By Rob Gullo
NEFJ Correspondent

FAIRFIELD — Before the start of the weekend, the Sacred Heart Pioneers football team took the practice field early Friday morning for a pad-less practice with near-perfect weather.

This season, the Pioneers will play its last season as an independent team as they’ll make the transition to the Coastal Athletic Association Conference next season.

Sacred Heart will be led by head coach Mark Nofri, who is in his 14th season as the team’s head coach. Offensive coordinator Matt Gardner enters his ninth season handling duties on offense as Darin Edwards enters his second season as the team’s defensive coordinator.

Friday’s practice was a more calm, slower practice that ended around 10:30 a.m. Still, the Pioneers got in plenty of work before the start of the weekend.

Here are five things that stood out during our camp visit with Sacred Heart:

Strong QB battle between John Michalski and Jack Snyder 

Quarterback John Michalski played in all 11 games last season for Pioneers throwing for 1,204 yards, five touchdowns, and six interceptions while adding six rushing touchdowns on the ground. While the junior started and played all 11 games for the Pioneers in 2024, there isn’t a guarantee that he will be the team’s starting quarterback this season.

Nofri said that a decision should be made this week on whether or not Michalski or sophomore Jack Snyder will enter the season as the team’s starting quarterback. Snyder did not see any game action last season, but Nofri said the two have been battling it out this offseason and said it wouldn’t be a surprise to see both quarterbacks play this season. Both quarterbacks seemed smooth in drills on Friday and have embraced the QB battle.

Running back room will be an entirely new committee 

Last season, the Pioneers rushed for 1,982 yards and 18 rushing touchdowns. 1,465 yards and 12 of those rushing touchdowns came from running backs Jalen Madison and Xavier Leigh. Aside from Michalski, the rest of the team rushed for 137 yards on 32 carries.

This year, Nofri said the backfield will be run by a committee of Curtis Whiting, Trey Eberhart III, and Chuck Webb. Each of the three backs brings something different to the table for the Pioneers’ backfield. Webb is a thicker back that’s a good downhill runner and in between the tackles. Webb can excel on the inside or outside as a runner as he has some of the best vision of any backs in the group. Eberhart III is a hard runner that will mainly be used in short-yardage situations.

Pass-rush will see new rotation

Like the running back room, the defensive line has lost a lot of production from last year’s team. The Pioneers will be without Nate Chandler, Tyreke Brown, and Isaiah Bishop this season. The trio of players led the team in sacks last season as they combined for 12.5 of the team’s 17 sacks from last season.

Players such as Miles Hamilton, Ron Cole, and Pete Schanne are expected to lead the defensive line/pass rush this season. Schanne appeared in 11 games totaling 14 tackles last season as an interior defensive lineman. Cole appeared in nine games a season ago but Nofri expects him to have a strong season coming back from an injury from last season. Hamilton will see the field this season as an edge rusher after redshirting a season. All three were flying to the ball during Friday’s practice.

Secondary will see a shakeup

The secondary might be the position group that has the most players on a football team for some programs. With the transfer portal becoming increasingly popular with more athletes transferring, the secondary may be the toughest group for some programs to rebuild/replace.

The Pioneers will be without a handful of key members from last year’s secondary in Marques Mason, Jordan Campbell and Quinn Hart. This season, Sacred Heart will see the return of guys like Maximus Mongelli, Ryan Palmieri, Kenny Selby, and Ryan Moore.

With a number of guys returning and with a few key guys gone from last year’s team, the defensive back group will be an interesting group to watch this season.

Pioneers are preparing for tough schedule before joining the CAA

This season will be the final season that Sacred Heart will play as an independent team. Before joining the CAA next year, which now will have 13 total teams, Nofri and his Pioneers will see a tough schedule, facing the likes of teams such as Lehigh, Montana, Villanova, and CCSU.

Nofri said regardless of being in a conference or not, each game is as important as the next and has reminded the team that if they stack up enough wins, they could get an at-large bid to appear in the postseason. He thinks playing four FCS playoff teams from a year ago is a good challenge for his team this season and they’re embracing it.

Final Thoughts 

This Pioneers football team is looking for its first winning season since 2021 before it makes the shift to the CAA next season. Two of the last three seasons, the team was a win away from a positive record, going 5-6 during the 2022 & 2024 seasons. Sacred Heart will also play one more game (12) this year than last.

There’s a lot to replace and prove on both sides of the ball, but Nofri is confident in this year’s bunch to have a successful season.

Sacred Heart opens the season hosting Stonehill next Saturday, August 30 with kickoff set for 2:00 p.m.