Think their president summed it up nicely:

"It was the liberalization of the transfer portal a few years ago," Van Tassell said. "It was our inability to compete with the name, image and likeness scheme. That's just out of our reach. Plus the uncertainties that go along with being a small Division I institution. In a perfect world, we would have stayed in the Northeast Conference. There were a lot of factors that were really stacked against us that kind of forced us into this position."

"We were looking at it from a student welfare point of view," he said. "We don't want to be a farm team for larger conferences. We want to attract students who will be here for four years, who we can develop into really fine professionals and into fine athletes. Unfortunately, because of the transfer portal, that environment, sadly, doesn't exist anymore or the way it once did."

https://sfuathletics.com/news/2025/3/25/inside-athletics-saint-francis-university-announces-move-from-ncaa-division-i-athletics-to-division-iii-athletics.aspx

I don't know that this is the first of MANY, but probably won't be the only one.

Quote from: jumbomumbo on February 16, 2025, 11:10:55 AMCoach Linton got his 100th career win over Bates last night.

That's a lot of wins over Bates!

Uhoh: https://penobscotbaypress.com/articles/latestnews-castinepatriot/mma-football-coaches-resign-midseason/?pubid=castinepatriot

It seems like the message is you are based in Massachusetts or you can pound sand.  Not sure why you go through the motions of booting PSU and UMD if you just wanted to get rid of WCSU and Castleton, unless they were all operating under a group contract or something.

Any word on what's happening with the MASCAC and their affiliates?

Anna Maria leaving for the MASCAC.  Alfred State to E8.  Dean to MASCAC.

https://www.mascac.com/news/23-24_News/Anna_Maria_Announcement

https://empire8.com/news/2023/10/10/alfred-state-college-to-join-empire-8-as-football-affiliate-member-in-2025.aspx

https://deanbulldogs.com/sports/football

Lights out for the ECFC.

New England College is adding football, are they headed to the CCC?

https://athletics.nec.edu/news/2023/6/15/new-england-college-adds-football-to-its-athletics-playbook.aspx

It's going to be interesting to see how things work out at Hartford.  The existing Hawks fans, donors, and alumni who have been involved with Hartford athletics all have stated that they have zero interest in the D3 Hawks, or the school at all at this point.

Maine Maritime hires a head coach: https://marinersports.org/news/2023/2/20/maine-maritime-names-calvin-powell-as-next-head-football-coach.aspx

Maine Maritime to the CCC for 2025-26: https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/01/09/sports/maine-maritime-academy/maine-maritime-varsity-football-revival/

All three non-NESCAC Maine programs will be in the same conference. 

Quote from: BeTheMan on October 31, 2022, 10:16:30 AMOver that past 3 years that I have seen them when they play us, it is clear that their culture has changed under Cos. Their defense is definitely nasty, but their offense has certainly held them back. I think there are two problems there: 1. QB play is not good. Lack of arm strength, panic in the pocket and is happier to scramble than let the ball fly. 2. Play Calling: Do they have a simpler playbook because of #1 problem above? Their offense has been in the bottom of the league for the past few years. They need to fix this asap if they are to be an upper tier program.

As a University of Maine alum, you could swap out the school and type the exact same description of Cosgrove's teams in Orono.  A defense with a mean attitude and a chip on their shoulder, plus a very vanilla offense that can't take advantage of it.

https://www.pressherald.com/2021/07/27/head-football-coach-malik-hall-leaves-bates-college/

Quote from: Pat Coleman on July 15, 2020, 02:17:25 PM

Quote from: quicksilver on July 15, 2020, 02:02:58 PM

Quote from: ColbyFootball on July 15, 2020, 10:02:50 AM
Coach Cosgrove just announced via email that Colby will be pursuing in state game opportunities in the fall for the team. I think this is great news for the kids, especially the seniors. I hope it works.

Umm-the 3 non-NESCAC football-playing schools in Maine are Husson, UNE, and Maine Maritime.  All three schools have full schedules for the fall at this point although I suppose some of those games could get cancelled if there is a COVID spike in the fall in New England . . .

Becker and Dean have already announced they are not participating in fall sports, so that's two open dates for Husson and one for UNE right there.

Maine still has a 14 day quarantine order for visitors from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York.  As well as all residents who visit those states.  Frankly, Husson's schedule is at 0 currently.

Quote from: NED3Guy on September 19, 2019, 11:27:08 AM
I appreciate Pat and Caz's statements about the ECFC having a place in today's D3 football landscape. Thinking about that the past few days, I guess the ECFC has really played a part in D3 football's growth in the past decade or so....Castleton, Anna Maria, Alfred State (Juco to D3), Keystone, Dean (Juco to D3), and Gallaudet (return to D3) all started programs (or moved to D3) as members of the ECFC.

On top of that, the conference has sent 5 different teams to the NCAA tournament in the 9 years they've had AQ status (SUNY, Norwich, Husson, Mt Ida, Gallaudet)....sadly two of those schools have left the conference and one of those schools no longer exists.

So I guess as much as I have bashed the league for being noncompetitive against the rest of D3, and as much as I speculate about the ultimate demise of the ECFC; the league really has served D3 football well over the years.

Which is the whole point of the conference- if the ECFC doesn't exist, not only does D3 football not grow, it shrinks.  Some of these schools will fold up their teams without a conference to play in.  The ECFC was fantastic for Husson.  If a school wants to start football and has upward ambition, the ECFC is a great place to start.  If a school wants to start football and give students that option without a whole lot of pressure, the ECFC is a great place to stay.