Richmond will join the Patriot League in football in 2025

Freedom High graduate Tristan Wheeler enjoyed a happy homecoming with the Richmond football team in 2022 as the Spiders defeated Lehigh 30-6 at Goodman Stadium. Rhmond will be a regular at Goodman Stadium as the Spiders join the Patriot League in 2025.

For years, the Patriot League has sought an eighth football member to increase the level of competition in the league and reduce the number of non-league games each member must play each fall.

The Patriot League accomplished its mission with the announcement Tuesday that Richmond will leave the Coastal Athletic Association and join the league in 2025.

The Patriot League officially announced the addition of the University of Richmond as an associate member for football.

The Spiders will join charter league members Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette and Lehigh, as well as associate members Fordham and Georgetown. Before Richmond, Georgetown was the last football program to join the Patriot League with the 2001 season.

“We are pleased to welcome the University of Richmond as our eighth football member,” Patriot League Commissioner Jennifer Heppel said in a news release. “Richmond's consistent success on the field has made them a premier program in the FCS and their additions set the stage for further competitive success at the national level. Beyond their excellence on the field, our shared commitment to prioritizing competitive academic and athletic experiences makes them an ideal institutional partner for the Patriot League.”

“The Patriot League provides our football athletes and staff the opportunity to experience championship-level competition at the highest levels of the FCS in a conference rich in tradition, scholarship and stability,” said the University of Richmond vice president Director of Athletics John Hardt. “Joining the Patriot League puts our football program in an excellent position to continue to compete for championships and achieve the postseason success that is so important to our players, our university and the Spiders everywhere.”

“We look forward to the University of Richmond joining the Patriot League for football beginning in 2025,” said Colgate President and Chairman of the President’s Council Brian W. Casey. “Their academic reputation, success on the field and commitment to providing an exemplary experience for their student-athletes will only help solidify the league’s tradition and mission.”

Richmond football is one of the most successful programs in FCS history. The Spiders have won 13 conference championships, appeared in the NCAA playoffs 13 times and won the national championship in 2008, the university's first NCAA national title. Last year, Richmond shared the CAA championship and reached the second round of the FCS playoffs. That made UR one of only eight programs to reach the second round in the last two seasons. More than 100 Spiders have now played professionally, with more than 50 selected in the annual NFL Draft.

The Patriot League will begin its 39th season of competition at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level this fall. The league was founded in 1986. Fordham has retained its football membership status since 1990, as the Rams were full members from 1990 to 1994 before becoming associate members in 1995. Georgetown has competed as an associate football member of the Patriot League since 2001. Davidson (1987-88) and Towson (1997-03) also competed in the Patriot League as football associates.

Full members of the Patriot League, the US Military Academy (Army West Point) and the US Naval Academy (Navy), play football in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

Upon learning of Richmond's departure, CAA commissioner Joe D'Antonio said the proud league would move on.

“The CAA has long been considered one of the premier conferences in FCS football and has sent at least three teams to the playoffs in 16 of the last 18 years,” D'Antonio said in a press release. “A CAA team has reached the playoff semifinals 10 times in the last 11 seasons, and even more impressively, seven different conference schools have reached the semifinals during that 11-year period. CAA Football is committed to competing at the highest level and continuing this success. CAA Football will continue to make decisions that advance the conference by creating both a competitive and sustainable model.”