Back in May, Lindenwood-Belleville announced a plan to cut all of their traditional undergrad programs at the end of the spring semester in 2020 at the school and combine with their St. Charles, MO campus, and included in the plan was the decision to cut all of their NAIA sports programs as well, including football, as well.
Even though the school decided to honor all athletic scholarships and financial aid packages through the school's closing, the coaching staff and players entered the summer knowing that they faced a daunting task ahead.
Pat Stewart led the program on an interim basis partway through the 2018 season before being appointed the team's head coach, and after the unfortunate announcement, he and his staff were charged with keeping a roster together from other schools coming in and poaching players players away so they could play one last season.
Unfortunately, that proved to be an impossible task.
A source recently shared with FootballScoop the news that Lindenwood-Belleville is cancelling the 2019 season due to a lack of depth at key positions.
Players are now faced with scrambling to find for a new place to play with the season less than two months away, as opposed to players being able to play in the fall and look to transfer mid-year. All told, about 60 players with the program will be looking for landing spots, we're told. Also, a number of programs on twill be looking to fill 2019 open dates immediately.
The coaching staff, who we've listed below, also now find themselves on the job hunt for a new program as well, a full four months before the traditional hiring cycle begins.
The coaching profession has always been one that looks out for one another, so if you happen to have a coaching connection in common with one of these coaches, and you know of an opening that would be a good fit for them, help them land on their feet and in a good spot. It's an important reminder that very few of us are at programs that are immune to something like this happening.