NEW ORLEANS — The 2025 Sun Belt football season will officially kick off with Sun Belt Football Media Days on Tuesday, July 22, and Wednesday, July 23.
The event will be held at the New Orleans Marriott Warehouse Arts District in downtown New Orleans, La., and will be broadcast nationwide on ESPN+.
The media days attendees—the head coach and two student-athletes from each program—representing the Sun Belt West Division are listed below.
The group includes reigning Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year Southern Miss redshirt senior quarterback Braylon Braxton—who led Marshall to the 2024 Sun Belt championship, before following head coach Charles Huff to Hattiesburg—alongside two All-Sun Belt Second Team, two All-Sun Belt Third Team and two All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention selections from a year ago.
The Sun Belt East Division attendees will be announced at 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT on Wednesday, July 9.
The Sun Belt is coming off a 2024 campaign in which it defeated three autonomy conference foes—running its tally to 22 such victories since 2016 and 11 since 2022, when the league expanded to its current 14-member configuration. The Sun Belt also paced all non-autonomy conferences in Bowl Season representation for the third-straight year.
With Marshall’s 31-3 win over Louisiana in the 2024 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship Game, the Sun Belt boasted multiple 10-win teams for the seventh-straight season and for the fourth-straight year had multiple teams reach the mark prior to Bowl Season.
The Sun Belt also owns a .571 bowl winning percentage during the College Football Playoff era, trailing only the SEC (.578).
Three new head coaches—Dowell Loggains of App State, Tony Gibson of Marshall and Charles Huff of Southern Miss—will attend Sun Belt Football Media Days ahead of their first seasons at their respective institutions.
Sun Belt West Division programs—Arkansas State, Louisiana, ULM, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Texas State and Troy—will appear on Tuesday, July 22.
Sun Belt East Division teams—App State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, Marshall and Old Dominion—will participate on Wednesday, July 23.
Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill will begin the festivities with his State of the Conference address on Tuesday, July 22.
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ARKANSAS STATE
Butch Jones (Head Coach – 5th Season)
Jaylen Raynor (Jr., QB – Kernersville, N.C.)
Brandon Barnes (So., DB – Dallas, Texas)
LOUISIANA
Michael Desormeaux (Head Coach – 4th Season)
Jax Harrington (RS Sr., OL – Erath, La.)
Tyree Skipper (RS Sr., DB – New Orleans, La.)
ULM
Bryant Vincent (Head Coach – 2nd Season)
Nate Sullivan Jr. (Sr., TE – Omaha, Neb.)
Billy Pullen (Sr., LB – Kaufman, Texas)
SOUTH ALABAMA
Major Applewhite (Head Coach – 2nd Season)
Jordan Davis (RS Sr., OL – Fairburn, Ga.)
Darius McKenzie (RS Sr., LB – Ottawa, Ontario)
SOUTHERN MISS
Charles Huff (Head Coach – 1st Season)
Braylon Braxton (RS Sr., QB – Frisco, Texas)
Chris Jones (So., LB – Byram, Miss.)
TEXAS STATE
GJ Kinne (Head Coach – 3rd Season)
Dorion Strawn (RS Sr., OL – Ennis, Texas)
Kalil Alexander (RS Sr., DL – Charlotte, N.C.)
TROY
Gerad Parker (Head Coach – 2nd Season)
Goose Crowder (RS Jr., QB – Gardendale, Ala.)
Devin Lafayette (Sr., DB – Brunswick, Ga.)