Gallaudet is one of four programs playing this season in the final season of the ECFC. Photo by Mike Atherton, d3photography.com

Gallaudet has been invited to play football in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference in 2025, the conference reported this week. The Bison, located in Washington, D.C., will be the ninth football program playing in the conference that season, assuming Roanoke's football startup this fall is successful, Ferrum successfully gains admission to NCAA Division II, and there are no further changes.

The nation's four-year university for deaf and hard of hearing students, Gallaudet most recently elevated its football program from club status in 2007 and has been a member of the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference since 2009. The Bison have won the ECFC twice in that span and played in two Division III NCAA playoff games, but have not played an Old Dominion Athletic Conference opponent since 2017.

The other three remaining ECFC members announced new homes for 2025 last October. Alfred State will be going to the Empire 8 effective in 2025, while Dean will join Anna Maria and 10 additional Division III football programs as members of the MASCAC that same season.

“We are pleased to welcome Gallaudet's football team to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, and look forward to beginning this new chapter in the conference's history,” remarked Larry Stimpert, Hampden-Sydney College president and chair of the ODAC Presidents Council. “Like all of our ODAC colleges and universities, Gallaudet University brings its own distinctive mission and purpose to higher education, and we look forward to competing against its team on the gridiron.”

Each week of the conference season will feature one team on a bye week because of the odd number of teams. ODAC members will have eight conference games, from Week 3 to Week 11, and two non-conference games that can be scheduled in Week 1 and Week 2.

This will be a step up for the Bison, who have just eight countable games this season, including the ECFC championship weekend on Nov. 16.

“We are honored to have such a storied program join the conference as an associate member,” explained ODAC Commissioner Brad Bankston. “Gallaudet’s addition will provide our football programs with a quality opponent, in close proximity to our membership, who will enhance football membership in a number of ways. I look forward to finalizing the 2025 conference schedule and welcoming the Bison into the ODAC family as we work together to strengthen Division III football in our region.”

“I am humbled and excited about the opportunities that are being presented to our football program by joining the ODAC,” said Gallaudet athletic director Warren Keller. “We will be competing in a prestigious conference and this will give our student-athletes a platform to continue the success they have had recently on the gridiron and in the classroom.”

Gallaudet has a rich football history as the Bison began playing the sport in 1883. Gallaudet is Home of the Huddle™ as the first huddle was created in 1894 after another team was trying to steal the signs being signed by the Gallaudet players, who were communicating in American Sign Language. Quarterback Paul Hubbard instructed the Gallaudet players to huddle up to shield their signals and the first huddle began.

“I'm excited about Gallaudet University football joining the ODAC in 2025. This move marks a new chapter for our football program, and we're ready for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead,” said Gallaudet coach Chuck Goldstein, who enters his 15th season.