Erik Raeburn enters his sixth season as head coach of the Gannon football program in 2025. Raeburn was announced as the sixth head coach in program history on Nov. 19, 2019, after joining the program in 2019 as the team’s offensive coordinator.
Raeburn enters his 25th season as a head coach in 2025 and owns an impressive 165-87 record, including 22-25 at Gannon. In his five seasons he has rejuvenated the Gannon program with the Golden Knights a strong challenger in the PSAC West. In 2023 Gannon ended the year at 5-6 but came in third in the Western Division at 5-2.
The 2023 campaign started with three tough losses. The Golden Knights either led or were tied in all three games with five minutes or less remaining and fell to Millersville and West Chester in the final two minutes.
Raeburn would right the squad as the Golden Knights won five of its next six games with PSAC West action beginning. Gannon scored ten unanswered points in the fourth quarter against Clarion for a 27-20 win and followed with a 23-6 win at Seton Hill.
The Golden Knights made it three consecutive wins over local rival Edinboro, a 23-12 triumph and later in October ruled the 814 for the second straight year with a 31-28 win at Mercyhurst. The victory also allowed Gannon to retain possession of the Niagara Cup.
Gannon followed the Mercyhurst victory with a 16-15 win at Indiana (Pa.), the second straight year the Golden Knights defeated the Crimson Hawks. Senior placekicker Eric Scarpino made it two weeks in a row with a winning field goal in the final seconds, this one a school-record 51-yarder as time expired.
Scarpino went on to be named a consensus All-American, including first team AFCA and Associated Press Division II All-American honors, just the fifth Golden Knight to receive the latter honor and the first since 2017.
Ten Golden Knights were accorded All-PSAC West honors after a school-record 11 were selected in 2023. Four players were named to the first team – DL Obi Ezeigbo, DB Chris Farnsworth, OL Jacob Petit and Scarpino -- while six players earned a spot on the second team. They included WR Ke'John Batiste, RB Donny Marcus, DL Joseph "Joe" Loiseau, OL Montana Nietert, OL Riley Noble, and DB Kam Snell.
Gannon finished with a deceiving 3-7 record in 2024 as injuries sapped the Golden Knights of many key performers. The schedule-makers did the Golden Knights no favor, either, as they faced four teams that advanced to the NCAA Div. II Playoffs.
The 2024 campaign began with four losses, three against those playoff teams – East Stroudsburg, Kutztown and California (Pa.). Gannon came back to win two of its next three games, celebrating Homecoming with a 23-17 win over Seton Hill and winning the annual showdown with local rival Edinboro 25-21 with a touchdown in the final minute. Gannon ended PSAC West action with a 3-4 record thanks to a 34-28 win at Clarion.
Quarterback Jayden Whitaker was selected the PSAC West Freshman of the Year, marking the second time in three years one of Raeburn’s Golden Knights earned the honor. Four Golden Knights were accorded All-PSAC West honors. Charles Calhoun (defensive line) and Trey Baker (linebacker) were named to the first team while Donell “Tank” Mason (wide receiver) and Bryson Costa (punter) earned spots on the second team.
Costa went on to be named the first team punter on the D2CCA Super Region 1 Team.
The 2022 Golden Knights squad accomplished something done just once before – finish as co-champions of the PSAC Western Division. Gannon finished in a three-way tie with Indiana (Pa.) and Slippery Rock, all finishing at 6-1.
Gannon's 8-3 record left the Golden Knights one win shy of the school record of nine wins set in 2003 (9-1) and 2014 (9-2). The 1949 Gannon edition finished at 8-0. Gannon also finished in a tie for first place in the Western Division in 2014 as well.
It was a monumental season for the Golden Knights, beginning with an impressive 47-13 win over a strong Charleston (WV) team under the lights on a Thursday night. The victory was a sign of things to come – a high-flying offensive attack and a much-improved defensive unit. It was also the 150th of Raeburn’s career.
Gannon jumped out to a 5-1 start, the best getaway since 2003. The Golden Knights moved to 5-1 with a 35-17 win at local rival Edinboro before dropping their lone game in conference play at Slippery Rock.
That loss was followed by three straight victories, beginning with a 49-14 domination of crosstown rival Mercyhurst followed by wins over two of the elite programs in the PSAC. In a shootout Gannon upset 11th-ranked Indiana (Pa.) 43-36 for the first win over a ranked team since 2011. That was followed by a 25-13 victory at California (Pa.).
Gannon hosted Shippensburg in the final week of the regular season and entered the game ranked seventh in Super Region One. A win and the Golden Knights would likely receive a first-ever NCAA Tournament berth. Unfortunately the Raiders handed Gannon a 35-28 defeat in overtime.
Gannon had a school-record 11 players earn All-PSAC West honors with wide receiver Donell “Tank” Mason named the PSAC West Freshman of the Year. Quarterback Kory Curtis, defensive lineman Nick White and defensive back Chris Farnsworth were named Don Hansen NCAA Division II honorable mention All-Americans.
Raeburn brings more than three decades of experience in college football, including 25 seasons as a head coach. After serving for a season as the offensive coordinator in 2019, Raeburn’s first year was marred by the COVID pandemic in 2020. Gannon would play four games in the spring of 2021, with the Golden Knights presenting Raeburn with his first win as their head coach against crosstown rival Mercyhurst. Gannon won 28-21 in overtime to finish at 1-3.
The 2021 Gannon edition ended the year with a 5-6 record, the most wins since the 2017 squad also posted a 5-6 record. The Golden Knights had a pair of players earn Don Hansen All-American honors – running back Melvin Blanks and defensive end Nick White. Four players were accorded All-PSAC West honors.
Raeburn previously served as head coach at Coe, Wabash, and Savannah State. His most recent stop prior to Gannon was as the head coach at Division I Savannah State in Savannah, Georgia. He led the Tigers for three seasons from 2016 to 2018 with an 8-23 record. During that span, his student-athletes achieved the highest NCAA Academic Progress Rate in the program’s history.
Prior to his stop in Georgia, Raeburn was the head coach at Division III Wabash in Crawfordsville, Indiana, from 2008 to 2015. In those eight seasons, he led the Little Giants to a 78-13 overall record and won the North Coast Athletic Conference title three times (2008, 2011, 2015). He was named the conference Coach of the Year after finishing 12-1 and reaching the NCAA quarterfinals in 2011, one of five years his teams reached the NCAA playoffs. His teams never won fewer than eight games.
Four of his teams won 10-or-more games, including 12-1 finishes in 2011 and 2015. Both seasons saw the Little Giants win the NCAC championship and reach the NCAA Division III quarterfinals. Wabash was 10-2 in 2008 and 2014, winning the NCAC championship in 2008 and reaching the second round of the Division III playoffs both years.
In the 131-year history of the Wabash program, Raeburn’s winning percentage of .857 stands second, and his 78 wins place him third. The Little Giants earned 13 All-America honors during his time there, and placed 121 players on the all-conference team, including seven conference offensive or defensive players of the year.
Raeburn got his head coaching start at Division III Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he compiled a 57-26 record in eight seasons between 2000 and 2007. The Kohawks won three conference titles in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (now American Rivers Conference), and Raeburn was named IIAC and regional Coach of the Year in 2002.
Coe went to the NCAA Division III playoffs twice during Raeburn’s tenure, picking up the first playoff victory in program history in 2002. That was a 21-18 win over Wisc.-La Crosse, as Coe finished at 10-2, reached the second round of the Division III Tournament and won the IIAC championship. The Kohawks were 9-2 in 2005 and once again were IIAC champions. Raeburn produced 60 all-conference performers and six All-Americans in his time in Cedar Rapids.
He claimed his first career victory as a head coach in 2000, leading Coe to a 35-19 win at William Penn on September 2.
A native of northeast Ohio, Raeburn got his college coaching start at his alma mater, Division III national power Mount Union. In six years as an offensive line coach and offensive coordinator, he helped the Raiders to six Ohio Athletic Conference championships and three consecutive NCAA Division III national championships.
A 1994 graduate of Mount Union with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Raeburn played for the Raiders from 1989-92, a span that saw the team go 37-5-2, win a pair of OAC championships and reach the 1992 NCAA semifinals.
Raeburn resides in Erie and has four children – son Cade (22) and daughters Elle (20) and Reese (18), along with daughter Sienna who was born in August 2023.
Updated July 2025
