St. Thomas begins tenure as a Division I football program
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The University of St. Thomas Tommies football team began their tenure as a Division I football program on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon at O’Shaughnessy Stadium on their campus.
***CLICK ON THE VIDEO BOX TO HEAR FROM GLENN CARUSO, TOMMY DOLAN, AND LUKE HERZOG***
KSTP Sports caught up with head coach Glenn Caruso, quarterback Tommy Dolan, and linebacker Luke Herzog to talk about the historic jump to Division I football.
The Tommies will be the first program to make the jump from Division III to Division I. They will play in the Pioneer League. Players do not get athletic scholarships for football. This also marks the first time in 28 years that a D-III football program moved directly into D-I — Buffalo and Dayton both did it in 1993 in football only, not immediately in their other sports.
St. Thomas Football was slotted at No. 8 out of 11 teams in the preseason coaches vote for the 2021 Pioneer Football League race.
The University of St. Thomas Tommies football team began their tenure as a Division I football program on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon at O'Shaughnessy Stadium on their campus.[KSTP Sports]
Davidson (eight first-place votes) and San Diego (three) took the first two spots, with Drake at No. 3 leading the second tier of teams.
St. Thomas, Marist, Stetson, and Butler hold the Nos. 8-9-10-11 spots.
St. Thomas’ first Division I schedule includes home games to start and finish the season – Sept. 4 here vs. NAIA team St. Francis (Ill.), and Nov. 20 against Pioneer Football League opponent Presbyterian. In between the Tommies will play six of their nine mid-season games on the road in five different states, including three via plane trip (San Diego, Stetson and Davidson).
St. Thomas plays its first FCS game on the road Sept. 18 against Northern Iowa, a perennial top-25 program.