Gallaudet football to join new conference in 2025

The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) President’s Council announced last week that Gallaudet University would join the conference as an associate member for football, beginning in Fall 2025. This will bring ODAC to a total of nine football programs.

“We are pleased to welcome Gallaudet’s football team to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, and look forward to beginning this new chapter in the conference’s history,” said Dr. Larry Stimpert, Hampden-Sydney College President and Chair of the ODAC Presidents’ Council. “Like all of our ODAC colleges and universities, Gallaudet University brings its own distinctive mission and purpose to higher education, and we look forward to competing against its team on the gridiron.”

“We are honored to have such a storied program join the conference as an associate member,” explained ODAC Commissioner Brad Bankston. “Gallaudet’s addition will provide our football programs with a quality opponent, in close proximity to our membership, who will enhance football membership in a number of ways. I look forward to finalizing the 2025 conference schedule and welcoming the Bison into the ODAC family as we work together to strengthen Division III football in our region.”

“I am humbled and excited about the opportunities that are being presented to our football program by joining the ODAC,” said Gallaudet Athletic Director Warren Keller, ’11. “We will be competing in a prestigious conference and this will give our student-athletes a platform to continue the success they have had recently on the gridiron and in the classroom.” 

Added Gallaudet head football coach Chuck Goldstein, who is entering his 15th season,

“I am excited about Gallaudet University football joining the ODAC in 2025. This move marks a new chapter for our football program, and we’re ready for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”

Celebrating its 49th year of operation in 2024-2025, the ODAC is one of the nation’s largest NCAA Division III conferences. The ODAC’s current sponsorship features 15 full-time members plus two associates – Greensboro College in swimming and wrestling and Southern Virginia University in wrestling. The league sponsors championships in 26 sports (13 men, 13 women) and houses 12 coeducational schools and three single-gender institutions among its full-time membership. Headquartered in Forest, Virginia, the ODAC has garnered national recognition in hosting or co-hosting 93 NCAA Division III national championships since 1993, many in conjunction with the city of Salem, Virginia.

The inclusion of Gallaudet is the latest move in a series of announced changes to the ODAC’s football sponsorship. Ferrum College will leave the league following the 2024-2025 academic year. While the Panthers’ departure will reduce the conference’s sponsorship in many league sports, football will feature a net increase in involvement with Gallaudet’s engagement coinciding with the first conference season for Roanoke College in the ODAC football framework.

Each week of the ODAC football season will now feature one team idle as a scheduled bye date due to the uneven number of sponsoring programs. Each of the nine schools will play each other once, and also play two non-conference schools to complete a full  ten-game Division III slate. The conference campaign will begin in Week 3 of the 2025 season and for years to come.

Gallaudet has a rich football history as the Bison began playing the sport in 1883. Gallaudet is known as the Home of the Huddle™ as the first huddle was made in 1894 after another team was trying to steal Gallaudet’s ASL signs. Quarterback Paul Hubbard, E-1896, instructed the Gallaudet players to huddle up and the first huddle began. Most recently, Gallaudet was a founding member of the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (2009-2024). The Bison won the ECFC championship three times and went to the NCAA tournament in 2013 and 2022, thereby becoming the first Gallaudet men’s teams to ever make an NCAA tournament appearance. In 14 seasons with ECFC, Gallaudet accumulated 153 all-conference honors and 98 all-academic honors from the ECFC. 

Read the official ODAC announcement about Gallaudet becoming an associate member.

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