The 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The NCAA Division I Football Championship Game was played on January 7, 2017, in Frisco, Texas. The James Madison Dukes defeated the Youngstown State Penguins, 28–14, to capture their second national championship in team history.

Conference changes and new programs School 2015 conference 2016 conference Coastal Carolina Big South FCS independent East Tennessee State FCS independent SoCon

Notable headlines April 20 – The NCAA banned five schools from the 2016 postseason for failure to meet Academic Progress Rate criteria: Florida A&M, Howard, Morgan State, Savannah State, and Southern. April 28 – Following the March 1 announcement by the Sun Belt Conference that it would not renew its football-only membership agreements with Idaho and New Mexico State when they expire at the end of the 2017 season, Idaho announced that it would return to FCS football in its all-sports league, the Big Sky Conference, in 2018. The Vandals thus became the first team ever to voluntarily drop from FBS to FCS. September 17 – East Tennessee State and Western Carolina played on a temporary fieldturf surface installed on the infield of the Bristol Motor Speedway. The same NASCAR racetrack hosted a game between Tennessee and Virginia Tech one week earlier. November 19 – Joe Thomas Sr., a 55-year-old walk-on at South Carolina State, appeared for one play in the first quarter of the Bulldogs' season finale against Savannah State, rushing for 3 yards. Although the NCAA does not keep statistics on player ages, the father of Green Bay Packers linebacker Joe Thomas Jr. is believed to be the oldest player ever to take the field in a Division I game.

FCS team wins over FBS teams Italics denotes FBS teams.

Conference standings

Conference summaries Championship games Conference Champion Runner-upScoreOffensive Player of the YearDefensive Player of the YearCoach of the Year SWAC Grambling State11–1 (9–0) Alcorn State5–6 (5–4) 27–20 Devante Kincade(Grambling State) Tiger Donovan McCray(Grambling State) Broderick Fobbs(Grambling State)

Other conference winners Note: Records are regular-season only, and do not include playoff games. ConferenceChampionRecordOffensive Player of the YearDefensive Player of the YearCoach of the Year Big Sky Eastern WashingtonNorth Dakota 10–1 (8–0)9–2 (8–0) Gage Gubrud(Eastern Washington)Cooper Kupp(Eastern Washington) Cole Reyes(North Dakota) Bubba Schweigert(North Dakota) Big South Charleston SouthernLiberty 7–3 (4–1)6–5 (4–1) Tyrell Maxwell(Gardner–Webb) Anthony Ellis(Charleston Southern) Jamey Chadwell(Charleston Southern) CAA James Madison 10–1 (8–0) Bryan Schor(James Madison) Tanoh Kpassagnon(Villanova) Mike Houston(James Madison) Ivy PennPrinceton 7–3 (6–1)8–2 (6–1) John Lovett(Princeton) Folarin Orimolade(Dartmouth) Bob Surace(Princeton) MEAC North Carolina Central 9–2 (8–0) Tarik Cohen(North Carolina A&T) Shaquille Leonard(South Carolina State) Jerry Mack(North Carolina Central) MVFC North Dakota StateSouth Dakota State 10–1 (7–1)8–3 (7–1) Taryn Christion(South Dakota State) Karter Schult(Northern Iowa) John Stiegelmeier(South Dakota State) NEC DuquesneSaint Francis (PA) 8–3 (5–1)7–4 (5–1) Kamron Lewis(Saint Francis) Christian Kuntz(Duquesne) Chris Villarrial(Saint Francis) OVC Jacksonville State 10–1 (7–0) Eli Jenkins(Jacksonville State) Darius Jackson(Jacksonville State) John Grass(Jacksonville State) Patriot Lehigh 9–2 (6–0) Nick Shafnisky(Lehigh) Pat Afriyie(Colgate) Andy Coen(Lehigh) Pioneer San Diego 9–1 (8–0) Jonah Hodges(San Diego) Donald Payne(Stetson) Dale Lindsey(San Diego) Southern The Citadel 10–1 (8–0) Devlin Hodges(Samford) Keionta Davis(Chattanooga) Brent Thompson(The Citadel) Southland Sam Houston State 11–0 (9–0) Overall: Jeremiah Briscoe(Sam Houston State)Offensive: Yedidiah Louis(Sam Houston State) P. J. Hall(Sam Houston State) K. C. Keeler(Sam Houston State)

Playoff qualifiers Automatic berths for conference champions ConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bidResultBig Sky Conference Eastern Washington 12th 2014 Quarterfinals (L – Illinois State)Big South Conference Charleston Southern 2nd 2015 Quarterfinals (L – Jacksonville State)Colonial Athletic Association James Madison 13th 2015 National Champions (W – Youngstown State)Missouri Valley Football Conference South Dakota State 6th 2015 First Round (L – Montana)Northeast Conference Saint Francis (PA) 1st – –Ohio Valley Conference Jacksonville State 7th 2015 Championship Game (L – North Dakota State)Patriot League Lehigh 10th 2011 Quarterfinals (L – North Dakota State)Pioneer Football League San Diego 2nd 2014 First Round (L – Montana)Southern Conference The Citadel 5th 2015 Second Round (L – Charleston Southern)Southland Conference Sam Houston State 10th 2015 Semifinals (L – Jacksonville State)

At large qualifiers ConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bidResult Big Sky Conference Cal Poly 4th 2012 Second Round (L – Sam Houston State) North Dakota 1st – – Weber State 5th 2009 First Round (L – William & Mary) Big South Conference None Colonial Athletic Association New Hampshire 15th 2015 First Round (L – Colgate) Richmond 11th 2015 Semifinals (L – North Dakota State) Villanova 11th 2014 Quarterfinals (L – Sam Houston State) Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference North Carolina A&T 5th 2003 First Round (L – Wofford) Missouri Valley Football Conference Illinois State 7th 2015 Quarterfinals (L – Richmond) North Dakota State 7th 2015 Semifinals (L - James Madison) Youngstown State 14th 2006 Semifinals (L – Appalachian State) Northeast Conference None Ohio Valley Conference None Patriot League None Pioneer Football League None Southern Conference Chattanooga 4th 2015 Second Round (L – Jacksonville State) Samford 6th 2013 First Round (L – Jacksonville State) Wofford 6th 2012 Quarterfinals (L – North Dakota State) Southland Conference Central Arkansas 3rd 2012 Second Round (L – Georgia Southern) Southwestern Athletic Conference None

Abstentions Ivy League – Princeton Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina Central Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State

Postseason

Bowl game GameDate/TVLocationWinning TeamLosing TeamScoreOffensive MVPDefensive MVPCelebration BowlDecember 17ABCGeorgia DomeAtlanta, GeorgiaGrambling State12–1 (9–0)North Carolina Central9–3 (8–0)10–9Martez Carter(RB, Grambling State)Jameel Jackson(DB, Grambling State)

NCAA Division I playoff bracket

* Home team    WinnerAll times in Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05:00)

Awards and honors Walter Payton Award The Walter Payton Award is given to the year's most outstanding offensive player. Finalists: Jeremiah Briscoe (QB), Sam Houston State Gage Gubrud (QB), Eastern Washington Cooper Kupp (WR), Eastern Washington

Buck Buchanan Award The Buck Buchanan Award is given to the year's most outstanding defensive player. Finalists: Dylan Cole (LB), Missouri State P. J. Hall (DE), Sam Houston State Karter Schult (DE), Northern Iowa

Jerry Rice Award The Jerry Rice Award is given to the year's most outstanding freshman. Winner: A. J. Hines (RB), Duquesne

Coaches AFCA Coach of the Year: Mike Houston, James Madison Eddie Robinson Award: K. C. Keeler, Sam Houston State

Updated stadiums South Dakota State debuted Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium (capacity 19,340). New Hampshire debuted a major renovation of the renamed Wildcat Stadium, expanded to just over 11,000 from the previous capacity of 6,500. William & Mary also debuted a major renovation and expansion to its Zable Stadium, which the saw the addition of an upper deck and an increase in capacity to 12,259. Prairie View A&M opened its new Panther Stadium (capacity 15,000).

Coaching changes In-season This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2016. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2016, see 2015 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.

SchoolOutgoing coachDateReasonReplacement Delaware Dave Brock October 16 Fired Dennis Dottin-Carter (interim)

End of season SchoolOutgoing coachDateReasonReplacement Abilene Christian Ken Collums November 20 Fired Mark Ribaudo (interim) Howard Gary Harrell November 20 Contract was not renewed Mike London Presbyterian Harold Nichols November 20 Resigned Tommy Spangler UC Davis Ron Gould November 20 Fired Dan Hawkins Lamar Ray Woodard November 21 Fired Mike Schultz Bryant Marty Fine November 30 Resigned James Perry Lafayette Frank Tavani December 1 Fired John Garrett Furman Bruce Fowler December 2 Resigned Clay Hendrix Villanova Andy Talley December 3 Retired Mark Ferrante Delaware Dennis Dottin-Carter (interim) December 13 Permanent replacement Danny Rocco Richmond Danny Rocco December 13 Hired by Delaware Russ Huesman Chattanooga Russ Huesman December 14 Hired by Richmond Tom Arth Indiana State Mike Sanford December 16 Resigned Curt Mallory Abilene Christian Mark Ribaudo (interim) December 18 Permanent replacement Adam Dorrel Eastern Washington Beau Baldwin January 16 Hired as OC at California Aaron Best

Rule changes The following rule changes were recommended by the NCAA Football Rules Committee for the 2022 season: When players are disqualified for a targeting call in the second half or in overtime (which requires a carryover penalty of sitting out the first half of the next scheduled game), an appeals process will be available to allow the National Coordinator of Officials (currently Steve Shaw) to review tapes of the targeting penalty for consideration of not requiring the player to sit out the first half of the following game. Injury timeouts awarded due to "deceptive actions" during a game will also be able to reviewed by the National Coordinator of Officials to determine what sanctions, if any, against teams who use this tactic, enforced at the conference or school level. Blocking below the waist will only be permitted inside the tackle box by linemen and stationary backs. Blocks below the waist outside of the tackle box are not allowed. Defensive holding will remain a 10-yard penalty but will always carry an automatic first down. Codifying the rule change made shortly after the 2021 ACC Championship Game, ball carriers who simulate a feet-first slide will be declared down at that spot. Uniform rules would require the sock/leg covering to go from the shoe to the bottom of the pants, similar to the NFL rule.

Attendances The top 10 NCAA Division I FCS football teams by average home attendance in 2016:

See also 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season 2016 NCAA Division II football season 2016 NCAA Division III football season 2016 NAIA football season

References