A few new signees, along with one unexpected departure, round out May and leave the roster nearly finalized. Updates on the roster changes, along with how our recruiting strategy has shaped our roster in the past five years, are below.

Departures

Sean O’Haire – Our future NFL kicker was poached by the Terps. O’Haire heads to Maryland, leaving a big hole in the Spiders’ special teams. Not overly surprising, especially after how well he did in 2024, but I thought we’d get one more year from #36. Big schools will continue to target the best talent from top FCS programs, so don’t expect this to be the last time something like this occurs. I won’t fault Sean for getting a nice pay day at an FBS school, but having this happen post-spring makes things extra difficult.

I loved Coach Huesman for not shying away and directly calling Maryland out. This tampering was as clear as day and he didn’t let it go without extra attention. Unlikely that anything comes from this, but maybe an FBS school is less likely to poach a Spider down the road if given the chance?

Additions/signees

Aidan Steinfeldt | Marshall | Tight End | 4 years of eligibility – Richmond lands a tight end portal addition for the second straight season. Steinfeldt was 2023 Mr. Football for tight ends in Indiana, and redshirted all of 2024. A different feeling than last year, with Robbert clearly coming in as the starter, as Steinfeldt will battle it out against Sean Clarke & company for playing time in 2025.

Jackson Bonser | Kicker (true freshman) – Excellent job of quickly regrouping and finding a solid true freshman kicker to replace O’Haire. Bonser displayed his strong leg in multiple camps I could find online, averaging 70 yards/kickoff. His longest field goal was 48 yards his senior year, meaning we’ll have multiple guys on the roster that can hit from 45+ yards.

No word on a secondary signing. It’s getting late…

Roster update

We’re close enough to a finalized 2025 roster that I can do one final overview.

Fresh look on special teams – Given the departures of Trusler and O’Haire, we could have true freshmen starting at both kicker and punter, along with a new holder. Will McManus will get his chance to earn the nod during August, so added focus will be on the entire group. Interested to see how the overall sentiment feels exiting camp.

This roster is built in the trenches – The Spiders continue to be built for success up front. 33% of the roster is comprised into these two position groups, with a great blend of proven experience and highly touted youth.

Three portal additions on the offensive line return this group to the top tier. We’re up to 15 offensive linemen total, with 8/15 players having 4 years of eligibility. The defensive line is in a similar spot – 14 total players, with 6/14 having 4 years of eligibility. Both lines will be anchored by experienced starters (Carbajal/Hummel and Fitz/Byrd) and will make an early statement in the Patriot League.

Youthful 2025 – Half of our roster is either a redshirt freshman or true freshman. Coach Huesman added his two largest freshman class in recent years, continuing our focus on high school recruiting rather than the transfer portal. The senior class will remain impactful, however it makes up only 10% of the total roster. I’m always pushing for us to play our youth as early as possible, and that will be on full display this season.

Recruiting shift

A few clear shifts in our recruiting strategies are really starting to stand out:

1. Be more active in the spring
2. Win Virginia
3. Northeast focus

Spring signees – Of 24 true freshmen signees, eight signed in the spring. Typically we’ve seen >85% of our true freshmen class sign during the winter. It’s nice to have a majority of your class locked up in the early signing period, but being able to add significantly to that during the spring will allow us to adjust to changes that come from the portal, while also keeping our roster balanced and our freshmen classes large.

Win Virginia – The Spiders are owning Virginia recently. We have eight more players from Virginia compared to just five years ago (a 6% jump), with a special focus on local talent. You’ll see guys from Patrick Henry, Highland Springs, Hanover, Manchester, etc. play prominent roles this fall. Local talent is important for every school, but even more so at Richmond.

Northeast focus – The Patriot League will increase our footprint in the northeast, however we’ve already been trending this way the past five years. Comparing 2020 to 2025, the most common home states for our players are moving out of the southeast and into the northeast.

A couple states make up the majority of this shift. Pennsylvania and Maryland have the biggest increases from states north of Virginia, while Georgia and Florida have big drop-offs in the southeast.

Now, I don’t know if any teams really want less guys from Florida/Georgia, but concentrating our efforts remains part of our approach and has yielded big results. Richmond and William & Mary will continue to battle for all the Virginia talent, but we’re just as prepared to win recruiting battles up north.

Between an overall bigger roster, more guys from Virginia, and a larger footprint in the northeast, it’s hard to not like our current recruiting efforts and how our roster is built.

Next Post

2025 Schedule preview – end of June