NEW ORLEANS — The 2026 Sun Belt football season will officially kick off with Sun Belt Football Media Days on Wednesday, July 15, and Thursday, July 16.
For the third-straight year, 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 East Division are listed below.
The group includes a pair of All-Sun Belt Second Team returners in App State redshirt junior linebacker Colton Phares and James Madison redshirt senior offensive lineman Zach Greenberg, alongside five All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention selections from a year ago.
The Sun Belt West Division attendees will be announced at 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT on Thursday, July 9.
The Sun Belt is coming off a 2025 season in which it earned its first-ever berth into the College Football Playoff (CFP) after having six teams listed in the CFP Selection Day Rankings over the past seven seasons. The Sun Belt also paced all non-autonomy conferences in Bowl Season representation for the fourth-straight year.
For the eighth-straight season, the Sun Belt boasted multiple 10-win teams in Sun Belt champion and CFP participant James Madison and Old Dominion.
The Sun Belt continues to lead all non-autonomy conferences with a .548 bowl winning percentage during the College Football Playoff era, trailing only the Big Ten and SEC.
Three new head coaches—Ryan Beard of Coastal Carolina, Billy Napier of James Madison and Blake Anderson of Southern Miss—will attend Sun Belt Football Media Days ahead of their first seasons at the helm at their respective institutions.
Sonny Cumbie-led Louisiana Tech, which officially joined the Sun Belt Conference on July 1, 2026, will also appear at Sun Belt Football Media Days for the first time.
Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill will begin the festivities with his State of the Conference address on Wednesday, July 15.
Sun Belt East Division teams—App State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, Marshall and Old Dominion—will participate on Wednesday, July 15.
Sun Belt West Division programs—Arkansas State, Louisiana, ULM, Louisiana Tech, South Alabama, Southern Miss and Troy—will appear on Thursday, July 16.
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APP STATE
Dowell Loggains (Head Coach – 2nd Season)
Malachi Singleton (RS Jr., QB – Kennesaw, Ga.)
Colton Phares (RS Jr., LB – Beaufort, S.C.)
COASTAL CAROLINA
Ryan Beard (Head Coach – 1st Season)
Robby Washington (RS Jr., WR – Miami, Fla.)
Ibrahim Diawara (RS Sr., DL – Philadelphia, Pa.)
GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Clay Helton (Head Coach – 5th Season)
Josh Dallas (RS Sr., WR – Sharpsburg, Ga.)
Chance Gamble (6th Yr., DB – Fitzgerald, Ga.)
GEORGIA STATE
Dell McGee (Head Coach – 3rd Season)
Cameran Brown (RS Sr., QB – Warner Robins, Ga.)
Jabriel Rhodes-Nelson (Sr., DL – Philadelphia, Pa.)
JAMES MADISON
Billy Napier (Head Coach – 1st Season)
Zach Greenberg (RS Sr., OL – Livingston, N.J.)
Amar Thomas (RS Jr., DL – Upper Marlboro, Md.)
MARSHALL
Tony Gibson (Head Coach – 2nd Season)
Carlos Del Rio-Wilson (RS Sr., QB – Atlanta, Ga.)
Daytione Smith (RS Sr., S – East Highland Park, Va.)
OLD DOMINION
Ricky Rahne (Head Coach – 7th Season)
Devin Roche (RS Jr., RB – Baltimore, Md.)
Mario Easterly (RS Sr., S – Harrisburg, Pa.)