The Villanova Wildcats football program represents Villanova University in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS, known as Division I-AA until 2006).
The Wildcats compete in the Colonial Athletic Association for football only. They play on campus at Villanova Stadium with capacity of 12,000, with some games at Subaru Park in Chester with capacity of 18,000. They are led by head coach Mark Ferrante. Former head coach Andy Talley was head coach of the program from its reinstatement in 1985 through 2016 and led the program to its first NCAA Division I FCS national championship in 2009.
History
The Wildcats football team played their first game in November 1894 coached by Mike Murphy. They continued to play as an independent team for 87 seasons, participating in several Bowl Games and sending numerous players into professional football, including Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long, a second round selection in the 1981 NFL draft.
On April 14, 1981, the program was officially disbanded due to weak attendance and monetary reasons cited by the university board of trustees. Athletic Director Ted Aceto had stated they had sold only 750 season tickets for the 1980 season with 95 scholarship players; the Wildcats' 1980 season record was 6–5.
Under heavy pressure from alumni and students, the program was reinstated by the board of trustees in April 1984 and sponsored a sold out Blue-White intrasquad game for Homecoming that November. Led by head coach Andy Talley, they began playing a limited schedule of regulation NCAA games in September 1985. The reborn program had instant success, beginning with an undefeated five-game schedule against Division III competition, and beating the Navy junior varsity. The program moved up to Division I-AA (now FCS) and joined the Yankee Conference in 1987, beginning official competition in 1988.
Led by quarterback Kirk Schulz and wide receiver Robert Brady, the Wildcats reached the I-AA playoffs in 1989, bowing to eventual champion Georgia Southern in a spirited, high scoring game.
With All-American linebacker Curtis Eller, the 'Cats returned to the I-AA playoffs in 1991 and 1992, bowing each time to eventual champion Youngstown State.
All-American wide receiver Brian Finneran led the Wildcats to the I-AA playoffs in 1996 before bowing to East Tennessee State.
The 1997 season marked Villanova's first undefeated, untied regular season, as well as their first time reaching No. 1 in the I-AA rankings. The 1997 'Cats featured two future Payton Award winners- Finneran and freshman running back Brian Westbrook. The Cat's defeated Colgate in the I-AA playoffs before falling a 3rd time to nemesis Youngstown State.
In 2002, led by All-American QB Brett Gordon, Villanova advanced to the NCAA I-AA semifinals, defeating Fordham and Furman before falling to McNeese State. Gordon broke his throwing hand early in the Fordham game, and played the final 2 1/2 playoff games with the injury, amassing nearly 1,000 yards of total offense, justifying his first runner-up finish in the Payton Award race.
In 2008, a sophomore-laden squad led by all-purpose back Matt Szczur and QB Chris Whitney had Villanova verged on becoming a national powerhouse. Ben Ijalana was the starting tackle, and started every single game in his career at Villanova eventually getting drafted in the 2nd round of the NFL draft by the Indianapolis Colts. Ijalana was drafted the 2nd highest in school history, behind Hall-of-famer Howie Long and in front of pro-bowler Brian Westbrook. Linebacker Darrell Young was a very talented player, who ended up signing onto the Washington Redskins and becoming their starting fullback. Young made the improbable switch from linebacker in college, to fullback in the NFL which is almost unheard of in this day and age.