Presidents the preseason pick to win PAC
LATROBE – When the returning starters list for the football team is long enough to nearly cover every position, you tend to get a little respect.
It increases when that team also was co-champion of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference last season.
Washington & Jefferson, with 18 returning starters, was the pick of the PAC at Wednesday’s media day at Saint Vincent College.
The Presidents shared the PAC title with Thomas More last season but received the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs thanks to a 51-28 victory over the Saints in the regular season.
The Presidents outdistanced the Saints by 27 points in the preseason poll made up of media, coaches and sports information directors. W&J, which has made the Division III playoff 24 times, received 28 of the 34 possible first-place votes. Thomas More received the other six. Bethany, which had its winningest season since 2001 last year, was third. The Bison were 6-4 in 2014 and finished fourth in the PAC.
Waynesburg, which snapped a 10-game losing streak against W&J in Week 10 with a 31-28 overtime victory, was fourth in the poll.
“It’s a matter of respect that other people have for our program,” said Sirianni, who begins his 13th seasons with the fourth-best winning percentage in college football (111-26, .810). “It really doesn’t have anything to do with what’s going to happen this year. We’ve done it before. It’s still football, not brain surgery. The kids will forget about this once the season starts.”
Sirianni believes the Saints, who have a new coach in Regis Scafe, will be tough to beat despite the graduation of running back Domonique Hayden.
“Thomas More probably has more talent than we do, and we have to play them at their place,” he said. “That will be a game circled on everyone’s calendar.”
Among those returning for W&J are junior quarterback Pete Coughlin (273-417, 3,257, 31), senior tailback Ryan Ruffing (317, 1,605, 25) and senior wide receivers Daniel Lis (82, 879, 8) and Jesse Zubik (55, 881, 10).
The Presidents also have three of their top five defensive players returning, including sack leader in end Jon Turner (11 1/2).
The Yellow Jackets lost 14 starters from last year’s team, including quarterback Carter Hill (2,799 yards, 34 touchdowns) and running back Jake Forsythe (1,215 yards, 10 touchdowns). The two accounted for a combined 4,093 yards and 45 touchdowns.
“We’ll still have leadership and we have a great nucleus of guys coming back,” said Waynesburg head coach Rick Shepas. “I like the changes we made defensively to start it.”
Shepas moved Christian Breisinger from quarterback to safety and will determine a replacement for Hill in camp.
“We think that’s one of the moves that will be significant for us,” Shepas said. “We lost (safety) Mike Lopuchovsky and he called our formations. Breisinger is equally a competitor.
“It leaves the quarterback situation up in the air. But from our standpoint, we got our defense solidified. … We’ll have six (quarterbacks) heading into the process (of elimination). We had a couple guys in the program for a couple years not get to where we wanted them to be. We’ll start a new guy. I feel like it’s best for the team.”
Meanwhile, Chris Smith begins his 32nd and final season as the head coach at Grove City. Andrew DiDonato, a South Fayette grad who played and is now coaching at Grove City, will take over in 2016. The transition was announced earlier this year and Smith believes it’s going well.
“The key is that he played here and I coached him,” said Smith. “We had a great relationship as player-coach and maintained that throughout. Bringing him back is not threatening to me. It is a good idea, especially if you like what’s happening. When you do it this way, for the program’s sake, you’re able to maintain whatever traditions you had. He’s part of them and appreciates them.”
Smith said new coaches typically want to change a lot with their new school and that can be disruptive.
“Doing it this way makes a smoother transition, a smoother transition for your athletes,” said Smith. “They know what to expect. They know what’s happening.”
The Wolverines finished 0-10 last season and were picked to finish last in the PAC poll.