DURHAM — Coach Rick Santos, defensive end Josiah Silver, and wide receiver Logan Tomlinson shared their views Wednesday on what the University of Hampshire football team must do to excel in the upcoming 2024 season.
"Our goal is to always compete and win (Coastal Athletic Association) championships," said Santos, who is entering his third season as head coach of the Wildcats. "And we understand more than ever how tough that is. There's so much parity in this conference top to bottom. Every single week, you have to (play) your best brand of football if you want an opportunity to win."
UNH went 6-5 last season, missing the NCAA Division I FCS tournament. The Wildcats lost all-purpose running back Dylan Laube, who was drafted by the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders , and quarterback Max Brosmer, who transferred to the University of Minnesota to compete at the higher NCAA Division I FBS level.
Brosmer threw a combined 56 touchdown passes the past two seasons. Laube had 2,095 all-purpose yards, scoring 18 touchdowns in 2023.
UNH is picked to finished seventh in the 16-team CAA in the 2024 preseason poll of the league's coaches. Here's the complete poll:
- Villanova (9 first-place votes) - 217
- Richmond (1 first-place vote) - 189
- Albany (3 first-place votes) - 179
- William & Mary - 175
- Delaware (3 first-place votes) - 163
- Elon - 157
- New Hampshire - 150
- Rhode Island - 142
- Towson - 114
- Monmouth - 95
- Campbell - 83
- Hampton - 62
- Maine - 57
- North Carolina A&T - 49
- Bryant - 46
- Stony Brook - 42
Santos and the players spoke as part of the CAA Media Day. Here are five takeaways from their thoughts looking ahead at 2024:
UNH football team needs tweaks, not a rebuild
Santos said losing Laube and Brosmer is a challenge, but it's also an opportunity for other guys to step up.
"The senior leadership we have is elite right now," Santos said. "I think there are objectives every single year. The first thing is you've got to forge an identity. The things that allowed us to be successful last year aren't going to be the same things this year."
UNH averaged 115 rushing yards and 319 passing yards a game last year.
"We need to figure out through training camp who our playmakers are, offensively, defensively and on (special teams)," Santos said. "And how we're going to structure those things to maximize and give us the best opportunity to win."
Who will be UNH's new quarterback in 2024? And who will be receivers?
A starting quarterback hasn't been named, but it seems Seth Morgan is a leading candidate for the job. Morgan, who stands at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, started his football career at Virginia Military Institute, and spent last season at Shepherd University, where he threw for 2,970 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Matt Vezza, a redshirt freshman, is also a candidate for the starting job. Vezza appeared in one game last season, throwing for 38 yards and a touchdown, and rushing for 16 yards.
Tomlinson, who had 618 receiving yards and seven touchdowns last season, said Morgan and Vezza are different, but both that bring "very valuable intangibles."
UNH is returning its second, third and fourth leading pass catchers from a year ago in Tomlinson, Kyle Lepkowski (492 yards) and Caleb Burke (425).
"(Morgan) had a full spring to get up to speed with us," Tomlinson said. "He has picked up the offense very fast, so we feel like we're rolling and able to build on what we did last year."
Santos said Morgan had opportunities to play elsewhere, but ultimately chose UNH.
"We were fortunate he picked us," Santos said. "He's done a great job so far coming in. At first he was trying to figure out how quickly he can integrate himself as a leader. I think he's extremely comfortable right now. I think he's won over the locker-room, and at that position, that's as important as anything."
UNH defense must limit explosive plays
Defensively, Santos said one area that bit the Wildcats a season ago was giving up big plays.
"Certainly, that was one key area we wanted to clean up from last year," Santos said.
UNH has brought back coach Scott James, who spent the past six seasons at Holy Cross. James, who served as safeties coach at UNH from 2013-17 before going to Holy Cross, will be the defensive pass game coordinator and safeties coach this season.
"He's another guy qualified to be a head coach," Santos said. "Schematically, he's a brilliant coach. We were very excited to get him back, he's going to help bolster our defense."
Senior defensive ends Dylan Ruizand Silver were named to the all-CAA preseason team.
Silver, who had 45 total tackles and five sacks last year, said the big focus is how can the defense get off the field.
"How can we stop the run, and how can we limit big plays through the air," Silver said. "I think we'll be fine."
UNH wasn't hit hard by transfer portal, adds key players
Yes, Brosmer did leave via transfer portal, as did redshirt senior Nate Kapongo, a defensive lineman who spent his first three years at UNH, and appeared in 10 games last season and had 23 tackles. That is all UNH lost to transfers.
"For me, that shows that our coaching staff is doing a really nice job cultivating relationships within our position groups," Santos said.
Conversely, UNH added 16 players from the portal headlined by Morgan, adding eight on both sides of the ball.
2024 UNH football schedule
UNH opens the season at the University of Central Florida on Thursday, August 29 with a 7 p.m. kickoff
The remaining schedule:
- Saturday, Sept. 7 at Holy Cross, 2 p.m.
- Saturday, Sept. 14 vs. Stonehill, 6 p.m.
- Saturday, Sept. 21 vs. Bryant, 3 p.m.
- Friday, Oct. 4 at Harvard, 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Oct. 12 at Elon, 2 p.m.
- Saturday, Oct. 19 vs. Rhode Island, 1 p.m.
- Saturday, Oct. 26 at Villanova, 3:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 2 at Albany, 1 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 9 vs. Monmouth, 1 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 16 vs. Stony Brook, 1 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 23 at Maine, 1 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: UNH football 2024: Coach Santos' keys to success, CAA poll, schedule
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