INDIANAPOLIS — Marian University announced today that the NAIA has withdrawn the program from the NAIA Football Championship Series after the university discovered that an academically ineligible student-athlete participated in three contests this season. As a result, Marian will not play its scheduled playoff game at Keiser University on Saturday, December 6, 2025, and the team’s season has concluded.
“We sincerely apologize to Keiser University, the NAIA, our student-athletes, and the Marian community that we cannot continue our season,” said Steve Downing, Marian Director of Athletics. “This is a disappointing outcome for everyone involved. We regret the disruption it causes and are taking immediate steps to address the root causes.”
The athletic department identified the eligibility issue following a routine internal review and self-reported the matter to the NAIA. The university has fully cooperated with the NAIA’s review. Marian understands the team may be required to vacate up to three games in which the ineligible student-athlete competed.
“As is often the case with inadvertent eligibility issues, multiple factors contributed to this situation,” Downing added. “We have identified gaps in our processes, are implementing strengthened academic and eligibility checks, and will complete a formal internal review. Our coaches acted in good faith and were not previously aware of the eligibility violation.”
A letter to the university has been sent out from the desk of President Daniel J. Elsener. The letter from President Elsener reads:
“I write with a heavy heart to share an important and difficult update. On December 2, we self-reported to the NAIA that we had just learned a member of our football team had become ineligible to play after his course fell short of the NAIA requirement to maintain full-time student status.
I know how painful and frustrating this is for our student-athletes, coaches, staff, and everyone who stands with the Knights. We deeply regret the circumstances that led to this outcome and the disruption it has caused for our team and community.
While we have systems in place to prevent these issues, we take full responsibility for the breakdown that brought us to this point. We are conducting a full audit of our academic and compliance processes to determine exactly what failed. I assure you that we will take action to correct the issue and strengthen our procedures to prevent this from happening again.
We made the decision to self-report because the integrity of our program and our university is paramount. We are fully cooperating with the NAIA and are committed to supporting the student-athlete involved and our entire football program, which has worked tirelessly to build a top-notch program. We will be transparent about findings and next steps and will share updates as they become available.
Thank you for your passion, patience, and continued support for the Knights.”
Sincerely,
Daniel J. Elsener
Coach Ted Karras Jr. statement on social media:
Dordt University statement on their appeal:
NAIA Official Statement:
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has received Marian University’s self-report of an eligibility violation within its football program. Marian will be removed from the 2025 NAIA Football Championship Series. While this outcome is certainly unfortunate, we appreciate Marian’s integrity and cooperation in addressing the issue quickly and transparently. With this adjustment to the postseason field, Keiser University will advance to the NAIA Football Championship Series Semifinals.
What an absolute cluster this is.
It’s fair to no one. Marian. Dordt. The remaining teams.
It completely changes the strategic outlook of the post season. Keiser gets a mid-playoff bye going into the semi finals which is absolutely outrageous.
Benedictine and Friends both previously needed 2/3 teams to lose to potentially hope for a semi final home game. Now that scenario requires 2/2. Both BC and FU need losses by GV and MT.
Montana tech needed 1 of 2 teams to lose in order to get a semi final home game. Now it’s based solely on Grandview.
This is an awful situation that should fall squarely on the coaching and athletic department staff at Marian University. They’ve managed to create a massive cluster of a situation and frankly someone should lose their job over this and broader impact it will have.
There’s blame to be placed as well as the individual player who should have known better, but at the end of the day, he’s being held accountable and taking his whole team with him. I hope they didn’t release his name because I can’t imagine he’s popular right now.
If Keiser takes the banner, consider it asterisked