DALLAS – Preparations for the 2025 football season are on full display over the next two months as CUSA’s 12 members conduct their spring football schedules. The action begins with Liberty’s Spring Game on Saturday afternoon and culminates with LA Tech’s Spring Showcase on April 26.
Two teams (Kennesaw State, New Mexico State) are set to hit the field Monday, March 3, with two more beginning practices on Tuesday in FIU and FBS newcomer Missouri State. Fellow CUSA newcomer Delaware begins its groundwork on Saturday, March 8, ahead of its first FBS season.
In addition to two new programs, the league welcomes six new head coaches, including Delaware’s
Ryan Carty and Missouri State’s
Ryan Beard. The group of new hires from this past offseason include FIU’s
Willie Simmons, Jax State’s
Charles Kelly, Kennesaw State’s
Jerry Mack and Sam Houston’s
Phil Longo.
Last year’s CUSA Championship Game participants – WKU and Jax State – are set to begin spring practices on March 10 and 11, respectively. UTEP (March 17), MTSU (March 19), LA Tech (March 24) and Sam Houston (March 25) get started in the final weeks of March.
According to 247 Sports, UTEP brought in the top high school recruiting class in the league in year two under head coach
Scotty Walden, while WKU took the crown among transfer portal classes to help offset the Hilltoppers’ 125
th ranked returning production percentage (34%).
Despite the ever-growing transfer portal, Conference USA leads all Group of Five conferences in average returning production at 54 percent. The league features five teams that are set to return the most talent among FBS in Kennesaw State (5
th, 73%), Liberty (15
th, 66%), Missouri State (17
th, 66%), Delaware (20
th, 65%) and New Mexico State (21
st, 65%).
The beginning of spring football comes on the heels of the
league releasing the 2025 football schedule on Feb. 6.
The 2025 football season kicks off with a Week Zero league matchup with Sam Houston at WKU, and the slate wraps up with the 2025 CUSA Championship Game on Fri., Dec. 5.