Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference


The Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference, formerly the Colonial Athletic Association Football Conference, branded as CAA Football, is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states, from Maine to North Carolina. Most of its members are public universities, and the conference is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. The conference is run by the same administration as the multisport conference Coastal Athletic Association but is legally a different entity.

History

CAA Football was formed in 2005, although it did not begin play until 2007, as a separate conference independent of the CAA, but administered by the CAA front office. In the 2004–05 academic year, the CAA had five member schools that sponsored football, all of them as football-only members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. In 2005, Northeastern accepted the CAA's offer of membership, giving the CAA the six football-playing members it needed under NCAA rules to organize a football conference. At that time, the CAA announced it would launch its new football conference in 2007. Next, the CAA invited the University of Richmond to become a football-only member effective in 2007. Once UR accepted the offer, this left the A10 football conference with only five members, less than the six required under NCAA rules. As a result, the remaining A10 football programs all decided to join the CAA for football only, ending A10 football. Since the CAA football conference had the same members as the A10 the previous year, it can be said that the CAA football conference is the A10 football conference under new management.
The CAA football conference's earliest roots are in the New England Conference, founded in 1938 by four state-supported universities in that region plus Northeastern; three of the public schools are currently in CAA Football. However, neither the multi-sports CAA nor CAA Football includes the New England Conference in CAA Football history. After the departure of Northeastern in 1945, the remaining members joined New England's other land-grant colleges, Massachusetts State College and the University of Vermont, to form the Yankee Conference under a new charter in 1946, with competition starting in 1947. That conference eventually dropped all sports other than football in 1975. Starting in the 1980s, it expanded to include many schools outside its original New England base. After the NCAA voted to limit the influence of single-sport conferences, the Yankee merged with the A-10 in 1997.
CAA Football went through many changes during the early 2010s with the loss of Georgia State, Massachusetts, and Old Dominion and the addition of Albany, Elon, and Stony Brook. Stability was maintained for a decade before the departure of James Madison in 2021 leading to the addition of Campbell, Hampton, Monmouth, North Carolina A&T, and Bryant from 2022 to 2024.

Timeline

  • May 4, 2005 – CAA Football was formed with inaugural members Delaware, Hofstra, James Madison, Maine, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Rhode Island, Richmond, Towson, Massachusetts, Villanova, and William & Mary.
  • May 31, 2006 – Old Dominion, at the time a member of the all-sports CAA, announced plans to add football for the 2009 season and join CAA Football in 2011.
  • June 11, 2009 – Georgia State, at the time a member of the all-sports CAA, announced the addition of Football in 2011, and joining the CAA football conference in 2012.
  • November 9, 2009 – Northeastern announced plans to drop football after the 2009 season.
  • December 3, 2009 – Hofstra also announced that the university would no longer be sponsoring football.
  • June 1, 2010 – Due to the reduction of the conference, CAA Football did not use the division format for the 2010 season.
  • April 20, 2011 – UMass announced that it would transition to FBS beginning fall 2011, and would become a football-only member of the Mid-American Conference.
  • April 7, 2012 – Georgia State began an FBS transition in advance of its 2013 move to the Sun Belt Conference.
  • May 17, 2012 – Old Dominion announced its plans to join Conference USA and transition to FBS status for the 2013 season.
  • August 7, 2012 – Albany and Stony Brook both accepted offers of membership in CAA Football for the 2013 season.
  • May 23, 2013 – Elon announced that the school would become a member of CAA Football and the all-sports CAA for the 2014 season.
  • November 6, 2021 – James Madison announced its departure for the Sun Belt Conference and upgrade to FBS. Originally, JMU was slated to play the 2022 season as an FCS Independent before joining the Sun Belt in 2023, but JMU ended up joining a year earlier.
  • January 25, 2022 – Hampton and Monmouth accept invitations to join CAA Football and the all-sports CAA for the 2022 season. Stony Brook, which joined CAA Football in 2013, also becomes a member of the all-sports conference.
  • February 22, 2022 – North Carolina A&T accepts an invitation to join CAA Football for the 2023 season, a year after joining the all-sports CAA.
  • August 3, 2022 – Campbell also accepts an invitation to join both sides of the CAA for the 2023 season.
  • July 20, 2023 – CAA Football changed its full name to the Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference.
  • August 10, 2023 – Bryant accepts an invitation to join CAA Football for the 2024 season.
  • November 28, 2023 – Delaware announced its plans to join Conference USA and transition to FBS status for the 2025 season.
  • May 14, 2024 – Richmond announced its departure from the CAA to join the Patriot League as an associate member for football for the 2025 season.
  • April 25, 2025 – William & Mary announced its departure from CAA Football to join the Patriot League as an associate member for football for the 2026 season. It will remain a member of the multi-sports CAA.
  • June 5, 2025 – Villanova announced its departure from the CAA to join the Patriot League as an associate member for football for the 2026 season.
  • July 22, 2025 - Sacred Heart is announced by CAA Football as a future member, starting with the 2026 season.

    Member institutions

Current members

;Notes:

Future members

Former members

Membership timeline


DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:2007 till:2029
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a current member
id:FullXF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a former member
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:FullXF from:2007 till:2025 text:Delaware
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:2025 till:end text:CUSA
bar:2 color:FullXF from:2007 till:2009 text:Hofstra
bar:3 color:FullXF from:2007 till:end text:James Madison
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text:Sun Belt
bar:4 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:Maine
bar:5 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:New Hampshire
bar:6 color:FullXF from:2007 till:2009 text:Northeastern
bar:7 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:Rhode Island
bar:8 color:FullXF from:2007 till:2025 text:Richmond
bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2025 till:end text:Patriot
bar:9 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:Towson
bar:10 color:FullXF from:2007 till:2011 text:UMass
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2016 text: MAC
bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:2016 till:2025 text: FBS Ind.
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2025 till:end text: MAC
bar:11 color:Full from:2007 till:2026 text:Villanova
bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2026 till:end text:Patriot
bar:12 color:Full from:2007 till:2026 text:William & Mary
bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2026 till:end text:Patriot
bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2009 till:2011 text:FCS Independent
bar:13 color:FullXF from:2011 till:2013 text:Old Dominion
bar:13 shift:30 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:2014 text:Ind.
bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:2014 till:2022 text:C-USA
bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text:Sun Belt
bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:2010 till:2012 text:FCS Independent
bar:14 color:FullXF from:2012 till:2013 text:Georgia State
bar:14 shift:90 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text:Sun Belt
bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2013 text:NEC
bar:15 color:Full from:2013 till:end text:Albany
bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2008 text:FCS Ind.
bar:16 color:OtherC2 from:2008 till:2013 text:Big South
bar:16 color:Full from:2013 till:end text:Stony Brook
bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2014 text:SoCon
bar:17 color:Full from:2014 till:end text:Elon
bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2018 text:MEAC
bar:18 color:OtherC2 from:2018 till:2019 text:FCS Ind.
bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:2019 till:2022 text:Big South
bar:18 color:Full from:2022 till:end text:Hampton
bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2013 text:NEC
bar:19 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2014 text:FCS Ind.
bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:2022 text:Big South
bar:19 color:Full from:2022 till:end text:Monmouth
bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:2018 text:Pioneer
bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:2018 till:2023 text:Big South
bar:20 color:Full from:2023 till:end text:Campbell
bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2021 text:MEAC
bar:21 color:OtherC2 from:2021 till:2023 text:Big South
bar:21 color:Full from:2023 till:end text:North Carolina A&T
bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2008 text:NE-10
bar:22 color:OtherC2 from:2008 till:2009 text:FCS Ind.
bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:2009 till:2022 text:NEC
bar:22 shift: color:OtherC2 from:2022 till:2023 text:Big South
bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:2024 text:BSOVC
bar:22 color:Full from:2024 till:end text:Bryant
bar:23 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2024 text:NEC
bar:23 color:OtherC2 from:2024 till:2026 text:FCS Independent
bar:23 color:Full from:2026 till:end text:Sacred Heart
bar:N color:blue from:2007 till:end text:CAA Football
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:2007
TextData =
fontsize:L
textcolor:black
pos: tabs:
text:^"CAA Football membership history"
  1. > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#