Another NAIA program in the midwest is shutting down

NAIA program Concordia-Ann Arbor went into this past fall season knowing it would be their final one as a football program following the difficult news just months earlier that the school had made the decision to discontinuing all athletics. 

Now another NAIA program in The Mitten State is facing the same fate.

Seina Heights, a relatively new program just over a decade old after playing their first game in 2011, has announced that the 2025-26 academic year will be their last.

In a message that will sound familiar to a lot of small colleges, after 105 years of operations, the school points to their poor financial situation, operational challenges, and long-term sustainability concerns as the reason behind the decision.

“We are deeply grateful to the faculty, staff, students, and alumni who have worked hard decade after decade to make Siena Heights an incredibly special place,” Dr. Douglas B. Palmer shared in the school's release. 

“We look ahead to the next academic year planning all the activities one would normally get including athletics, residential life, and great events that we share with our alumni and entire community.”

With that, it appears Matt Kohn and his staff will get one final season with his guys just a year after Josh Schumacher faced the same at CUAA.

The young program had just two head coaches over the years, first of which was former longtime Adrian College head coach Jim Lyall. Kohn was on Lyall's oringal staff back in 2011, and was thrust into the interim head coach role heading into the 2016 season when Lyall stepped away citing health concerns.

After serving as a galvanizing presence during that adversity, leading the team to a 5-5 campaign that fall, Kohn was elevated to the head coaching role, where he has remained since.

This past fall, Kohn and the Saints finished 3-7 with convincing wins over Defiance, Lawrence Tech and Madonna.

The Saints staff page lists 14 coaches, as well as a handful of student managers who will be affected by the decision.