Barber-Scotia College, an HBCU located in Concord, North Carolina, has officially announced its inaugural football schedule for the 2025 season. This marks the first time in the institution’s storied history that it will field a football team, ushering in what the school has proudly called the “Era of SABER Football.”
The Sabers will play eight games in their debut season as members of the New South Athletic Conference (NSAC). The schedule kicks off on September 6 with a home matchup against Central International College. Other highlights include Virginia University Lynchburg (Sept. 13), Clayton State (Oct. 11), Apprentice School (Oct. 25), and Gordon State College (Nov. 8). The season will conclude with the NSAC Championship Game on November 15 in Atlanta. Home game locations and ticket information will be announced soon.
The announcement, delivered with the taglines #BSCRising and #SaberPrideMagnified, was framed as more than the start of a football team. “This is resilience, pride, and the rebirth of a tradition that will forever change the landscape of our beloved institution,” the school stated.
HBCU redemption story loading?
This isn’t Barber-Scotia’s first brush with football. In 2003, the college hired current VUL head coach Tim Newman as its first football coach in 137 years. Newman, a former semipro coach, was tasked with building the program from the ground up. Plans called for the team to begin a 10-game club schedule in 2004. However, Barber-Scotia, then in the NAIA, lost its accreditation that summer amid financial and administrative turmoil. Without accreditation, students were ineligible for federal financial aid, and the football program collapsed before it could play a game.
Founded in 1867 as Scotia Seminary, Barber-Scotia has played a pioneering role in HBCU history, particularly as the first institution created to educate newly freed Black women after the Civil War. Over the years, it evolved into a coeducational liberal arts college, but financial struggles in the 2000s forced it to reimagine its future.
Joining the NSAC in 2024 and now launching football, Barber-Scotia is signaling a new era of stability and ambition. The addition of football is expected to energize campus life, attract new students, and restore the school’s presence in the Concord community.
For Barber-Scotia, the long-awaited kickoff in 2025 represents not just a new program, but the realization of a dream deferred for more than two decades.
This is where da big boyz ? play ????.
Season is ?? here ??????????