Classes are back today and the Spiders had a lot happen over winter break. Below is a portal update, a coaching update, and an overall roster update.

Transfer portal

Players leaving

Here’s where guys have landed so far:

• Matthew Traynor | Wisconsin
• Landon Ellis | JMU
• Parker Mitchell | Memphis
• Keith Gouveia | Pittsburgh
• Zach Palmer-Smith | Louisiana Monroe
• Trae Tomlinson | Louisiana

Six transfers up to the FBS level so far, which is a great sign. Our talent remains high and this will happen every season the way the portal is currently setup. The departures aren’t fun but seeing that we continue to develop FBS talent is very reassuring.

Additions

Things have been slow in the portal, which we’ll continue to see at the FCS level. With still 1,000+ kids in the portal it will take longer and longer to fill out rosters for non-FBS schools, so the goal Coach Huesman set of having four signed before classes started didn’t happen. Plenty of offers still out there and we did manage to fill some big holes with the two signees.

Jaiden Fair – Wide Receiver | Maryland | Three years of eligibility

A wide receiver from Maryland? The history alone makes me excited about this one. Fair follows Nick DeGennaro’s path and may help in multiple areas. Most of Jaiden’s film is in the slot, a big need for our current WR room. We weren’t as productive or consistent from this position after Jasiah Williams left, so I’m expecting Fair to come in and provide an immediate boost. He’s also a punt returner, which we all know we need.

Mason Imbt – Interior offensive lineman | St. Francis | Two years of eligibility

Imbt comes over from the Red Flash and should immediately compete for a starting spot, likely the other guard opposite Scott Hummel. Our second addition from St. Francis the past two seasons, and let’s hope Imbt has the same impact Glassmyer had. Imbt also had offers from SEMO and Campbell, so this looks to be a solid pickup.

Targets

Coach Huesman said he wanted to add at least seven transfers in total. I won’t list everyone that has an offer since things change daily, but here are the positions I’d like to see us target with the remaining spots.

1. Defensive back – A no doubter after we lose every starter from the 2024 secondary. We’re projected to have 12 secondary players thanks to four true freshmen in this year’s class, so this is more about experience. I’d guess they lean more towards safety, as we have more experience at corner, however adding one starter from the portal would create nice blend of experience and youth.
2. Wide receiver – We’ve got one but I think we need another. It’s been a while since we weren’t deep at WR but right now there are too many unknowns. I think we’ve got good options in the slot, but I’d love to see us find someone ready to lineup opposite Ja’Vion Griffin. There are highly recruited younger guys that could fill this role, but we’ve got room to add a bigger body target.
3. Tight end – I’ve seen a few posted offers at this position. With Matt Robbert playing most of the snaps in 2024 this is still a relatively inexperienced group. Sean Clarke showed good things last year but with only four TEs on the roster I’m not surprised we’re in the portal again.
4. Offensive line – We needed one offensive lineman with the losses of Elia, Salyers, Mitchell, and Gouveia, however I could see us going for second. This would have to be a tackle, as we’re fairly set on the interior. You can reasonably project the 2025 starters but the depth at tackle isn’t the same compared to the interior. Finding a tackle in the portal would be a sneaky good pickup.
5. Running back – This one intrigues me. Andrew King, Aziz Foster-Powell, and Jamaal Brown all showed promise, but injuries, suspensions, and fumbling issues led to ZPS grabbing the RB1 role early on. The RB room is small right now so we’ve got room for another, and after the gem we found in the portal last year I’d be excited if we brought another ball carrier in.

Roster update

The athletic department won’t put out an official roster until spring ball starts, so I’ve taken the 2024 roster and done the best I can. There are always guys that drop off but here’s a rough idea of where we stand:

82 is a fine number to be at right now, with the goal being the high-ish 80s by the summer. Some notes on the current composition:

• Over 1/3 of the players are from Virginia. The local presence continues to grow, with the state trio of Virginia-Maryland-Pennsylvania making up over 60% of our roster. That will go a long way as we shift to the Patriot League.
• Defensive back is our youngest position, with a majority of the guys being true or redshirt freshmen. This is the primary reason I have this position as the most important to land a portal addition right now.
• Our front-7 takes the biggest hit from 2024-2025, but remains in great shape. Four of the seven starters are gone (Jeremiah Grant, Carsen Stocklinski, Wayne Galloway, Quantraill Morris-Walker) however I like our depth. Younger players like Jamar Hodges and Peyton Seelmann saw a good amount of snaps, and I really think we’ll see at least one true freshman make a splash on the D-line.

Coaching updates

Keegan Kennedy – Just a one year stay in Richmond for Coach Kennedy, who is now the Associate Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, and Offensive line coach at Davidson. A well-deserved promotion for a coach that did an excellent job filling big shoes. That’s the second time our OL coach has left to become an Associate Head Coach and play caller, meaning we’re hiring the right people. The next OL coaching hire was always going to be important, but especially so in a year with multiple new starters and the loss of two 6th-year seniors.

Winston October – And then the final domino of the offensive saga falls. Coach October heads back down to Williamsburg to call plays for the Tribe, as Mike London was in desperate need of a new offense. Taking the same role from UR to W&M all but confirms what we all already knew – there were clearly internal issues that went far beyond a few sideline arguments. Between the player transfers and (now effectively) a coaching transfer the full reset button was hit, which feels best for everybody. October now has full control of his offense and will be able to operate how he wants, while the Spiders are left to learn from our mistakes and hopefully use 2024 as a turning point.

I’m sure we won’t get a public statement about any of this, however I hope the Athletic Department makes Coach Huesman answer for what went down. A lateral move from a coach who was an accomplished Spider football player and embodied everything we want in a UR alum is no small thing, as it’s clear the scars from 2024 were beyond repair. It’s best for me to leave this behind moving forward, especially since I by no means have all the facts, but treating this like normal offseason turnover won’t fool anyone. If we take whatever transpired to heart and never find ourselves in this spot again, then great, but it’s still a painful lesson.

In searching for a bright spot from the coordinator change, I do think this helps Wickersham. In both 2023 and 2024, Coach October didn’t seem to have the same feel for the offense with #16 in the game. Something clicked later in 2023 that led to great success during our playoff push, yet we fell back to our old ways to start 2024. Again, hard to say who that falls on given the dysfunction, but I am excited to see what Wickersham does with a new OC.

Next Post

Late January – It depends on how much portal/coaching activity we have in the next few weeks. I’ll either have a roster update or go over Patriot League/non-conference scheduling heading into 2025.