The Elon Phoenix football program is the intercollegiate

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team for the

Elon University Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, Elon is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or professional doctorate d ...

located in the U.S. state of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. The school first fielded a football team in 1909 and currently competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). After 11 seasons in the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

, Elon joined the

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

for all sports, including football, in 2014. The Phoenix play their home games at the 13,100 seat

Rhodes Stadium Rhodes Stadium is an 11,250-seat multi-purpose stadium in Elon, North Carolina. Named for trustee Dusty Rhodes, his wife, Peggy, and their family, the stadium opened in 2001 and is home to the Elon University Phoenix football team. The stadium al ...

History

Classifications

*1991–1998: NCAA Division II *1999–present: NCAA Division I–AA/FCS

Conference affiliations

* Independent (1909–31) *

Conference Carolinas Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) primarily at the Divisio ...

(1932–74) *

South Atlantic Conference The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the southeastern United States. The SAC was founded in 1975 as a ...

(1975–96) * NCAA Division II Independent (1997–98) * NCAA Division I-AA Independent (1999–2001) *

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

(2002) *

(2003–13) *

(2014–present)

Playoff appearances

NCAA Division I-AA/FCS

The Phoenix have appeared in the FCS Playoffs four times. Their record combined is 0–4.

NAIA

The Phoenix, then known as the Fighting Christians, appeared in the NAIA playoffs six times. Their combined record was 10–4.

Championships

National

Conference

Notable former players

Notable alumni include: *

Jack Boone Robert Lee "Jack" Boone (May 28, 1918 – February 6, 1984) was an American football player and coach; most notably he served as head coach for the college football team of East Carolina College (now East Carolina University) for ten years. Early ...

* Hal Bradley *

Shane Gillis Shane Gillis (born December 11, 1987) is an American stand-up comedian, radio personality, sketch comedy writer, and podcaster. He is co-host of ''Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast'' with fellow stand-up comedian Matt McCusker. Sanneh, Kelefa (Sep ...

Joey Hackett Joseph Glenn Hackett (born September 29, 1958) was a tight end in the National Football League. Biography Hackett was born on September 29, 1958, in Greensboro, North Carolina. His brother Dino Hackett also played in the NFL. College career H ...

* Terrell Hudgins * Dwayne Ijames *

Rich McGeorge Richard Eugene McGeorge (born September 14, 1948 in Roanoke, Virginia) is a former professional American football player who played tight end for nine seasons for the Green Bay Packers in the National Football League. Playing career After grad ...

Cameron McGlenn Cameron McGlenn (February 16, 1988 – May 6, 2020) was an American arena football defensive back. He played college football for Elon Phoenix football, Elon. Early life McGlenn attended South Point High School (North Carolina), South Point High ...

Aaron Mellette Aaron Mellette (born December 28, 1989) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the seventh round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Elon. High school career Mellette attended So ...

Chad Nkang Chad K Nkang (born July 1, 1985) is a former American football safety. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft. Nkang played collegiately at Elon University. Nkang has also been a member of the Winni ...

* Tony Settles * Jimmy Smith * Joe West *

Brandon Ward Brandon Ward (born December 11, 1972) is a retired U.S. soccer midfielder who played one season in Major League Soccer as well as the USISL and National Professional Soccer League. Ward attended the Indiana University, playing on the men's socce ...

Oli Udoh Olisaemeka Udoh (born February 14, 1997) is an American football guard for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Elon and was drafted by the Vikings in the sixth round, 193rd overall in the 20 ...

References

External links

* {{Colonial Athletic Association football navbox American football teams established in 1909 1909 establishments in North Carolina