Year: | 2023 |
Team: | Virginia Union Panthers |
Sport: | football |
Conference: | Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association |
Short Conf: | CIAA |
Afcarank: | 20 |
Record: | 10–2 |
Conf Record: | 7–1 |
Head Coach: | Alvin Parker |
Hc Year: | 5th |
Off Coach: | Luke Bengtson |
Oc Year: | 1st |
Def Coach: | Edward Pointer |
Dc Year: | 5th |
Stadium: | Hovey Field |
Champion: | CIAA champion |
Bowl: | NCAA Division II First Round |
Bowl Result: | L 14–38 vs. |
The 2023 Virginia Union Panthers football team represented Virginia Union University as a member of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) during the 2023 NCAA Division II football season. Led by 5th-year head coach Alvin Parker, the Panthers compiled an overall record of 10–2 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play; winning the CIAA championship.
Virginia Union lost to in the first round of the playoffs for back-to-back first round losses and the programs' twelfth consecutive loss in the playoffs with no playoff wins.
+ class="nowrap" | 2023 Virginia Union offseason departures | |||||
Name | Number | Pos. | Height, Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
John Jiles |
| WR | 6'3, 190 | Junior | Wake Forest, NC | Elected to transfer to West Florida |
Jahkari Grant |
| QB | 6'1, 190 | Graduate | Windsor, CT | Graduated/declared for 2023 NFL draft |
Alvin Howard |
| WR | 6'0, 175 | Junior | Key West, FL | Elected to transfer to Concord |
Devin Sanders |
| DE | 6'1, 220 | Junior | Seat Pleasant, MD | N/A |
James Jackson |
| WR | 6'1, 170 | Senior | Richmond, VA | Graduated |
Damontay Rhem |
| LB | 6'0, 225 | Graduate | Wendell, NC | Graduated/declared for 2023 NFL draft |
Demetrius Mann |
| S | 5'9, 180 | Graduate | Tampa, FL | Graduated |
Kyron McKinnie-Harper |
| CB | 6'1, 190 | Sophomore | Detroit, MI | N/A |
Xzavier Hines |
| DE | 6'4, 235 | Senior | Lanham, MD | Graduated |
Zion Edwards |
| S | 6'0, 180 | Junior | Palm Beach, FL | N/A |
K'Jon Coley |
| CB | 6'0, 180 | Graduate | Richmond, VA | Graduated |
Joseph J. Johnson |
| WR | 5'6, 175 | Sophomore | Forestville, MD | N/A |
Dev'on Grant |
| LB | 6'1, 210 | Junior | Wake Forest, NC | Elected to transfer to Elizabeth City State |
Shamore Collins |
| LB | 6'0, 220 | Sophomore | Millville, NJ | N/A |
Donovan Owens |
| S | 6'0, 185 | Freshman | Chesapeake, VA | N/A |
Mingo Peterson |
| DB | 5'11, 175 | Graduate | Arlington, VA | Graduated |
Wali-Shahad Sabree |
| LB | 6'4, 210 | Senior | Chester, PA | Graduated |
R. J. Rountree |
| S | 6'0, 185 | Graduate | Silver Spring, MD | Graduated/declared for 2023 NFL draft |
Vince Willis |
| LB | 5'11, 195 | Sophomore | Los Angeles, CA | N/A |
Xavier Wilson |
| CB | 5'10, 170 | Freshman | Richmond, VA | N/A |
Malique Miller |
| LB | 6'1, 215 | Sophomore | Washington, DC | N/A |
Andrew Kibler |
| K/P | 6'1, 220 | Graduate | Cape Coral, FL | Graduated |
Kole Williams |
| LB | 6'0, 215 | Sophomore | Suffolk, VA | N/A |
Christian Solomon |
| OL | 6'3, 285 | Freshman | Hammonton, NJ | N/A |
Brian Gibson |
| OL | 6'4, 285 | Senior | Baltimore, MD | Graduated |
Justin Meade |
| OL | 6'2, 275 | Senior | Richmond, VA | Graduated |
Demetrie Massey |
| OL | 6'3, 275 | Senior | Miami, FL | Graduated |
Darian Bryant |
| OL | 6’6, 320 | Graduate | Philadelphia, PA | Graduated/declared for 2023 NFL draft |
Ahmad Holloway |
| TE | 6'2, 230 | Junior | Richmond, VA | N/A |
Dwayne Chandler |
| TE | 6'5, 225 | Freshman | Manassas, VA | Elected to transfer to Old Dominion |
Keenan Evans |
| DL | 6'3, 285 | Senior | Raleigh, NC | Graduated/declared for 2023 NFL draft |
Four Virginia Union Panthers players left via the NCAA transfer portal during or after the 2022 season.
Name | No. | Pos. | Height/Weight | Year | Hometown | College transferred to | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
John Jiles |
| WR | 6'3, 190 | Junior | Wake Forest, NC | West Florida | [1] |
Alvin Howard |
| WR | 6'0, 175 | Junior | Key West, FL | Concord | [2] |
Dev'on Grant |
| LB | 6'1, 210 | Junior | Wake Forest, NC | Elizabeth City State | [3] |
Dwayne Chandler |
| TE | 6'5, 225 | Freshman | Manassas, VA | Old Dominion | [4] |
Over the off-season, Virginia Union added seventeen players via the transfer portal.
Name | No. | Pos. | Height/Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school | Sources | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nehemiah Scott |
| S | 6'1, 175 | Sophomore | Richmond, VA | Emory and Henry | [5] [6] | |
J'Bore' Gibbs |
| QB | 6'3, 225 | Graduate | Chicago, IL | Idaho | [7] [8] | |
Navarro Price |
| QB | 6'1, 195 | Junior | Hampton, VA | Elizabeth City State | [9] [10] | |
Kory Fleming |
| TE | 6'3, 230 | Graduate | Clarksburg, MD | Morehouse | [11] [12] | |
Nahsir Morgan Sr. |
| WR | 6'5, 190 | Junior | Atlantic City, NJ | Delaware Valley | [13] [14] | |
David Freeman |
| RB | 5'10, 195 | Senior | Baltimore, MD | Hartnell College | [15] [16] | |
Elijah Rice |
| WR | 5'9, 185 | Senior | Williamsburg, VA | Emory and Henry | [17] [18] | |
Xzavier Barnes |
| CB | 6'0, 185 | Sophomore | Kilmarnock, VA | Virginia–Wise | [19] [20] | |
Decari Randle |
| LB | 6'1, 230 | Junior | Chicago, IL | Iowa Central CC | [21] [22] | |
Kyle Kidewell |
| S | 6'3, 195 | Sophomore | Bowie, MD | Atlanta Tech | [23] | |
Jabrill Norman |
| LB | 6'2, 220 | Junior | Salisbury, NC | Mars Hill | [24] [25] | |
Jerry Newmy |
| FB | 6'0, 245 | Freshman | Chester, VA | Chowan | [26] [27] | |
Jahmel Flowers |
| DE | 6'5, 215 | Junior | Atlanta, GA | Arkansas–Monticello | [28] [29] | |
Josue Hernandez |
| K/P | 6'1, 180 | Junior | Middlesex, NJ | Keystone | [30] | |
Dillon Porter |
| OL | 6'5, 285 | Sophomore | Pulaski, VA | Virginia–Lynchburg | [31] [32] | |
Tajhir Tate |
| DL | 6'1, 300 | Graduate | Elizabeth, NJ | Wagner | [33] [34] | |
Corie Addo | WR | 5'10, 195 | Sophomore | Richmond, VA | Norfolk State | [35] [36] |
See main article: 2023 college football recruiting class.
Virginia Union signed 26 players in the class of 2023.
See also: American football positions, Glossary of American football and Recruiting (college athletics).
The 2023 CIAA Media day were held at 9:30 a.m. on July 20, 2023. Each team had their head coach available to talk to the media at the event.[37]
Predicted Order of finish | ||
1 | Fayetteville State | |
2 | Bowie State | |
3 | Virginia Union | |
4 | Shaw | |
5 | Virginia State | |
6 | Johnson C. Smith | |
7 | Winston-Salem State | |
8 | Elizabeth City State | |
9 | Bluefield State | |
10 | Lincoln (PA) | |
11 | Livinstone | |
12 | St. Augustine's |
Predicted Order of finish (Northern) | ||
1 | Bowie State | |
2 | Virginia Union | |
3 | Virginia State | |
4 | Elizabeth City State | |
5 | Bluefield State | |
6 | Lincoln (PA) |
Predicted Order of finish (Southern) | ||
1 | Fayetteville State | |
2 | Shaw | |
3 | Johnson C. Smith | |
4 | Winston-Salem State | |
5 | Livingstone | |
6 | St. Augustine's |
Position | Player | Class | Team | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Offense | |||||
RB | Jada Byers | Jr | style= | Virginia Union | |
TE | Kalen Carver | Jr | style= | Virginia Union | |
OL | Justin Meade | Sr | style= | Virginia Union | |
Defense | |||||
DL | Isaac Anderson | Jr | style= | Virginia Union | |
Armonii Burden | Gr | style= | Virginia Union | ||
LB | Shamar Graham | So | style= | Virginia Union | |
Special teams | |||||
PK | Brady Myers | So | style= | Virginia Union | |
KR | Larry Hackey | Jr | style= | Virginia Union |
On January 13, 2023, Virginia Union was picked to play against fellow HBCU Morehouse in the fourth-annual Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic.[39] Virginia Union came into the game looking to build upon the previous seasons success as they finished with a 9–2 record and made an appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs under head coach Alvin Parker. Morehouse came into the season with first-year head coach Gerard Wilcher as the team looked to improve following a 1–9 season with former head coach Rich Freeman at the helm.[40]
Virginia Union beat Morehouse while running back Jada Byers scored three touchdowns and the Panther defense held the Maroon Tigers to less than 250 total-yards of offense throughout the entire game.[41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47]
See main article: 2023 Livingstone Blue Bears football team.
See also: St. Augustine's Falcons football.
See also: Elizabeth City State Vikings football.
See also: Bowie State Bulldogs football.
See also: Lincoln (Pennsylvania) Lions football.
See also: Virginia State Trojans football.
Virginia Union Panthers | |||||
Name | Position | Consecutive season at Virginia Union Panthers in current position | Previous position | VUU profile | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alvin Parker | Head coach | 5th | St. Augustine's assistant head coach and offensive coordinator (2016–2017) | [48] | |
Edward Pointer | Assistant head coach, defensive coordinator, and linebackers coach | 5th | St. Augustine's defensive coordinator (2016–2017) | [49] | |
Diego Ryland | Associate head coach, special teams coordinator, and running backs coach | 5th | Hampton running backs coach (2017) | [50] | |
Monterio Hand | Wide receivers coach | 5th | Elizabeth City State special teams coordinator, wide receivers coach, and tight ends coach (2004–2017) | [51] | |
Luke Bengston | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | 1st | Virginia Union pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach (2022) | [52] | |
Quinn Brown | Run game coordinator and offensive line coach | 1st | Henderson State assistant head coach, run game coordinator, and offensive line coach (2019–2022) | [53] | |
Solomon Brown | Defensive run game coordinator and defensive line coach | 1st | Virginia Union defensive line coach (2022) | [54] | |
Nico Rogers | Secondary coach | 1st | Virginia Union safeties coach (2022) | [55] | |
Justin Smith | Tight ends coach | 1st | Virginia Union graduate assistant (2021–2022) | [56] | |
Evan Jones | Cornerbacks coach | 1st | Stevenson defensive pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach (2020–2022) | [57] | |
Ryan Gould | Defensive ends coach | 1st | Richard J. Reynolds HS (NC) co-offensive coordinator, run game coordinator, and offensive line coach (2021–2022) | [58] | |
Reference:[59] |
|
Passing statistics | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NAME | POS | RAT | CMP | ATT | YDS | AVG/G | CMP% | TD | INT | LONG | ||
1 | Christian Reid | QB | 143.23 | 106 | 185 | 1,501 | 125.1 | 57.3% | 13 | 5 | 81 | |
18 | RJ Rosales | QB | 128.01 | 20 | 41 | 301 | 37.6 | 48.8% | 4 | 3 | 33 | |
16 | Nashir Morgan Sr. | WR | 367.1 | 2 | 3 | 68 | 9.7 | 75.0% | 1 | 0 | 38 | |
4 | J'Bore' Gibbs | QB | -100.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0% | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Rushing statistics | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NAME | POS | ATT | GAIN | AVG | TD | LONG | AVG/G | ||
3 | Jada Byers | RB | 205 | 1,186 | 5.8 | 16 | 57 | 118.6 | |
9 | Curtis Allen | RB | 117 | 660 | 5.6 | 6 | 60 | 55.0 | |
5 | Rashard Jackson | RB | 52 | 281 | 5.4 | 2 | 13 | 46.8 | |
18 | RJ Rosales | QB | 20 | 130 | 6.5 | 4 | 25 | 16.3 | |
21 | David Freeman | RB | 23 | 115 | 5.0 | 0 | 38 | 23.0 | |
1 | Christian Reid | QB | 48 | 55 | 1.1 | 1 | 29 | 4.6 | |
20 | Kenneth Davis | RB | 8 | 48 | 6.0 | 1 | 22 | 4.8 | |
11 | Larry Hackey | WR | 5 | 36 | 7.2 | 0 | 13 | 3.0 | |
2 | Said Sidibe | WR | 7 | 34 | 4.9 | 1 | 20 | 2.8 | |
24 | Jerome Jones | RB | 3 | 21 | 7.0 | 0 | 11 | 3.0 | |
30 | Robert Alvarez Jr. | RB | 4 | 19 | 4.8 | 0 | 10 | 19.0 | |
16 | Nahsir Morgan Sr. | WR | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 0 | 18 | 2.6 | |
14 | Mykael Anderson | WR | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 0 | 15 | 2.5 | |
29 | Marvin Holmes | P | 1 | -7 | -7.0 | 0 | 0 | -0.6 |
+ style="" | Weekly Honors | Recipient | Weekly Award (CIAA) | Week # | Date awarded | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Justin Meade, OL | Offensive Lineman of the Week | 1 | September 5, 2023 | [60] | ||
Jada Byers, RB | Offensive Back of the Week | 1 | September 5, 2023 | |||
Brady Myers, PK | Special Teams Player of the Week | 1 | September 5, 2023 | |||
William Davis, DB | Defensive Back of the Week | 2 | September 11, 2023 | [61] | ||
Shamar Graham, LB | Linebacker of the Week | 2 | September 11, 2023 | |||
Isaac Anderson, DE | Defensive Lineman of the Week | 4 | September 25, 2023 | [62] | ||
Curtis Allen, RB | Offensive Back of the Week | 5 | October 2, 2023 | [63] | ||
Jada Byers, RB | Offensive Back of the Week | 6 | October 9, 2023 | [64] | ||
Justin Meade, OL | Offensive Lineman of the Week | 7 | October 16, 2023 | [65] | ||
Jada Byers, RB | Offensive Back of the Week | 7 | October 16, 2023 | |||
Isaac Anderson, DL | Defensive Lineman of the Week | 7 | October 16, 2023 | |||
Justin Meade | Offensive Lineman of the Week | 8 | October 23, 2023 | [66] | ||
Justin Meade, OL | Offensive Lineman of the Week | 9 | October 30, 2023 | [67] | ||
Said Sidibe, WR | Receiver of the Week | 9 | October 30, 2023 | |||
Justin Meade, OL | Offensive Lineman of the Week | 10 | November 6, 2023 | [68] | ||
Jada Byers, RB | Offensive Back of the Week | 10 | November 6, 2023 | |||
Shamar Graham, LB | Linebacker of the Week | 10 | November 6, 2023 |
+ style= | Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Individual Awards | Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alvin Parker | Coach of the Year | November 10, 2023 | [69] | ||
Justin Meade | Offensive Lineman of the Year | November 10, 2023 | |||
Brady Myers | Special Teams Player of the Year | November 10, 2023 |
Player | Position | |
---|---|---|
Jada Byers | RB | |
Kalen Carver | TE | |
Justin Meade | OL | |
Jamaree Mayer | OL | |
Isaac Anderson | DL | |
Shamar Graham | LB | |
Brady Myers | PK |
Player | Position | |
---|---|---|
Mathias Nelson | OL | |
Jalen Mayo | S | |
Kamari Federick | DL |