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  * Non-conference games

After banning off-campus intercollegiate football for the 1896 season (though some games are purported to have taken place), A&M's Board of Trustees voted to allow the sport again in the 1897 season following a petition from the Athletic Association. There are two posible reasons for this quick reversal in policy.

One posisble reason for the change is because of North Carolina politics. Without going too far into the politics of late nineteenth-century North Carolina, it can be summed up as follows: in the 1896 elections, North Carolina's government was filled largely with a Fusionist group of Populists and Republicans, both of whom joined forces over issues including education, voting rights, and focusing on local self-rule (Faulkner). Though the Fusionists did make some changes, ranging from allowing dances to replacing some professors, to more importantly allowing off-campus football, the number of changes they made were "not as many as had been feared" (Lockmiller, p. 60). The News & Observer (run by Josephus Daniels, a prominent Democrat and eventual leader of the infamous Wilmington Race Riots) lambasted the change in direction of the new Board, writing that the new Board was putting on "frills." The paper sardonically described the Board's changes (whose work he bitterly wrote commenced with a "good dinner," a campus tour, and a cigar break before any real issues were tackled) by changing A&M from "a plain, everyday, hard-working industrial institution, doing honest work and trying to make men" into what the author denigratingly described as a "college of the highest type" (News and Observer, March 27th, 1897, p. 5).

The second possible reason, and the more likely one, is that members of the Board of Trustees felt that the decision to ban sports that had been made in late 1895 was unfair because two of the board members were not present for the vote. In the Spring 1897 meeting of the Board of Trustees, the vote to allow intercollegiate athletic constests was made a second time, this time after hearing arguments from the Athletic Association. The full 15-member board voted this time, and intercollegiate athletics were again allowed (Beezley, p. 10).

The Board of Trustees discussed the matter of reviving intercollegiate football on the afternoon of March 25th, 1897. The minutes from the meeting read as follows:

The Board assembled after dinner, and the Secretary was directed to read a petition sent in by the Athletic Association.

On motion it was agreed to consider the petition by sections:

Section 1. "That we be allowed to play inter-collegiate games of base-ball and foot-ball."

Mr. Cox moved that students be allowed to play inter-collegiate games within the State under the direction of the Faculty. Adopted.

Section 2. "That we be allowed to play games with the Raleigh team."

On motion this request was granted also, under the same conditions as above.

Section 3. "That the sum of fifty dollars be given the Athletic Association for the purpose of buying base-ball material and for other expenses.

On motion it was agreed that this request be allowed also.

The Board declined to consider the last proposition of the petition.

(Board of Trustees, Minutes April 1887-March 1899, North Carolina State University, Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes, UA 001.001, NC State – p. 358-359)

The impact of Mr. Cox's revision would be seen for the following two years, as the Farmers did not play outside of the state of North Carolina until late in November 1899.

As can be seen above, in addition to allowing intercollegiate football games, the board also voted to give $50 (about $1,550 in 2019) to the school's athletics "to help the A. and M. boys wipe up the face of the earth with any other team that dared oppose them," as one newspaper sarcastically retorted (News and Observer, March 27th, 1897, p. 5). The actual purpose of the money was to pay for uniforms, equipment, and other expenses (Beezley, p. 10).

In other news, North Carolina A&M opened with its largest class ever, with over 200 students enrolled as of September 18th, including at least 65 new freshmen. The same article noted that "The prospect for a good foot ball team is very good," noting that standouts "Big" Hunter and Syd Alexander were returning. The report, fromt the Daily Charlotte Observer, concluded that the team may even return to play Charlotte again, an event likely looked on with some anticipation after their scoreless tie from 1895 (Daily Charlotte Observer, September 21, 1897, p. 4; The Press-Visitor, September 8th, 1897, p. 1). Football practice started up around late September (The Press-Visitor, September 28th, 1897, p. 4).

The Red and White had a down season in 1897. The team reportedly started the season under the coaching of George Stephens, a famous football and baseball player for Chapel Hill in his time. It may be remembered from the 1895 season that Stephens reportedly received college football's first forward pass. If Stephens coached the team, he did not coach long; though reported as A&M's head coach on September 21st by two different papers, Stephens was not seen in the Raleigh papers again for some time. By the 30th, Stephens was expected to help coach the Greensboro city team, and a report in December noted that Stephens was "for a short while a resident of Raleigh." It seems most likely that Stephens left the team around November of 1897 to work as an insurance salesman (The Press-Visitor, September 21st, 1897, p. 1; Charlotte Daily Observer, September 21st, 1897, p. 4; The Greensboro Evening Telegram, September 30th, 1897, p. 1; The (Raleigh) Morning Post, December 8th, 1897, p. 4).

The Red and White performed poorly for the season. In their two games of the season, the Farmers and Mechanics were outscored 58 to nothing, though it should be noted that Chapel Hill was years ahead of A&M in terms of athletics, and that Guilford's team flourished in a time when many teams were banning football. Additionally, the A&M team appears to have struggled to get their team together, with several standout players from previous years not playing until the second game of the season. A&M had a down year in 1897, and unfortunately those struggles would continue into the foreseeable future. On the bright side, this would be the sole winless season of Wolfpack football.

The students of the college blamed their lack of success on the gridiron on two factors: the lack of a steady coaching situation, and the lack of any real spot to practice beyond open spots on the college's campus. At least one of those problems would be solved going in to the 1898 season.