’26 Patriot League Football Preview: Lehigh
Predicted Order of Finish: 2nd
You could argue that Lehigh’s biggest departures came via the transfer portal, but what looms larger is the departure of their head coach, Kevin Cahill, who took over for his mentor Tony Reno at Yale.
The architect of Lehigh’s turnaround, he took a 2-9 team in 2023 and turned it into back-to-back Patriot League Championship seasons, including an undefeated regular season in 2025. The biggest question of all around Lehigh has to be: can the Mountain Hawks keep that success going with a brand-new head coach?
Fortunately for Mountain Hawk fans, Rich Nagy was elevated to head football coach, and – unusual in the world of college sports – also preserving all of Cahill’s remaining staff, promoting existing coaches. That, and the fact that the 2026 Mountain Hawks promise to be a player-led team, means there promises to be a lot more continuity with this Lehigh team than might otherwise be expected.
The terrific 1-2 punch of QB Hayden Johnson (2,510 yards passing, 451 yards rushing, 22 TDs) and RB Luke Yoder (1,409 yards rushing, 16 TDs) return, as does most pieces of an offensive line that was a huge part of their success. The question marks come at wideout, where the graduation of WR Geoffrey Jamiel and the transfer of WR Mason Humphrey mean the Mountain Hawks will need to replace that production. WR Matt D’Avino (257 yards, 2 TDs) will look to step into the breach, and also look out for 6’6 TE Aiden Schomp, who looked promising before losing the 2025 season to injury. WR Landon Kennel (Monmouth) also comes in this season from the Portal, reuniting one of Johnson’s receivers from his high school days at Manheim Township.
Lehigh uses different running backs in their multifaceted running attack, and the loss of RB Jaden Green in the transfer portal was significant. But fans are excited about RB Trey Tremba (Army-West Point). As a high schooler locally at Parkland, he amassed 3,361 rushing yards, 1,232 receiving yards, and scored 65 touchdowns.
At first glance, the Lehigh defense looks like it has a lot to replace, especially from its fearsome pass rush of LB Tyler Ochojski, DE Matt Spatny, and NT T.J. Burke. That pass rush was one of the most fearsome in the nation last year, and the next men up will have to step up. Will the next generation of defensive linemen and linebackers be able to step into the shoes of one of the greatest front sevens in Patriot League history?
With DB Nick Peltekian returning for one more season (28 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Forced Fumble), DL Jadin Nelson returning (31 tackles, 6 ½ TFL), and LB William Parton (63 tackles, 5 TFL), there’s a lot of veteran leadership to bring along the defense. CB DJ Brown and LB Jackson Dowd also return, a stronger veteran core than might seem at first.
It’s no exaggeration to say that P/K Connor Poole was a huge punting weapon for the Mountain Hawks last season (42 yards per kick, 9 puints greater than 50 yards), and when PK Nick Garrido was lost to a season-ending injury, Connor stepped right in and kept the kicking game solid through the end of the year. Peltekian’s return also solidifies the punt return game as well.
Fearless Prediction: Despite preseason accolades, Lehigh has a very dangerous schedule to start the season. A season-opening game away against Holy Cross – they have only beaten them once in Worcester in their last three tries there, the win a 10-7 game that could have gone either way – followed by a road game against Georgetown and their home opener against William & Mary, fresh from the CAA. Three league games in their first three games – including a new member fresh from the CAA – is hardly an easy early schedule. If they manage to meet expectations and win all three of those tricky games, they would be headed to the meat of their schedule with a huge game looming in October against Villanova. But that means they’ll have to answer some significant questions early on with no room for error.
Chuck has been writing about Lehigh football since the dawn of the internet, or perhaps it only seems like it. He’s executive editor of the College Sports Journal and has also written a book, The Rivalry: How Two Schools Started the Most Played College Football Series.
Reach him at: this email or click below:
