Meet the Sun Belt Conference: Here’s a look at the football teams in ODU’s new league
Old Dominion meets the Ragin’ Cajuns, Red Wolves and Chanticleers this season.
The Monarchs visit “The Rock” in the North Carolina mountains and greet a team that has a head-butting tradition in Statesboro, Georgia.
It’s all new to ODU as the Monarchs — previously members of far-flung Conference USA — prepare to enter the Sun Belt Conference.
Here’s a look at the football programs that await ODU in the Sun Belt Conference:
East Division
Appalachian State
Location: Boone, North Carolina
Coach: Shawn Clark, 20-7 in two full seasons; took over after 2019 regular season
Last season: 10-4, 7-1 Sun Belt
Claim to (football) fame: The Mountaineers, whose Kidd Brewer Stadium is dubbed “the Rock,” won three straight Football Championship Subdivision national championships from 2005-07 and knocked off No. 5 Michigan in 2007.
Season opener: Saturday vs. North Carolina
This season vs. ODU: Nov. 19 in Boone
757 connection: None
Did you know?: Country music star Luke Combs is an App State grad.
Coastal Carolina
Location: Conway, South Carolina
Coach: Jamey Chadwell, 49-30 in five seasons; he was the interim coach in 2017 while Joe Moglia took a medical sabbatical, then became the head coach in 2019.
Last season: 11-2, 6-2 Sun Belt
Claim to (football) fame: The Chanticleers were ranked in both the Associated Press and USA Today coaches polls for 22 straight weeks from October 2020 until November 2021.
Season opener: Saturday vs. Army
This season vs. ODU: Oct. 15 in Conway
757 connection: RB CJ Beasley (Maury High, Norfolk) played in 11 games last season as a redshirt freshman.
Did you know? The Chanticleers’ first full season at the FBS level was in 2017, when the team went 3-9.
Georgia Southern
Location: Statesboro, Georgia
Coach: Clay Helton, first season after going 46-24 in five years at Southern California
Last season: 3-9, 2-6 Sun Belt
Claim to (football) fame: The Eagles won six NCAA Division I-AA national championships, the last in 2000.
Season opener: Saturday vs. Morgan State
This season vs. ODU: Oct. 22 in Norfolk
757 connection: None
Did you know? Erk Russell, Georgia Southern’s legendary (and intense) head coach, often head-butted players during his tenure. Now, it’s tradition for the Eagles to head-butt a bronze bust of Russell when they take the field.
Georgia State
Location: Atlanta
Coach: Shawn Elliott, 30-30 in five seasons
Last season: 8-5, 6-2 Sun Belt
Claim to (football) fame: Georgia State, a few weeks after being featured on the cover of ESPN the Magazine, started its inaugural season in 2010 with a 41-7 victory over Shorter College. That same season, the Panthers lost to Old Dominion (34-20) and Alabama (63-7).
Season opener: Saturday at South Carolina
This season vs. ODU: Oct. 29 in Atlanta
757 connection: Redshirt senior Akeem Smith (Catholic High, Virginia Beach) has been a part-time starter on the defensive line for the past two seasons.
Did you know? The Panthers’ Center Parc Credit Union Stadium was formerly the home of Centennial Olympic Stadium and used for the 1996 Games.
James Madison
Location: Harrisonburg
Coach: Curt Cignetti, 33-5 in three seasons
Last season: 12-2, 7-1 CAA
Claim to (football) fame: The Dukes were a powerhouse in the Football Championship Subdivision, winning national championships in 2004 and 2016.
Season opener: Saturday vs. Middle Tennessee
This season vs. ODU: Nov. 12 in Norfolk
757 connection: Nearly a dozen players from Hampton Roads are on the roster, including RB Kaelon Black, who starred for Salem High in Virginia Beach. He started three games last season before choosing to redshirt.
Did you know? The Dukes and ODU are fierce rivals, but the schools have met only twice in football. Both were Old Dominion wins — in 23-20 in 2011 and 38-28 in 2012.
Marshall
Location: Huntington, West Virginia
Coach: Charles Huff, 7-6 in one season
Last season: 7-6, 5-3 Conference USA
Claim to (football) fame: The Thundering Herd, led by two future NFL players — QB Chad Pennington and WR Randy Moss — went 15-0 and won the NCAA Division I-AA championship in 2016.
Season opener: Saturday vs. Norfolk State
This season vs. ODU: Nov. 5 in Norfolk
757 connection: RB Khalan Laborn (Catholic High, Virginia Beach) was a five-star recruit who attended Florida State. He went through a redshirt season in 2017, suffered a knee injury in 2018 and was dismissed by FSU for violating unspecified team rules in 2020. He enrolled this spring at Marshall.
Did you know? Before Huff gained a reputation as one of the top recruiters in the country during stints with Mississippi State, Penn State and Alabama, he was a player at Hampton University. He played fullback and tight end and was a starting offensive lineman for the Pirates.
West Division
Arkansas State
Location: Jonesboro, Arkansas
Coach: Butch Jones, 2-10 in one season
Last season: 2-10, 1-7 Sun Belt
Claim to (football) fame: The Red Wolves made four consecutive NCAA Division I-AA playoff appearances under coach Larry Lacewell, reaching the national title game in 1986.
Season opener: Saturday vs. Grambling State
This season vs. ODU: Sept. 24 in Norfolk
757 connection: None
Did you know? J.D. McKissic, now with the Washington Commanders, played four seasons at Arkansas State as a running back and wide receiver and holds the Sun Belt record with 289 career receptions and a school record of 2,838 receiving yards.
Louisiana
Location: Lafayette, Louisiana
Coach: Michael Desormeaux, first season
Last season: 13-1, 8-0 Sun Belt
Claim to (football) fame: The Ragin’ Cajuns last season won 13 straight games, including a win over Marshall in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, after an opening loss to Texas. Louisiana finished 16th in the AP Top 25 poll and 17th in the USA Today coaches poll.
Season opener: Saturday vs. Southeastern Louisiana
This season vs. ODU: Do not play
757 connection: None
Did you know? Billy Napier left to become Florida’s coach after guiding the Ragin’ Cajuns to a 40-12 record and three straight bowls (Desormeaux coached Louisiana in last season’s bowl game).
South Alabama
Location: Mobile, Alabama
Coach: Kane Wommack, 5-7 in one season
Last season: 5-7, 2-6 Sun Belt
Claim to (football) fame: South Alabama started football with the 2009 season, going 7-0 in its inaugural season (mostly against junior colleges), and 10-0 in Year 2. The Jaguars moved to FBS in 2011.
Season opener: Saturday vs. Nicholls State
This season vs. ODU: Nov. 26 in Mobile
Did you know? The Jaguars christened Hancock Whitney Stadium to start the 2020 season. The $78 million stadium will host the annual Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Southern Miss
Location: Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Coach: Will Hall, 3-9 in one season
Last season: 3-9, 2-6 Conference USA
Claim to (football) fame: The Golden Eagles have retired three jersey numbers: No. 4 (QB Brett Favre), No. 10 (QB Reggie Collier) and No. 44 (P Ray Guy).
Season opener: Saturday vs. Liberty
This season vs. ODU: Do not play
757 connection: None
Did you know? Southern Miss fielded its first football team in 1912, finishing 1-2 under coach Ronald J. Slay — a science and modern language professor who was appointed football coach and athletic director. The Golden Eagles are 607-447-27 in 105 seasons.
Texas State
Location: San Marcos, Texas
Coach: Jake Spavital, 9-27 in three seasons
Last season: 4-8, 3-5 Sun Belt
Claim to (football) fame: The Bobcats won back-to-back NCAA Division II national championships in 1981 and 1982 under coach Jim Wacker.
Season opener: Saturday vs. Nevada
This season vs. ODU: Do not play
Did you know? Before getting his first head-coaching gig at Texas State, Spavital was a quarterbacks coach who worked with Geno Smith at West Virginia and Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M.
Troy
Location: Troy, Alabama
Coach: Jon Sumrall, first season
Last season: 5-7, 3-5 Sun Belt
Claim to (football) fame: The Trojans shocked Power Five programs in back-to-back seasons: a 24-21 stunner over No. 25 LSU in 2017 and a 24-19 upset of Nebraska in 2018.
Season opener: Saturday vs. Ole Miss
This season vs. ODU: Do not play
757 connection: None
Did you know? The Trojans own three national championships — NAIA (1968) and Division II (1984, 1987).
Louisiana Monroe
Location: Monroe, Louisiana
Coach: Terry Bowden, 4-8 in one season
Last season: 4-8, 2-6 Sun Belt
Claim to (football) fame: QB Stan Humphries led ULM to its only national championship — an NCAA Division I-AA title in 1987. Humphries later played for Washington and San Diego in the NFL.
Season opener: Saturday vs. Texas
757 connection: Sophomore CB DJ Felton, a transfer from Kentucky State who attended Catholic High, freshman DE James Smith (Princess Anne High) and freshman CB Caymen Mills (Green Run High) are all from Virginia Beach.
This season vs. ODU: Do not play
Did you know? Bowden, the son of legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, is 179-122-2 in 26 seasons as a head coach, including stops at Samford, Auburn, North Alabama and Akron.
Jami Frankenberry, 757-446-2376, jami.frankenberry@pilotonline.com. Twitter @JamiVP
