By Rob Gullo
NEFJ Correspondent

NEW BRITAIN — Slated to win a third-straight Northeast Conference title, the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils football team is ready to tackle the 2026 season with a target on their back.

This summer, the Blue Devils have had several positional battles including at quarterback and will have a number of key players stepping up following major departures from the 2025 season.

The Blue Devils’ season kicks off this Saturday, August 30, with a road trip to South Dakota to take on the 12th-ranked Coyotes before a bye week and two more games away from New Britain.

Here’s five observations from our CCSU summer visits:

Big shoes to fill on both sides of the ball 

Like every college team each offseason, the Blue Devils head into the 2026 season with significant turnover at key positions.

On offense, the Blue Devils will be without quarterback Brady Olson (First-Team All-NEC) who threw for a school record 3,132 yards, running back Elijah Howard (2025 NEC Offensive Player of the Year), and All-NEC OL selections Isaiah Deloatch and Precious Ekeh.

On the other side of the ball, the team is without its two leading tacklers from the 2025 season: Jack Stoll and Malachi Wright. Stoll was named the 2025 NEC Defensive Player of the Year. The team is also without sack-leader Gavin Taylor (seven sacks), as well as key defensive linemen Reggie Darkah, Derek Berlitz, and Clif Thompson.

Wide receivers and Safety groups team’s biggest strengths heading into season 

While there is a lot to replace, the Blue Devils’ WR and safety groups highlight two of the best positional groups heading into the 2026 season.

At wide receiver, the team’s three leading receivers in yards from last season return: Michel Trovarelli, Donovan Wadley, and Dave Pardo. Damani Williams also returns after recording 24 receptions for 247 yards and a touchdown as a freshman in eight games played.

At safety, Chris Jean highlights the group, having been named an FCS Stats Perform Preseason All-American. Eric Jackson returns and will serve as a captain for a second-straight season after ranking third in tackles a season ago. Navon Mitchell, like the other two, was a tackle-machine, ranking seventh on the team in that category with seven. East Carolina transfer Mel Jacobs, who was sidelined due to injury all of last season, is also expected to make an impact at the position this year for the Blue Devils.

Team’s focus is on what they can do in 2026

The Blue Devils have won the last two Northeast conference titles. For a second-straight season, they’ve been picked in the NEC Preseason Coaches Poll to three-peat as conference champions, receiving six out of the eight first-place votes from coaches around the league. The Blue Devils also had a league-high 10 players selected to the Preseason All-NEC team.

Despite the hype and recent championship success, the Blue Devils don’t care about the past and are ready to re-prove themselves as the top dogs in the conference this season. When asked about a chance to become the first team in the NEC to three-peat in over 25 years, Lechtenberg said that doesn’t mean much to the team heading into the season.

“Not right now, maybe 20 years from now, when they’re sitting around at their reunion,” said Lechtenberg. “But right now, this team is trying to win one game at a time. Obviously when we get into our league our goal is to try to compete for a conference championship, that’s always our goal at Central Connecticut. We can’t win three this year, you can only win one a year so that’s all we’re worried about.”

LB and CB groups will feature many transfer players 

With many key defensive players gone from graduation or the portal, the linebacker and cornerback groups are two units that will see new guys making impacts.

At linebacker, the Blue Devils brought in outside linebackers Daren Omeregie and Breone Askins. They bring familiarity, having previously played in the NEC with Omeregie coming from Wagner and Askins from Long Island. Both are expected to play significant time this season with Omeregie earning Preseason All-NEC honors.

At cornerback, three key transfers join the room: Keith Moko, James Manakaka, and Amir Proctor. Moko and Manakaka each come from Western Illinois, where they each played eight+ games last season. Proctor comes from Buffalo after beginning his collegiate career at Marist, and Lechtenberg said these three corners will play this season.

Blue Devils embracing grueling road schedule for start of season

What football team doesn’t want to be battle-tested to start the season?

CCSU will open the season with three-straight road games all out of state and out of the region. Two of those three games will be against Top-12 FCS opponents heading into the 2026 season, including the defending champions, Montana State, which enters the season as the No. 1-ranked team in the FCS. The other is South Dakota, who ranks No. 12 in the season opener.

After facing South Dakota, the Blue Devils will have a bye then will travel to Ohio to face a talented Toledo team who finished 8-5 a season ago. In total, the Blue Devils will travel 4,333 miles for their first three games of the season.

“We are embracing the opportunity to compete against some of the best teams in the country,” said Lechtenberg. “Our goal is to be competitive in the NEC, and we know that challenging ourselves early helps us prepare for the grind of the NEC.”