Dayton Flyers
Location: Dayton, OH
Coach: Rick Chamberlin (83-38), 12th season at Dayton
Stadium: Welcome Stadium (Capacity: 11,000)
CSJ Projections:
3rd: Pioneer
10th: Ohio
86th: FCS
216th: Division I
2018 In A Sentence: Dayton was 6-5 in 2018, and finished fourth in the Pioneer Football League with a 5-3 record. Three of the Flyers’ losses came against teams that reached the FCS playoffs.
Biggest Shoes to Fill: RB Tucer Yinger was a two time PFL first team selection in his career. He became the first Dayton running back to post two 1,000-yard seasons when he ran for more than 200 yards in each of his last three games and finished with 1,340 yards. He set the Dayton career records for rushing yards (3,757), yards-per-carry (6.3) and all-purpose yards (4,468).
Key Player: QB Jack Cook is set to lead in his sophomore season. Last years’s PFL Freshman Offensive Player of the Year, was thrust into the starting quarterback role after redshirt senior and four-year starter Alex Jeske tore his ACL in the first quarter of the season’s first game. Cook’s first two starts came against teams that not only reached the FCS playoffs this season, but they both won their first-round game. Cook led all FCS freshmen in passing efficiency (155.5, 8th overall) and was ranked third among all FCS freshmen in passing yardage (2,421) and passing touchdowns (20).
Fearless Prediction: The Flyers return seven starters on offense and six on defense, so experience should not be a huge concern. Plus the team won its last three games and narrow lost to PFL champion San Diego before that by just two points on the road. This year, the Flyers get USD in Dayton. Expect more than six wins it had last year, but it may not be quite enough for Dayton to win the PFL this year.
Originally from LaMoure, North Dakota, Kent is a 1996 graduate of North Dakota State University. His prior writing experience is over 15 years having previously worked with D2football.com, I-AA.org, and College Sporting News before coming to College Sports Journal in 2016. His main focus is college football is the Missouri Valley Football Conference within the Division I FCS. And in 2017, he began also to look at the FBS Group of Five conferences of the American Athletic, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, and Sun Belt.
Reach him at this email or click below:
My son’s name was Alex Jeske. His life was taken from this Earth back on July 18th 2000 by his paternal uncle in a murder suicide. Alex, died the day before his 7th birthday. He was sweet, handsome, and built ready to play football. I know your not my Alex but sometimes I like to pretend and imagine you are. It makes me happy to see your name come up. Hope your acl heals quickly.
The Head Football Coach at the University of Dayton is Rick Chamberlin