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.

THE PIONEER LEAGUE

Butler

• Where: Indianapolis, IN

• Last Year's Record: 9-3 (5-3 in conference)

• Longsnapper: Max Thompson (SO)

• Punter: Ryan Short (RS JR, was punter and kicker for the team in 2024, played in all 12 games)

• #69: Eric Bower (RS SO)

• Longest Road Trip: 2,091 miles to San Diego

• Last Conference Title: 2013, co-champions with Marist

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2013, first round loss to Tennessee State 0-31

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): Yes - Kevin Lynch, former offensive coordinator at Ball State

Davidson

• Where: Davidson, NC

• Last Year's Record: 6-5 (4-4 in conference)

• Longsnapper: Nash Pippin (FR) - You know you want to see Nash Pippin long snapping at the Rubio Long Snapping School.

• Punter: Chase Benoist (FR)

• #69: None

• Longest Road Trip: 1,041 miles to Drake

• Last Conference Title: Never

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2022 - Claimed the PFL's automatic bid in the FCS Playoffs (due to St. Thomas (MN) being ineligible due to their 5-year transition from Division III to Division I) after narrowly defeating Dayton 24–23 in the final week of the regular season. They lost 41-0 to Richmond.

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): Yes - Saj Thakkar, former HC at Bentley (DII), former Head Coach went to Rice!

Dayton

• Where: Dayton, OH

• Last Year's Record: 6-5 (4-4 in conference)

• Longsnapper: Austin Yeager (RS SR, played in all 11 games last year), Thomas Thakady (RS FR)

• Punter: Logan Forcum (RS JR), Ben Lavelle (RS SO, he beat cancer!!)

  

  Way to go Ben! Way to Beat Cancer!

• #69: None

• Longest Road Trip: 2,168 miles to San Diego

• Last Conference Title: 2015, co-champions with San Diego and Jacksonville

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2015, first round loss to Western Illinois 24-7

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Drake

• Where: Des Moines, IA

• Last Year's Record: 8-3 (7-1 in conference)

• Longsnapper: Brett Welsing (SR, All-Pioneer League First Team in 2024)

• Punter: Ryan Schroeder #99 (SR)

• #69: n/a

• Longest Road Trip: 1,745 miles to San Diego (this is going to be a common theme of trips to San Diego as the longest road trip)

• Last Conference Title: 2024

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2024, first round loss to Tarleton State 43-29

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): Yes - Joe Woodley, former head coach at Grand View University (NAIA), their head coach went to Northern Iowa.

Marist

• Where: Poughkeepsie, NY

• Last Year's Record: 1-10 (1-7 in conference)

• Longsnapper: Aidan McElderry (FR, 4.5-star LS/TE as rated by Kohl’s Kicking), Bode Ganny (FR)

• Punter: Ethan Yuska (SO), Luke Ginsburg (FR)

• #69: Aidan McElderry (FR, longsnapper!!!) Love it when we get a double entry on these!

• Longest Road Trip: 815 miles to Presbyterian

• Last Conference Title: 2013, co-champion with Butler

• Last Playoff Appearance: Never (Butler won the championship tiebreaker and received the autobid) - They did play in the 1990 ACFC Bowl and won 40-0 over Brooklyn.

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Morehead State

• Where: Morehead, KY

• Last Year's Record: 7-5 (5-3 in conference)

• Longsnapper: Colton Carmichael (RS JR, only appeared in one game in 2024)

• Punter: Kip Warren (RS SR)

• #69: Colton Carmichael (RS JR, OL and longsnapper!)

• Longest Road Trip: Stetson

• Last Conference Title: 1966, Ohio Valley Conference

• Last Playoff Appearance: Never

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Presbyterian

• Where: Clinton, SC

• Last Year's Record: 6-6 (4-4 in conference)

• Longsnapper: Carlos Sexton (FR)

• Punter: Thatcher Hutton (SO), Connor Nettles (FR)

• #69: Ellington Brooks-Lytle (SO)

• Longest Road Trip: 1,151 miles to St. Thomas in Minnesota.

• Last Conference Title: 2005, South Atlantic Conference (DII)

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2005, DII - first round bye (#1 seed), lost in second round to Central Arkansas 52-28

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

St. Thomas

• Where: St. Paul, MN

• Last Year's Record: 6-6 (5-3 in conference)

• Longsnapper: Beau Thielen (FR)

• Punter: Elliot Huether (JR)

• #69: None

• Longest Road Trip: 1,546 miles to Stetson

• Last Conference Title: 2022, Pioneer League

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2017, DIII - first round win over Eureka 47-8, second round win over Berry (GA) 29-13, quarterfinal loss to Mary Hardin-Baylor 24-10

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

San Diego

• Where: San Diego, CA

• Last Year's Record: 8-3 (6-2 in conference)

• Longsnapper: Carter Shupper (SO)

• Punter: Aydan Corrales (JR)

• #69: Niu Lago’o

• Longest Road Trip: 2,812 miles to play Marist (also plays at Princeton and at Montana State)

• Last Conference Title: 2019, Pioneer League

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2019, first round loss to Northern Iowa 17-3

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Stetson

• Where: DeLand, FL

• Last Year's Record: 2-9 (0-7 in conference)

• Longsnapper: None listed, Wesley Choate was the longsnapper last year but is in the transfer portal. Their roster is not fully updated and half of the team doesn’t have a position updated.

• Punter: Brett Gonda (SO)

• #69: Vincent Chen (SO) was #69 last year and is still on the roster in 2025.

• Longest Road Trip: 1,126 miles to Marist (Harvard comes down to them this year)

• Last Conference Title: Never

• Last Playoff Appearance: Never

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): Yes, Michael Jasper - former Bethel head coach (NAIA) *Note: Most of their 2025 roster don’t have positions listed? Or weights? And the years have not been updated since 2024.

Valparaiso

• Where: Valparaiso, IN

• Last Year's Record: 4-7 (2-5 in conference)

• Longsnapper: #48 Ace McKinnis a Redshirt Senior transfer from Tarleton State and Bethune Cookman

• Punter: Zander Lankford, Morgan Smith, Sami Sir (Aussie)

• #69: None

• Last Conference Title: 2003, Pioneer League

• Last Playoff Appearance: Never, played in the 1951 Cigar Bowl (loss to La Crosse State [now UW-La Crosse] 47-14), Valpo was a late switch due to heavy snow in Cleveland and a feeling the students missed too much school previously at John Carroll. I can’t imaging this happening nowadays.

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): Yes, Andy Waddle - former HC of Marietta (DIII)

UNITED ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Abilene Christian

• Where: Abilene, TX

• Last Year's Record: 9-5, 7-1 in conference

• Longsnapper: Justin Duff (RS SR), Braden Hawkins (FR)

• Punter: Hugo Nash (RS JR, Australian, holder and punter in 2024), Will Chipman (RS FR)

• #69: Brady Stephenson (RS FR, OL, transfer from Texas A&M)

• Longest Road Trip: 1,033 miles to Southern Utah

• Last Conference Title: 2024

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2024 - first round win over Northern Arizona 24-0, second round loss to NDSU 51-31

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Austin Peay

• Where: Clarksville, TN

• Last Year's Record: 4-8, 3-5 in conference

• Longsnapper: Tyson Moody (FR), Clayton Thomas Jr. (GR), Kimani Mugo (JR)

• Punter: Logan Leftrick (JR), Gavin Myers (SO)

• #69: None

• Longest Road Trip: Southern Utah

• Last Conference Title: 2023

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2023 - first round loss to Chattanooga 24-21

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Central Arkansas

• Where: Conway, AR

• Last Year's Record: 6-6, 3-5 in conference

• Longsnapper: Gavin Smith (SO), Mason Harris (RS FR)

• Punter: Trace Beard (SR)

• #69: None

• Longest Road Trip: 1,928 miles to play Sacramento State

• Last Conference Title: 2022 - Atlantic Sun Conference, co-champions with Eastern Kentucky and Austin Peay

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2019 - first round bye, second round loss to Illinois State 24-14

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Eastern Kentucky

• Where: Richmond, KY

• Last Year's Record: 8-5, 6-2 in conference

• Longsnapper: Blake Howard (RS SO, played in 11 games in 2024), Quaid Luginbill (RS FR), Deacon Jansen (FR)

• Punter: Jacob Baker (RS SO, First-Team All-UAC, top punter in the conference in 2024)

• #69: None

• Longest Road Trip: 1,835 miles to Utah Tech

• Last Conference Title: 2022 - Atlantic Sun Conference, co-champions with Central Arkansas and Austin Peay

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2024 - first round loss to Villanova 22-17

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

North Alabama

• Where: Florence, AL

• Last Year's Record: 3-9, 3-5 in conference

• Longsnapper: Nathan Curry (JR, caught a trick play 2 pt conversion pass against UT Martin last year)

• Punter: Adam Watford (JR)

• #69: Numbers aren’t listed yet, Hayden Edge (OL) last year isn’t on the 2025 roster (I will update this if you find it)

• Longest Road Trip: 1,685 miles to play Utah Tech

• Last Conference Title: 2016 - Gulf South Conference (DII)

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2016, DII - first round bye, Super Regional 2 semifinal win over UNC Pembroke 41-17, regional final over North Greenville 38-0, national semifinal win over Shepherd 23-13, championship loss to NW Missouri State 29-3

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Southern Utah

• Where: Cedar City, UT

• Last Year’s Record: 7-5, 6-2 in conference

• Longsnapper: Gavin Lipkin (SR)

• Punter: Alyas Vigil (RS-SR)

• #69: AJ Dutchover (RS SO, OL)

• Longest Road Trip: 1,785 miles to Eastern Kentucky

• Last Conference Championship: 2017 (Big Sky), they’re going back in 2026.

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2017 - first round bye, second round loss to Weber State

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No (3rd year)

Tarleton State

• Where: Stephenville, TX

• Last Year's Record: 10-4, 6-2 in conference

• Longsnapper: Not sure, 2024 roster has not been updated yet. Jed Whitney (SR and primary LS in 2024) may have graduated, Isaac Garcia (JR in 2024) did graduate, and James Owens (RS FR in 2024) transferred to Mississippi Valley State

• Punter: Charlie Mullen (SO in 2024), Jared White (RS FR in 2024)

• #69: n/a

• Longest Road Trip: 1,942 miles to Portland State (they also travel to Army the next week)

• Last Conference Title: 2019 - Lone Star Conference (DII), co-champions with Texas A&M-Commerce

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2024 - first round win over Drake 43-29, second round loss to South Dakota 42-31

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Utah Tech

• Where: St. George, UT

• Last Year’s Record: 1-11, 1-7 in conference

• Longsnapper: Trey Kalauli (RS Sr) (3 listed, none have past stats, so taking a guess here)

• Punter: Ryan Marks (JR, Utah St Transfer)

• #69: Chase Richards (RS SR, OL)

• Longest Road Trip: 1,877 miles to play West Georgia

• Last Conference Championship: None, didn’t start the program until 2006 in DII. Will be heading to the Big Sky Conference in 2026.

• Last Playoff Appearance: Never, didn’t start the program until 2006 in DII.

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No (2nd Year)

West Georgia

• Where: Carrollton, GA

• Last Year's Record: 4-7, 1-7 in conference

• Longsnapper: Daniel Meunier (SR)

• Punter: Reilly Mason (SR)

• #69: n/a

• Longest Road Trip: 1,896 miles to Southern Utah

• Last Conference Title: 2015 - Gulf South Conference (DII) co-champions with North Alabama and Valdosta State, DII National Champs in 1982.

• Last Playoff Appearance: 2021 (DII) - first round win over Albany State 23-7, second round loss to Valdosta State 66-35

• New Head Coach (Yes/No): No

Thank you for Reading! So many more conferences to come!