College of the Redwoods football’s ascent continued Thursday, with the school announcing that the Corsairs will move up a division and join the NorCal Conference of the National Division, the school announced Thursday.
It wasn’t too long ago that the Corsairs’ football program was suspended. That suspension broke early in the pandemic back in June 2020. The team didn’t compete for two seasons, but when they returned, they did so with a vengeance.
Under head coach Jason White, the Corsairs have gone 24-9 with three bowl game appearances and two bowl wins. The move to the NorCal Conference happened rapidly and will only help the program continue to grow.
“Moving to the NorCal Conference of the National Division will put CR in a more competitive league that will bring our football program more notoriety and place our team in the same conference as Shasta, Butte, American River, Santa Rosa, Sierra Colleges,” CR president Keith Flamer said in the release. “Our selection to compete in a higher conference is a testament to the success of our football program, our coaches, and our student-athletes.”
Two colleges requested to move down from the National Division to the American Division, which allowed teams to volunteer to move up to replace their spots, which CR did. Feather River and Contra Costa requested to move down; they were joined by San Joaquin Delta, which were moved down after they went 0-11 last season. San Jose and Monterey joined the Corsairs as teams who moved up to the National Division.
At this point in the offseason, CR already had an American Division schedule, but that has been switched and the Corsairs will be playing Feather River’s schedule this upcoming season. The team posted their opponents for the upcoming season on their X account, formerly known as Twitter, but dates for the games have not been set at this time.
“Our staff and athletic administration saw this as the right moment to take our program to the next level,” White said in a release. “Moving up not only advances our vision of playing for a state championship but also strengthens our ability to recruit top talent and prepare our athletes for four-year programs.”
The National Division features tougher competition than the American Division, where CR has played during White’s three seasons as head coach, which is a challenge he and his team are ready for.
“It’ll be a battle every week,” White said of the jump to the NorCal Conference. “It’s not going to be like last year where we score 63 points on teams.”
The move up to the National Division should result in tighter, more compelling games for fans, with only two of the Corsairs’ games last year being within 10 points. The move will also make CR more attractive to recruits who are eyeing jumping to four-year schools following their time at junior colleges, with the Corsairs now competing at the highest level of junior college football in the state.
“Anytime you’re an American Division team and you’re recruiting against a National Division team, that’s the first thing they’re going to bring up is the level of competition you’re going to play,” White said. “So it basically eliminates that road block for us.”
With the move, the Corsairs will be facing future Division I talent week-in, week-out but after the success the program has had since returning from suspension, it’s an appropriate challenge for College of the Redwoods.
“Most of your schedule is going to be like playing the top four teams in the American Division and then there’s a group of teams that are really, really good,” White said. “You’re going to deal with some teams that got a dozen Division I guys. That’s the difference.”
While the jump to the National Division happened suddenly, it was something White had always had his eyes on, as he first mentioned it in 2021 when he was applying for the position and now three years later, it’s a reality for him and the program.
Dylan McNeill can be reached at 707-441-0526.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
