2022 NCAA Division II football season

The 2022 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level, began on August 31 and ended on December 17 with the [NCAA NCAA Division II|Division II Football Championship|Division II championship] at the McKinney Independent School District Stadium in McKinney, Texas. Ferris State defeated Colorado Mines, 41–14, for its second consecutive championship.

D-II team wins over FCS teams

September 10: Missouri S&T 17, Drake 14 ^OT
September 17: Delta State 28, Mississippi Valley State 17
October 1: Lane 28, Tennessee State 27 ^OT

Conference changes and new programs

Conference changes

Prior to the start of the season, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference announced that it would cease sponsorship of football. The GNAC previously sponsored football in two stints: 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2021. The three remaining members, Central Washington, Simon Fraser, and Western Oregon, subsequently joined the Lone Star Conference as football-only affiliated members.

Headlines

On October 27, 2022, the D-II Presidents Council voted to support a change to redshirt rules that had been proposed by six D-II conferences. Under the proposal, players in their first season of college attendance can play up to three games before losing redshirt status. The proposal will be voted on by the entire D-II football membership at the 2023 NCAA Convention.

Rankings

The top 25 from the AFCA Coaches' Poll.

Postseason

Bracket

Super Region 4

* - Host school

National semifinals

Teams that advanced to the semifinals were re-seeded.

Coaching changes

End of season

This list includes coaching changes announced during the season that did not take effect until the end of the season.

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason	Replacement	Previous position
Tuskegee	Reginald Ruffin	June 2, 2022	Retired	Aaron James	Tuskegee offensive coordinator
Morehouse	Rich Freeman	November 9, 2022	Resigned	Gerard Wilcher	Rice defensive backs
Missouri Western	Matt Williamson	November 13, 2022	Fired	Tyler Fenwick	Southeastern Oklahoma State head coach
UNC Pembroke	Shane Richardson	November 13, 2022	Fired	Mark Hall	Chowan head coach
Catawba	Curtis Walker	November 14, 2022	Resigned	Tyler Haines	Shepherd offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach
Sioux Falls	Jon Anderson	November 14, 2022	Fired	Jim Glogowski	Minnesota State defensive coordinator
Northern Michigan	Kyle Nystrom	November 15, 2022	Resigned	Shane Richardson	UNC Pembroke head coach
Northwestern Oklahoma State	Matt Walter	November 16, 2022	Resigned	Ronnie Jones	Emerson High School defensive coordinator
West Texas A&M	Hunter Hughes	November 21, 2022	Fired	Josh Lynn	Nebraska–Kearney head coach
Texas–Permian Basin	Justin Carrigan	November 28, 2022	Accepted administrative position	Kris McCullough	East Central head coach
Michigan Tech	Steve Olson	November 29, 2022	Contract expired	Dan Mettlach	Michigan Tech assistant head coach
Albany State	Gabe Giardina	November 30, 2022	Hired by Charleston Southern	Quinn Gray	Alcorn State quarterbacks coach
Ashland	Lee Owens	December 2, 2022	Retired	Doug Geiser	Ashland assistant head coach, offensive line coach, and running game coordinator
Minot State	Mike Aldrich	December 2, 2022	Contract expired	Ian Shields	UNLV offensive assistant
Northwood	Leonard Haynes	December 5, 2022	Became a part of school's faculty	Dustin Beurer	Albion head coach
Southeastern Oklahoma State	Tyler Fenwick	December 6, 2022	Hired by Missouri Western	Bo Atterberry	Southeastern Oklahoma State head coach
Wayne State (MI)	Paul Winters	December 9, 2022	Fired	Tyrone Wheatley	Denver Broncos running backs coach
West Florida	Pete Shinnick	December 11, 2022	Hired by Towson	Kaleb Nobles	Clemson director of offensive player development
CSU Pueblo	John Wristen	December 13, 2022	Retired	Phil Vigil	Western New Mexico head coach
Nebraska–Kearney	Josh Lynn	December 13, 2022	Hired by West Texas A&M	Ryan Held	North Alabama interim head coach
Chowan	Mark Hall	December 14, 2022	Hired by UNC Pembroke	Paul Johnson	Bloomsburg offensive coordinator, wide receivers coach, and tight ends coach
Eastern New Mexico	Tye Hiatt	December 21, 2022	Hired by Southern Utah	Kelley Lee	Veterans Memorial Early College High School head coach
East Central	Kris McCullough	December 22, 2022	Hired by Texas–Permian Basin	John Litrenta	East Central defensive coordinator
Western New Mexico	Phil Vigil	December 23, 2022	Hired by CSU Pueblo	Bill Hickman	Western New Mexico offensive coordinator
Southwestern Oklahoma State	Josh Kirkland	January 9, 2023	Hired by North Texas	Ruzell McCoy	Southwestern Oklahoma State defensive coordinator
American International	Kris Kulzer	Before January 11, 2023	Resigned or fired	Lou Conte	The Citadel offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and fullbacks coach
St. Augustine's	David Bowser	January 11, 2023	Resigned	Howard Feggins	Fayetteville State offensive coordinator
Grand Valley State	Matt Mitchell	January 15, 2023	Hired by Wisconsin	Scott Wooster	Grand Valley State offensive line coach and tight ends coach
Mary	Craig Bagnell	February 14, 2023	Hired by South Dakota	Shann Schillinger	Mississippi State defensive analyst
Kentucky State	Paul Hamilton	February 20, 2023	Full-time coach hired	Felton Huggins	McNeese wide receivers coach
Bentley	Alvin Reynolds	April 6, 2023	Resigned	Saj Thakkar	Harvard running backs coach
Colorado Mines	Brandon Moore	April 19, 2023	Hired by San Diego	Pete Sterbick	Colorado Mines offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach
William Jewell	Mike McGlinchey Jr.	April 24, 2023	Resigned	Neil Linhart	William Jewell offensive coordinator
Concord	Dave Walker	May 12, 2023	Resigned	Brian Ferguson	Concord offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach
Lincoln (PA)	Josh Dean	June 23, 2023	Accepted administrative position	Frank Turner	Lincoln (PA) assistant head coach and defensive coordinator