Thomas More football planning to get NCAA respect the old-fashioned way . . . by ‘earning’ it


By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter

As Thomas More football moves into this historic season – leaving the NAIA for the NCAA, leaving the Mid-South Conference for the Great Midwest, leaving all 11 opponents from 2022 for 11 new ones this fall – the Saints’ players had a choice to make.

What do they call this challenge? How do they motivate themselves for their moment in history, this chance for upward mobility against opponents with as many as 50 percent more scholarships?

On the wall at the TMU football offices (Photos by Dan Weber/NKyTribune)

How does a Kentucky team get respect right away from its new northern conference mates who may have heard of the Saints in NAIA basketball but not so much football?

“#EARNIT” their wristbands say, echoing the decision of team leaders that the only way to get respect is to “earn it.”

Especially from people who know pretty much nothing about them. And what they do know hasn’t made that great an impression since the Saints are the preseason pick of the league’s coaches as the No. 10 team in a 10-team league.

Respect is not a given here.

“The older guys, 12 of the older guys, got together and decided that was the way to go – hard work and smart football,” says one of that number, Melbourne’s Tanner Lawrence, a 6-foot-3, 255-pound redshirt junior defensive end out of Campbell County High School. Along with TMU basketball star Reid Jolly, he helped the Camels to back-to-back 10th Region titles and five wins in the Sweet 16.

Tanner Lawrence

“Nobody (in the Great Midwest) knows our league (Mid-South Conference),” Lawrence says so it’s no surprise where the Saints are ranked. But they’ll have a chance right off the bat to show they belong in the NCAA’s Division II.

They open at nationally No. 22 Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“It’s huge,” Lawrence says of the Sept. 2 opener, “playing a team like that. It’s a chance to set the tone for our program.”

“They have a lot of D-1 bounce-backs,” says Rae’Von Vaden, returning as a redshirt junior starting quarterback after reconstructive knee surgery cut his season short last fall. “The (Davenport) game is very important to us, to our culture.”

Vaden, a 5-10, 195-pounder from Louisville’s Moore High School where his father is one of the coaches, echoes Coach Chris Norwell’s talk about the big difference this season for a TMU team that finished 5-6 last fall. “It’s the offensive line . . . we have the ability to punch it in there now,” he said. All the better for him when he keeps the ball in the Saints’ RPO (run-pass option) offense.

“It’s totally different,” Vaden, a fourth-year junior, says of the atmosphere around TMU football “since I got here.”

A moment of reflection before practice for Chris Norwell.

A big part of that is the way that the O-line – four of the five were first-year guys last fall — is a year older, and plenty big. The right side has Jack Plattner (6-7, 313, Cincinnati Turpin) at tackle next to guard Kyle Hillerich (6-4, 320, Louisville Manual) with Cam Weil (6-3, 295, Western Brown) at left tackle next to guard Shaq Brown (6-2, 285, Jacksonville, Fla. Lee), the only junior. At center is Cincinnati LaSalle alum Ryan Reynolds (6-2, 285).

“We get going, we’ll be hard to stop,” Vaden says.

Here’s how they plan to do it,” says Norwell, a four-year stalwart on the defensive line at the University of Illinois where he helped lead the Illini to the 2009 Rose Bowl.

“Pace-and-space,” he says, making opponents defend the whole field at high speed. “Use tempo” to play as fast as it makes sense.

And “establish the run.” That’s where the experienced big guys up front come in. Last year was tough. “It’s a challenge for an 18-year-old, to be as physically prepared as you have to be for college football,” Norwell says.

As far as quarterback, “Rae’Von is the guy,” Norwell says. Although incoming freshman Chase Crone out of Simon Kenton has been impressive. “He’s in the mix,” Norwell says, along with another freshman, Griffin Scalf, from Norwell’s old school, Cincinnati Anderson.

“We’re very deep at running back,” Norwell says with Springfield, Ohio’s Jaden Hall (6-0, 200), a transfer from Tiffin, and Dayton, Ohio’s Jordan Marksberry (6-0, 210), both redshirt sophomores, leading the way. Two freshmen, Emable Wakilongo and Eli White, figure to contribute.

Wristbands proclaim the way to respect in the NCAA

At wide receiver, TMU returns All-Mid-South receiver Freddie Johnson (5-10, 180, Cincinnati Colerain) with sophomore Preston Agee (6-2, 190, Covington Catholic) expected to be right there making plays with Johnson.

In addition to Lawrence, Norwell said to look for the defense to lean on grad student linebacker Trey Brausch (6-0, 210, Bracken County), the son of veteran coach Dave Brausch, last year’s Bellevue High head coach.

Also back is All-Mid-South punter, junior Elgin Phillips out of Fairfield, Ohio.

The goal this season, Norwell says, is to be “a tough and gritty football team that fights for 60 minutes and responds well to the highs and lows of games. Last year I thought we were all over the place. We have to have a mindset that we can handle whatever happens.”

One of TMU’s assets is a large roster right now with 147 players. How do you coach that many, Norwell is asked. “We coach ‘em hard,” he says with a big grin.

And with 13 assistant coaches, he can. It’s one of the real benefits of being here in Metropolitan Cincinnati. “Our location is crucial,” Norwell says, with TMU having access to a number of high school teachers who can also coach football at the college level “with a part-time stipend. There are so many coaches out there.”

Checking out the Saints’ roster, it’s obvious how much of a push TMU is making in Kentucky. “Our biggest single school is Lexington Douglass with five players,” Norwell says. And there are eight from the Louisville area listed.

“We’re making history,” Norwell says, “setting the tone, building the foundation . . . I think they’re going to be ready.”

2023 TMU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Sept. 2 at Davenport University (Grand Rapids, Mich., 12 Noon)
Sept. 9 UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA’S COLLEGE AT WISE (12 Noon)
Sept. 16 OHIO DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY (G-MAC, 7 p.m.)
Sept. 23 at Walsh University (North Canton, Ohio, G-MAC, 12 Noon)
Sept. 30 TIFFIN UNIVERSITY (G-MAC, 7 p.m.)
Oct. 7 at Kentucky Wesleyan (Owensboro, Ky., G-MAC, 7 p.m.)
Oct. 14 at University of Findlay (Findlay, Ohio, G-MAC, 12 Noon)
Oct. 21 HILLSDALE COLLEGE (G-MAC, Homecoming, 12 Noon)
Oct. 28 at Ashland University (Ashland, Ohio, G-MAC, 12 Noon)
Nov. 4 at Northwood University (Midland, Mich., G-MAC, 1 p.m.)
Nov. 11 LAKE ERIE COLLEGE (G-MAC, Senior Day, 12 Noon)
(HOME GAMES IN ALL CAPS)

TMC head coach Chris Norwell

• GREAT MIDWEST CONFERENCE PRESEASON COACHES vote defending champ Ashland No. 1, TMU No. 10. Here’s how the votes break down with first-place votes and then total points.

1: Ashland (6/78)
2. Tiffin (3/71)
3. Findlay (1/64)
4. Ohio Dominican (60)
5. Hillsdale (51)
6. Northwood (39)
7. Kentucky Wesleyan (27)
8. Lake Erie (25)
9. Walsh (22)
10. Thomas More (13)

Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X (formerly known as Twitter) @dweber3440.

New look for Thomas More football

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