We’re going to preview the Division I Conferences based on the lesser-known players of all the Division I teams. Let’s have some fun and give some attention to the players you likely don’t know or talk about too much, unless something goes wrong or you say, "Hey, look at that number."

Basically, we’re going to give you each team’s (we hope their starting) Long Snapper, Punter and #69. Then we’ll give you their longest road trip of the season, last conference title, playoff appearance, and a simple Yes or No if they have a new Head Coach. I’m sure I’ll question my choice for doing season previews this way this year, but I’m limited on time due to a myriad of factors. I’ll keep dreaming of being able to do this full time. Maybe one day. If you know of any sponsors, please let us know.

Delaware Blue Hens

• Where: Newark, DE

• Last Year's Record: 9-2 overall, 6-2 CAA

• Longsnapper: Noah Vitko (Jr), Bodie Frederick (Fr)

• Punter: Josh Cupit (Grad student, avg 43.0 ypp in ‘24), Brendan Lach (2024 Division II All-American at Michigan Tech)

• #69: None

• Longest Road Trip (Miles): Colorado (1,739 miles)

• Last Conference Title: 2021 Spring CAA title (4-0 CAA) - Last outright title in a traditional season was the 1995 Yankee Conference Champion Fightin’ Blue Hens team that went 11-2 overall, 8-0 in the Yankee, only losing a road game at Navy and the I-AA quarterfinal at McNeese

• Last Bowl Game Appearance: Lost 1982 Pioneer Bowl (NCAA Division I-AA Title Game in Wichita Falls, TX) to Eastern Kentucky, 17-14, the last year the game had a bowl name

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

FIU Panthers

• Where:  Miami, FL (¡DALÉ!)

• Last Year's Record: 4-8, 3-5 CUSA

• Longsnapper: Justin Wood (Soph, Houston transfer), Trent Sims (Soph, MVSU transfer)

• Punter: THREE! Trey Wilhoit (Sr, FAMU transfer), Stone Springman (Soph, Miami transfer), Adrian Hemelt (Fr)

• #69: DOUBLE UP! Longsnapper Trent Sims (Mississippi Valley State transfer)

• Longest Road Trip (Miles): UConn (1,492 miles)

• Last Conference Title: Split 2010 Sun Belt title with Troy (7-6 overall, 6-2 SBC)

• Last Bowl Game Appearance: Lost 2019 Camellia Bowl 34-26 to Arkansas State

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): Yes - Willie Simmons hired in Dec

Jacksonville State Gamecocks

• Where: Jacksonville, AL

• Last Year's Record: 9-5, 7-1 CUSA (CUSA CHAMPS, beat WKU 52-12 in title game)

• Longsnapper: Collin Westfelt (R-Sr), Cole Marszalek (R-So, prev #1 at Arizona St), Ethan Ferguson (R-So, snapped in bowl, German) - LONGSNAPPER BATTLE

• Punter: Cade Backe (R-Sr, has only held FG/PAT in 3 yrs at JSU, 32.0 ypp at DuPage Juco in 2021), Conor Donaghy (Irish-Fr)

• #69: OL Adrian Gumm (R-Jr, Tusculum (D2) transfer)

• Longest Road Trip (Miles): UTEP (1,344 miles)

• Last Conference Title: 2024 CUSA Champs! Beat WKU 52-12 in title game, lost RichRod

• Last Bowl Game Appearance: Lost 2024 StaffDNA Cure Bowl 30-27 to Ohio

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): Yes - Charles Kelly hired in Dec

Kennesaw State Owls

• Where: Kennesaw, GA

• Last Year's Record: 2-10, 2-6 CUSA

• Longsnapper: Ben Blanton (So), Brylan Noonan (R-Sr, Temple Transfer)

• Punter: Joshua Huiet (R-Sr, punted in 2023), Matthew Choules (AUSSIE FRESHMAN)

• #69: None

• Longest Road Trip (Miles): New Mexico State (1,474 miles)

• Last Conference Title: 2021 Big South Champs (11-2, 6-0 BSC)

• Last Bowl Game Appearance: None (Four FCS playoff appearances, 2nd round in 2021), they are new to FBS

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): Yes - Jerry Mack hired in Dec

Liberty Flames

• Where: Lynchburg, VA

• Last Year's Record: 8-4 (5-3 CUSA)

• Longsnapper: Ryan Manis (R-Fr), Cayden Comer (Fr)

• Punter: Max Morgan (Sr, third team preseason all-conference)

• #69: none

• Longest Road Trip (Miles): UTEP (1,786 miles)

• Last Conference Title: 2023 CUSA (13-1, 8-0 CUSA)

• Last Bowl Game Appearance: Lost 2024 Bahamas Bowl to Buffalo, 26-7, but it was a mixed result overall?

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

• Where: Ruston, LA

• Last Year's Record: 5-8, 4-4 CUSA

• Longsnapper: Ean Burch (R-Sr from the capital of the world: SHREVEPORT), Jake Riggs (R-Fr)

• Punter: Lexington Matthews (R-So, Savannah State transfer), John Hoyet Chance (R-Fr from the capital of our universe: SHREVEPORT) who handled kickoffs in the Independence Bowl too, Will Fendley (Fr)

• #69: Nope

• Longest Road Trip (Miles): Wazzu (2,182 miles)

• Last Conference Title: 2001 WAC Champs (7-5, 7-1 WAC) - 3 CUSA division championships, 2 title game losses

• Last Bowl Game Appearance: Lost 2024 Independence Bowl 27-6 to Army after Marshall decided playing football with 4.5 men was a bad idea and said they could not make it.

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): Somehow, Sonny Cumbie returned.

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

• Where: Murfreesboro, TN

• Last Year's Record: 4-8, 3-5 CUSA

• Longsnapper: Mykah Stone (Gr transfer from NC Central), Henry Hamlin (R-Fr), Ean Matusek (Fr)

• Punter: Aden Caine (English fella, Jr transfer from Post (D2)), Ashton Logan (R-Jr transfer from Oklahoma)

• #69: Nope

• Longest Road Trip (Miles): Nevada (2,177 miles)

• Last Conference Title: Split 2006 Sun Belt title with Troy (7-6, 6-1 SBC), last outright title was 1992 Ohio Valley Conference (10-3, 8-0 OVC, lost at Marshall in I-AA quarterfinal)

• Last Bowl Game Appearance: Won 2022 Hawaii Bowl 25-23 over San Diego State

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Missouri State Bears

• Where: Springfield, MO

• Last Year's Record: 8-4, 6-2 MVFC, welcome to FBS!

• Longsnapper: Andrew Kallas (So transfer from Juco College of DuPage), Mitch Weisenborn (Fr)

• Punter: Anthony Frederique (Sr, Bethune-Cookman transfer), Stewart McDonald (R-Fr, also listed as kicker)

• #69: OL Armend Ujkashi (Jr transfer from Juco College of DuPage)

• Longest Road Trip (Miles): USC in first game as FBS program (1,620 miles to LA)

• Last Conference Title: Split Spring 2021 MVFC title with South Dakota State (5-5, 5-1 MVFC), last outright was 1989 Gateway Conference (10-3, 5-1 GCAC)

• Last Bowl Game Appearance: Lost 1966 Mineral Water Bowl 14-8 to Adams State (Colorado) - Excelsior Springs, MO

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

New Mexico State Aggies

• Where: Las Cruces, NM

• Last Year's Record: 3-9, 2-6 CUSA

• Longsnapper: Grayson Curtis (R-Jr Central Michigan transfer), Braydyn Sage (Fr)

• Punter: Max Dean (AUSSIE R-So)

• #69: Nope

• Longest Road Trip (Miles): Liberty (1,823 miles)

• Last Conference Title: 1978 Missouri Valley Conference (6-5, 5-1, no postseason)

• Last Bowl Game Appearance: Lost 2023 Isleta New Mexico Bowl 37-10 to Fresno State

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Sam Houston Bearkats

• Where: Huntsville, TX BUT playing this year at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston (70.4 miles from campus) while their stadium undergoes renovations

• Last Year's Record: 10-3, 6-2 CUSA

• Longsnapper: Jake Fitzgerald (Jr, Merrimack transfer), Carson Whitington (R-Jr, Blinn JC transfer)

• Punter: Curtis Gerrand (AUSSIE FRESHMAN)

• #69: OL Logan Cahill (Fr from Dallas suburbs who for some reason claims Long Island as “hometown”)

• Longest Road Trip (Miles): Hawai’i (3,875 miles according to the internet - Google says you can’t do it - cowards)

• Last Conference Title: 2021 WAC (11-1, 5-0 WAC) FCS Quarterfinalist

• Last Bowl Game Appearance: Won 2024 New Orleans Bowl 31-26 over Georgia Southern

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): Yes - Phil Longo hired in Dec

UTEP Miners

• Where: Down in the West Texas town of El Paso

• Last Year's Record: 3-9, 3-6 CUSA

• Longsnapper: Josh Hancock (R-Sr who was homeschooled), Rio Hay (R-Fr transfer from FCS Arkansas-Pine Bluff), Ian Hall (Fr)

• Punter: They have 7 kickers listed now (down from 9 in March), with 3 as K/P so here we go: Noah Botsford (Jr transfer from D2 Valdosta State), Jackson Cleaver (R-Sr transfer from FCS Eastern Washington), Kyle Gallegos (JR transfer from FCS South Carolina State)

• #69: OL James Williams (So transfer from Juco Northeast Oklahoma A&M)

• Longest Road Trip (Miles): Delaware (2,059 miles)

• Last Conference Title: Shared 2001 WAC title (8-4, 7-1 WAC) with TCU, who beat them by 33 points. Last outright was the 1956 Texas Western Miners (9-2, 5-0) with an undefeated Border Conference record before a loss to George Washington in the Sun Bowl

• Last Bowl Game Appearance: Lost 2021 PUBG New Mexico Bowl 31-24 to Fresno State (last bowl win was 1967 Sun Bowl, has never won a bowl outside of its own stadium)

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

• Where: Bowling Green, KY

• Last Year's Record: 8-6, 6-2 CUSA

• Longsnapper: Rex Robich (R-Sr, seems awesome), Bailey Sanders (R-Fr transfer from Buffalo)

• Punter: Cole Maynard (R-Sr transfer from UNC before 2024 - on the Ray Guy watch list)

• #69: No, but they do have a dude named Mackavelli

• Longest Road Trip (Miles): Delaware (750 miles)

• Last Conference Title: 2016 CUSA Champs (11-3, 7-1 CUSA), beat LaTech 58-44 in title game, then beat Memphis 51-31 in the Boca Raton Bowl

• Last Bowl Game Appearance: Lost 2024 Boca Raton Bowl 27-17 to James Madison - 10 bowls in last 11 seasons, six straight

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

• Where: South Bend, IN

• Last Year's Record: 14-2

• Longsnapper: Joseph Vinci (So.) is the primary longsnapper, while Andrew Kros (Jr.) “competes on special teams”

• Punter: James Rendell (Sr.)

• #69: None

• Longest Road Trip (Miles): Stanford, CA (2,241 miles)

• Last Conference Title: None, the cowards. They did win the ACC Regular Season Title in 2020 but lost the Championship game against Clemson

• Last Bowl Game Appearance: 2024, won both the Sugar Bowl (23-10 over Georgia) and the Orange Bowl (27-24 over Penn State)

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

UConn Huskies

• Where: East Hartford, CT (Campus in Storrs, CT)

• Last Year's Record: 9-4

• Longsnapper: R-So Zach Christinat, R-Fr Tashi Crofut, Fr Nick Pompilli

• Punter: Sr Connor Stutz, F Spencer Sullins

• #69: OL Ty Chan

• Longest Road Trip (Miles): Rice (1,755 miles to Houston, TX)

• Last Conference Title: 2010 (Big East)

• Last Bowl Game Appearance: 2024 Fenway Bowl 27-14 win over UNC

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Thank you for reading!!! I hope to finish all the previews next week for the remaining conferences!!