The Sacred Heart Pioneers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the Sacred Heart University located in Fairfield, Connecticut. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. In its most recent 2025 season, it was one of two NCAA Division I FCS independent schools. The school's first football team was fielded in 1991.Sacred Heart Pioneers , College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved October 1, 2016. The 2001 Sacred Heart Pioneers football team compiled a perfect 11–0 record and won the school's first conference championship. The team plays its home games at the 3,334-seat Campus Field.
The Pioneers started competing as an NCAA Division I FCS independent in 2024. Their departure from the Northeast Conference (now officially known as the NEC) coincided with the move of the Sacred Heart Pioneers athletic program to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, which has not supported football competition since 2007. They joined the Merrimack Warriors football program, also joining the MAAC as a full member, as the only two schools competing in the 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season independent of conference affiliation, and remained in that status in the 2025 season. On July 22, 2025, CAA Football announced Sacred Heart would be its newest football member and begin conference play in the 2026 season.
History Classifications 1991–1992: NCAA Division III 1993–1997: NCAA Division II 1998–present: NCAA Division I–AA/FCS
Conference memberships 1991–1992: NCAA Division III independent 1993–1994: NCAA Division II independent 1995–1996: Eastern Collegiate Football Conference 1997: Eastern Football Conference 1998–2023: Northeast Conference 2024–2025: NCAA Division I FCS independent 2026–present: CAA Football
Notable former players E. J. Nemeth, York Capitals Jon Corto, Buffalo Bills Josh Sokol, Minnesota Vikings Julius Chestnut, Tennessee Titans
Championships Conference championships YearCoachConferenceRecord 2001 Jim Fleming Northeast Conference 11–0 2013 Mark Nofri Northeast Conference 10–3 † 2014 Mark Nofri Northeast Conference 9–3 † 2018 Mark Nofri Northeast Conference 7–4 † 2020 Mark Nofri Northeast Conference 3–1 2021 Mark Nofri Northeast Conference 6–1 Conference Championships 6 † denotes co-championship
Playoff appearances NCAA Division I Sacred Heart has made four appearances in the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs. The Pioneers combined record is 0–4.
YearRoundOpponentResult 2013 First Round Fordham L 27–37 2014 First Round Fordham L 22–44 2020 First Round Delaware L 10–19 2021 First Round Holy Cross L 10–13
Future non-conference opponents Future non-conference opponents announced as of September 30, 2026.
at UMass (9/12) at San Jose State (8/26) at Morgan State (9/2) at Akron (8/31) Stonehill (10/10) Morgan State (9/11) Brown (9/16) at Merrimack (11/21)
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