Lane College announced Tuesday that Stanley Conner has stepped down as head football coach.

Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jeremy C. Patterson will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the 2026 season, and the current football staff will remain in place. The college said it will share information about the program’s future leadership after the season.

Conner leaves after less than two full seasons. Lane went 0-10 in 2025 and is 0-8 this fall, an 0-18 record since he arrived in February 2025.

“Coach Conner has given his life to developing young men through this game, and he brought that same commitment to Lane College,” Lane College President Donald W. Comer said. “We are grateful for his service to the Dragons, we have great respect for him, and we wish him and his family every success in the next chapter.”

“I am grateful to Lane College for the opportunity to lead this program, and to our players for their hard work and commitment,” Conner said. “I wish them and the College continued success.”

Patterson Steps In

Patterson is a Lane alumnus who served as the Dragons’ defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2021-22. He has also coached at Mississippi Valley State and Ouachita Baptist, and he will remain director of athletics while leading the team.

“Our focus is on our student-athletes and on finishing this season together,” Patterson said. “I want to thank Coach Conner for his commitment to these young men. They have worked hard, and we will support them every step of the way.”

Conner’s Arrival

Lane introduced Conner as its head coach on Feb. 6, 2025, at a press conference in Kirkendoll Hall. The college’s announcement credited him with more than 30 years of coaching at the college and high school levels.

Conner came to Jackson from Miles College, where he spent eight seasons as running backs coach and recruiting coordinator and helped lead three SIAC championships. He previously served as head coach at Benedict College and Concordia-Alabama, held coaching roles at Alabama A&M and Alabama State, and played at Jackson State.

“Stanley Conner is a proven winner, and his depth of experience will be an invaluable asset to our football program,” said Derrick Burroughs, Lane’s athletic director at the time. Conner said he looked forward “to building a winning culture and mentoring young men to succeed both on the field and in life.”

0-18 Under Conner

Lane has not scored more than 22 points in any of the 18 games. The defense has allowed 40 or more points eight times, including two 55-point games against Kentucky State, a 55-0 loss in 2025 and a 55-22 loss on Oct. 17.

2025: Close Games That Got Away

Conner’s first season opened with a 27-15 home loss to Lincoln (Mo.) at Lane Field, followed by a 29-21 loss at Allen. The Dragons then lost 49-7 at Alabama A&M and 42-13 to Central State in Rochester, N.Y., at the Frederick Douglass HBCU Football Classic.

The back half of the schedule produced Conner’s closest results. After a 23-13 home loss to Miles, its coach’s former program, and a 31-7 loss at Morehouse, Lane fell 23-19 to Fort Valley State at home and 18-13 at Tuskegee on consecutive Saturdays.

Three of the 10 losses came by eight points or fewer. The season ended with a 55-0 home loss to Kentucky State, and Lane finished 0-10 overall, 0-5 at home and 0-8 in conference play.

2026: The Offense Disappeared

The second season has been harder. Lane opened with a 16-3 loss at NAIA program Bethel (Tenn.), then lost 34-0 at Alabama State in the Labor Day Classic.

Three straight home games followed, and Lane scored 13 points across all three: a 43-7 loss to Allen, a 44-0 loss to Morehouse and a 38-6 loss to Central State.

The closest game of the season came on Oct. 3 at Miles, a 9-6 loss in Fairfield, Ala. Lane then lost 51-0 at Albany State and 55-22 at Kentucky State, where the Dragons posted their highest point total of the year.

Lane has been shut out three times in 2026 and has scored seven points or fewer in seven of its eight games. Its 5.5 points per game is less than half of its 2025 average.

The record has also left Lane near the bottom of the Division II rankings that now decide playoff selection. Three SIAC Teams Top Super Region 2 in Division II’s New NCAA Power Index shows the Dragons at No. 153 of 160 programs nationally and last among SIAC teams, with a 0-6 record against Division II opponents.

Patterson’s first game as interim coach is Oct. 24 at Fort Valley State. Lane closes the season at home on Oct. 31 against Tuskegee.

What Lane Spends on Football

Lane’s most recent athletics spending report covers July 2024 through June 2025. That window includes the season before Conner was hired and his first months on the job, but not either of his seasons on the field.

Football accounted for about 30% of Lane’s total athletics spending. With 109 players on the roster, that’s about $9,521 per player.

Football game-day operating expenses came to $227,126, or about $2,084 per player. The football staff included one full-time head coach and five full-time assistant coaches.

Lane reported football revenue of $1,037,739, matching its football expenses, and the athletics department as a whole reported revenue and expenses of $3,446,247 each.

Which Division 2 HBCUs Are Built for the Jump to the MEAC or SWAC? places those figures alongside the rest of the Division II HBCUs.

Football’s Footprint on a Small Campus

The football roster is a large share of Lane’s student body. The college had 719 full-time undergraduates during the 2024-25 reporting year, including 396 men.

The 109 football players equal about 28% of full-time undergraduate men, or roughly one in four. Across all sports, 241 individual students competed on at least one varsity team.

Lane enrolled 738 students in fall 2024, all undergraduates. Of the first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2023, 44% returned for a second year.

The College Around the Program

Lane’s federal tax filing for the 2024-25 school year shows total revenue of $23.3 million, down from $25.4 million the year before. Expenses fell from $26.2 million to $23.6 million.

That left an operating gap of $309,507, down from $732,758 the year before. Athletics spending of $3.4 million equaled about 15% of the college’s total expenses.

Cash on hand dropped from $3.0 million to $1.9 million over the year. Lane’s endowment ended the year at $7.0 million, which the college reports is used to provide scholarships.

Tuition and required fees for full-time undergraduates are $11,790 for the 2025-26 school year.

Turnover Above the Program

For the final two games, Patterson will run the athletics department and coach the football team. After the Oct. 31 finale against Tuskegee, the focus shifts to who Lane picks to lead the program next.