Some quick hits from pre-camp Thomas More football that will offer an all-new look for the Saints starting in September.
There’s not a single opponent from last season on this year’s Saints schedule in the first transition season from the NAIA’s Mid-South Conference to the NCAA Division II Great Midwest Conference.
Not one. The Saints open with two nonconference opponents – at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Mich., Sept. 2 and then back to Crestview Hills Sept. 9 for the home opener against the University of Virginia College at Wise.
Ohio Dominican arrives for the inaugural home MWC game the next week, Sept. 16, to open a nine-game conference schedule with four home games, five on the road. The next Saturday it’s off to Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio, Sept. 23. Then back home Sept. 30 for another Ohio MWC opponent, Tiffin University.
Kentucky Wesleyan in Owensboro comes next in an Oct. 7 game. Findlay (Ohio) follows for a second straight week on the road Oct. 14. Homecoming sees Hillsdale College (Michigan) in for the Oct. 21 game. A two-game road trip follows with the Saints visiting Ashland University Oct. 28 and Northwood University (Midland, Mich.) Nov. 4.
TMU closes out the season with Senior Day against Lake Erie College Nov. 11. That makes four Ohio schools on the schedule with three more from Michigan and just one from Kentucky. No question the move to the NCAA and the Great Midwest will have the Saints looking north.
Last year, in a 5-6 season, TMU faced six Kentucky opponents, two from Tennessee, and one each from Pennsylvania, Virginia and Alabama.
• 5 TMU FOOTBALL PLAYERS NAMED ALL-COMMONWEALTH: To the preseason All-Commonwealth team presented by the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame, there are five TMU players among the 68 NCAA Divisions I, II and III and NAIA.
They are junior DB Kolton Reeves (Paducah, Ky./McCracken County), junior DB Colton Sandhas (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder), redshirt junior DL Tanner Lawrence (Melbourne, Ky./Campbell County), junior WR Freddie Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain) and junior OL Shaquille Brown (Jacksonville, Fla./Robert E. Lee).
Players selected are honored for their leadership in the classroom and on the field and nominated by their schools. They were recognized during the KY Pro Football Hall of Fame 2023 Induction Ceremony televised on Lexington’s WTVQ June 23.
• TWO NEW TMU COACHES FOR THE FALL: Derek Burnett is TMU’s new assistant coach and for cornerbacks going into this season. He comes from the last three seasons as defensive coordinator at Campbellsville. Last season, the Campbellsville defense was ranked No. 12 in the nation and No. 2 in the Mid-South in interceptions. A Kentucky Christian grad, Burnett did not allow a passing TD in a two-year stretch during his KCU playing career.
On the other side of the ball, Joe Kreinsen will be the new offensive line coach and run game coordinator for Head Coach Chris Norwell. Kreinsen arrives at TMU from a record-breaking season at Lake Erie College in the Great Midwest Conference where he was assistant head coach/offensive coordinator, leading Lake Erie to its best season offensively in recent history with 23.5 points a game and 368 yards of offense per game while finishing first in passing yards in the conference and 10th in the nation with 3,199. Kreinsen’s previous coaching stops were as a grad assistant at both Pitt and UMass.
“Joe brings a coaching resume in several different collegiate levels and also Division II GMAC coordinator experience to the offensive staff room,” Norwell said of the Natick, Mass., native and four-year O-line starter at Westfield State.
• CROSSING THE OHIO IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS: One of the main points of discussion when Evan Ipsaro announced his basketball commitment to Miami of Ohio was how the all-state guard would be joining his former Covington Catholic teammate, Mitchell Rylee, in Oxford. Turns out that’s not going to be the case. After playing in just eight games (1.8 point average), Rylee entered the transfer portal and headed back to Northern Kentucky where the 6-foot-8, 215-pound center will join a much bigger front line for the Saints this year. He’ll team with 6-11 Alabama State transfer Abba Lawal along with two 6-7 holdovers – Dixie Heights alum Billy Wogenstahl and Wisconsin-Milwaukee transfer Kyle Ross – as the Saints return to NCAA play.
• RED THE WAY TO GO FOR PANTHERS: Good choice by the Ludlow Panthers, whose school colors are red and black, to go with red as a signature look for the new artificial turf at historic Rigney Stadium. Because the first team in America to pick black turf – NCAA Division III SUNY (State University of New York) Morrisville — just debuted its black turf to serious criticism.
Most of it is focused on the heat factor and what it will be like playing on the black turf in August, even in upstate New York. One other difference with Ludlow’s choice: While Ludlow went with the sand-like tan pellets that cool the turf some 10 to 15 degrees, SUNY Morrisville went with the more standard black rubber pellets that do not.
For those who are keeping track of the unique colors for artificial turf, as we noted, the only other red field is that of Division I Eastern Washington. And of course, Boise State debuted its bright blue turf way back in 1986. Other one-of-a-kind colors in D-1 football: Coastal Carolina has teal turf, Eastern Michigan went with grey and Central Arkansas with purple and grey.
Dan Weber writes a sports column for the Northern Kentucky Tribune. Contact him at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him @dweber3440 on Twitter.