (@StAndrewsFB) April 25, 2025
St. Andrews, a branch campus of Webber International University, will close officially on May 5. The school’s baseball team had just qualified for its conference tournament. Football coaches have said they are committed to helping each of their players and recruits find suitable landing spots.
“We explored every viable path forward,” said Dr. Nelson Marquez, President and CEO for Webber International University said in a release. “But the persistent financial and enrollment challenges facing St. Andrews could no longer be mitigated through internal solutions alone. This was a deeply painful but necessary decision.”
