By Cord Rankin
113 Players Will Report To Begin Preparations For The 2024 Season
DAYTON – University of Dayton head football coach Trevor Andrews and his staff will welcome 113 players back to campus for preseason camp on Friday, August 2 as the Flyers prepare for the 2024 football season.
First practice will be on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. ET on the Jerry Von Mohr Practice Field at the Arena Sports Complex. The team’s first practice in full pads will be on Thursday, Aug. 9 at 8:30 a.m. on Von Mohr.
The team will have two preseason intrasquad scrimmages, which will also be on the practice field. The first will be a “Monday Night Football” scrimmage on Monday, Aug. 12 starting at 6 p.m., and the second will be Saturday, Aug. 17 at 8 a.m. Media Day will be Sunday, Aug. 18 at 12 Noon. At Welcome Stadium.
Andrews will be entering his second season as UD’s head coach, and his 26th as a college coach. He was a three-year letterwinner at defensive back for the Flyers and a member of three Pioneer Football League championship teams.
The Flyers will be led by two captains – center Dylan DeMaison and safety Ca’ron Coleman. DeMaison and linebacker Aiden McKinley were named Preseason All-Pioneer Football League this week.
Coleman was UD’s 2023 White Allen MVP. He was Honorable Mention All-PFL after finishing third on the team in tackles (77), solos (34) and TFL (8). DeMaison has started all 30 games of his Dayton career, and is a two-time First Team All-PFL selection. McKinley is the Flyers’ top returning tackler with 87 hits last year. He was second in the PFL in TFL (12.5). His three fumbles forced and two fumbles recovered were also the most on the team.
UD returns 17 starters (nine offense, eight defense) from the 2023 season. On special teams, the primary kickoff and punt returners (Gavin Lochow and Jeremy Jonozzo) are back, along with long snapper Austin Yeager and both punters (Logan Forcum and Danny Baker).
Lochow was named an FCS Freshman All-American All-Purpose Runner by FCS Central. He returned 17 kickoffs for a 24.2 yard average, which was fifth in the PFL in kickoff return average, and second nationally among freshmen (22nd overall). A QB in high school, Lochow led Dayton with 35 receptions (10.7 avg.) and five receiving TD (which was tied for fifth in the PFL).
Jake Coleman, who was UD’s second leading receiver (27 catches, 11.2 avg.) and also Honorable Mention All-PFL, is back, as is tight end Alec Keathley. Keathley is another HM All-PFL player who caught 14 passes for a 10.6 avg, with three TD.
Lochow and Coleman (along with the rest of the Flyer receivers) will be catching passes from Drew VanVleet, who started four games in 2023 before sitting out the season finale to preserve four years of eligibility. In this four games, VanVleet completed 76 of 120 passes (.632) for 572 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Dayton’s top returning rusher, Luke Hansen, was second on the team in rushing (108 rushes for 536 yards, 5.0 avg.). But he showed what he can do when he got the opportunity, finishing the year with back-to-back 100-yard games — 111 vs. Marist and 162 at Davidson. He led team in scoring (6 rushing TD, 1 receiving).
On the line, Honorable Mention All-PFL pick Ryan Iiams, Conor Clyde and Zachary McDowell return as starters.
Defensively, cornerback Cam Cope had the most interceptions and passes broken up in 2023. He had 38 tackles with 24 solo hits. Up front, defensive tackle Jack Wardzala was second on the team in sacks (3.5). He had the most tackles (31) and TFL (5.5) of any Flyer lineman. Both were Honorable Mention All-PFL.
Dayton was picked to finish sixth in the Pioneer Football League for the 2024 season in a preseason vote of the league’s coaches. The Flyers have 12 league championships to its credit in the PFL’s 31 seasons. . Dayton was 4-7 in Coach Trevor Andrews’s first season, closing out the year with a 35-6 win at home over Marist and a 45-14 win at Davidson.
The Flyers will open the year at home on Aug. 31 against St. Francis. Kickoff for all Dayton home games this year is 12 Noon ET. UD will begin the quest for its 13th Pioneer Football League championship on Saturday, Sept. 28 when the Flyers open PFL action at Marist.
Phil Steele Preseason All-PFL Picks…Phil Steele’s College Football Magazine named five Flyers to six positions on its Preseason All=Pioneer Football League Team. On the first team were Dylan DeMaison, Aiden McKinley and Gavin Lochow (as a kick returner). Ca’ron Coleman was named to the second team, and Cam Cope and Lochow (as an all-purpose runner) were both on the third team.
Success In The Classroom…In the last 24 years, the University of Dayton football program has produced 36 Academic All-Americans, the most of any college football team. In the history of the Academic All-America program, UD football has had 66 Academic All-Americans. Among schools playing Division I football, only Nebraska (107) has had more Academic All-Americans than Dayton and Penn State’s 66. Notre Dame (62), Ohio State (57) and Oklahoma (55) are next. UD is also one of two D-I schools (and the only one in the PFL) to have a Campbell Trophy semifinalist for 18 straight seasons. The Campbell Trophy is the National Football Foundation’s award sometimes referred to as “the Academic Heisman.”
PFL Power…The Pioneer Football League is in its 32nd season. The original (and now the only) Division I strictly need-based football league began with charter members Butler, Dayton, Drake, Evansville, San Diego and Valparaiso. UD’s 137-53 record is the best in PFL history.
700 Club…The Flyers were one of the first nine FCS teams to win 700 games. The first eight members of the FCS 700 Win Club are Yale, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, North Dakota State, Dartmouth, Delaware and Lehigh. Northern Iowa and Lafayette joined the club in 2023.
Tickets Now On Sale...Season tickets are only $40 for the six-game regular season. Single game tickets are $10.00 for adults, and $5 for children high school age and younger. Groups of 20 or more are $5 each. There is now a fundraiser option where groups can earn $1 (out of the $5) per ticket sold. Group leaders can call the Ticket Office to get a personalized sales link for fundraiser sales. UD students are admitted free with an ID. Tickets can be purchased at daytonflyers.com/tickets or please call 937-229-4433 for more information.
COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RELATIONS
