ST. PAUL, Minn. – This Thursday at 6:30 p.m., Concordia-St. Paul football kicks-off the Joshua Schumacher head coaching era as CSP hosts Quincy University at Sea Foam Stadium in the program's lone non-conference game.
 
Heading into the season opener, the season preview will be released in phases covering the overall program, the offense, the defense and the special teams as Coach Schumacher introduces the public to the roster.
 
WEATHER OUTLOOK
Just 24 hours out, Thursday's forecast is favorable for a football opener with a high of 81, NNW winds at 5-10 mph, sunny and clear conditions and an overnight low of 52. Specifically, the forecast for kickoff is 79 degrees with a cleary sky and NNW 8 mph wind, cooling to 70 degrees and a NNE 4 mph wind by 10 p.m.
 
WEBCASTING ALSO ENTERS A NEW ERA WITH MIDCO SPORTS PLUS
Starting with the 2026-27 season, Concordia and the NSIC will call Midco Sports Plus the streaming home for the NSIC Network. Midco Sports Plus, a regional cable provider primarily based in North Dakota, South Dakota and parts of Minnesota, features an expanded variety of online sports coverage.
 
The NSIC Network will be part of a subscription service with annual access plans starting at under $7 per month for the full year ($79/year) or monthly service for $15 which includes NSIC coverage as well as Summit League.
 
Concordia's broadcasts will continue to feature multiple cameras with instant replay along with commentary from St. Paul-native Dan Flanagan, a graduate of Fordham University (N.Y.) where he covered multiple NCAA Division I sports teams on campus for the Rams including football and basketball in the Patriot League. Flanagan has been the broadcast voice of the Golden Bears for nearly 20 years and called multiple national, regional and conference championships.
 
For more information, view the NSIC's press release announcing the Midco Sports Plus partnership: https://cspbears.com/news/2026/7/16/athletics-midco-sports-launches-nsics-new-streaming-home.aspx
 
For streaming support and troubleshooting, visit Midco's support page: https://sports.midco.com/support
 
TICKETS - PURCHASE IN ADVANCE ONLINE
Fans are highly encouraged to purchase tickets online at cspbears.com/tickets prior to game day. All ticketed events for the 2026-27 academic year will utilize the Vivenu online ticket platform found at that link and fans must scan a mobile ticket to enter. Tickets will still be sold on site on gameday but purchases are card-only and include additional fees. The best way for fans to make their gameday entry as smooth as possible is to purchase tickets online in advance. CSP Students, Faculty and Staff will be able to download their free passes through Vivenu.
 
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains live in-game updates, close game alerts, rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up-to-date on Golden Bear athletics.
 
COACHES SHOW RETURNS TO TWIN CITIES RADIO
The Coaches Show with Joshua Schumacher is back on the Twin Cities airwaves for a seventh season, once again hosted by Wally Langfellow of Minnesota Score. The show airs following the Minnesota high school football game of the week, typically on Friday evenings in the 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. hour on KYCR 1440 AM radio, available in the Twin Cities metro area.
 
The season opener episode will be an in-depth discussion with head coach Joshua Schumacher, while future episodes will feature student-athletes in addition to Coach Schumacher.
 
For fans who miss the live show over the air or are outside of the radio station's Twin Cities reach, the entire show is accessible via the CSP Bears Podcast, available in Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and YouTube podcasts. It will typically be uploaded late Friday night (after the initial air time) or Saturday morning prior to the game. Search 'CSP Bears' into your favorite podcast provider!
 
SERIES HISTORY: QUINCY 1, CSP 0
The Golden Bears and Hawks met for the first time last season in Quincy, Illinois in week zero at QU Stadium. The Hawks prevailed with a 38-7 win over the Golden Bears as Bradyn Little completed 22-28 for 256 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for a pair of scores on his three rushing attempts for three yards. Little distributed his three touchdown passes to three different targets and no one on the Hawks had more than 59 rushing or receiving yards in the game.
 
Concordia's defense held Quincy to just 84 rushing yards on 33 attempts, forcing the Hawks to a 2.5 average on their home turf. Ricky Dixon led CSP's defense with seven tackles while Isaiah Wray had six tackles, 1.0 for loss and a half sack.
 
Offensively, Zachary Yeager started the opener and completed 12-20 for 51 yards while Reed Styer entered for the injured Yeager in the second half, completing 5-7 for 87 yards and found Timothy Davis for a 45-yard strike to set up a short touchdown run by Joel Lacy.
 
Davis had three catches for 73 yards and Lacy had six carries for 12 yards. Daniel Hornacek added 48 combined yards with 7-19 rushing and 6-29 receiving.
 
ABOUT THE HAWKS
Quincy enters the 2026 season picked fifth in the nine-team Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Preseason Poll. Quincy went 6-5 overall (4-4 GLVC) last season and were 6-4 overall in 2024 in head coach Jason Killday's first season leading the program. Killday enters his third year with a 12-9 overall record.
 
Returning standouts Bradyn Little (So., QB), Brock Wiley (Sr., LB), Collin Parsons (Jr., RB), Jack Bishop (Sr., OL) and Kendrick Adimado (Jr., CB) are coming off of All-GLVC recognition in 2025.
 
Little engineered the offense in all 11 games, completing 65.1 percent (253-388) of his passes for 2,492 yards and a 17-6 TD-INT ratio while adding four rushing touchdowns.
 
Parsons averaged 4.8 per carry, rushing for 420 yards and four touchdowns and added 20-154 in the pass game, running behind Bishop and the offensive line.
 
Wiley led the team with 106 tackles, adding 8.0 TFLs, 3.0 sacks and six pass breakups while Adimado had a team-best 11 pass breakups with 30 total tackles.
 
SEASON PREVIEW PART 3: DEFENSE
The Golden Bear defense is engineered by Coach Schumacher, who has a strong background in defensive coaching, calling the defense at all of his coaching stops. He quickly identified incumbent defensive line coach Dalton Thomas as a strong voice, tagging him with the co-defensive coordinator spot on the coaching staff.
 
The defense features returning players for leadership at all three levels with fifth-year defensive lineman Percy Robertson up front, fifth-year linebacker Ben Rehl and sophomore safety Aydin Buchanan in the secondary.
 
MEET THE BEARS: DEFENSIVE LINE
The defensive line is led by second-year assistant coach and co-defensive coordinator Dalton Thomas.
 
"Coach Thomas is a master technician. These guys are buying into playing with technique and pad level. I'm excited to see them reset the line of scrimmage. We have some guys who can rush the passer, too. I am excited to see them wreak some havoc and push the pocket," said Coach Schumacher.
 
Robertson brings 17 games of playing experience to the front four, playing all 11 games last season with career-highs of 16 tackles, a half for loss and a blocked kick including a five-tackle performance against Wayne State late in the season.
 
"We have some new guys and younger guys coming in up front. We flipped Owen Kalonihea from the O-Line to D-Line. AJ (Airion Bradley) has been a stout guy who can wreak havoc. On the ends, Marquis Coleman returns and I'm excited about his versatility and seeing him in an increased role this year. Jon Kanaley and Elijah Hall were teammates from College of the Canyons, and we were excited that they joined us here at CSP."
 
Coleman brings a similar amount of game experience to the defense as Robertson with 16 career games played including career-highs of 10 tackles, one for loss and a fumble recovery last year. He opened the year with four tackles against this year's game one opponent, Quincy.
 
Kalonihea appeared in nine contests and Bradley played in four games in what would have been a redshirt season prior to the NCAA's age-based eligibility rule change this summer.
 
MEET THE BEARS: LINEBACKERS
At Coach Schumacher's position group, he is excited for the opportunity that the unit's depth provides.
 
"We have depth and I'm excited to see some of these guys compete and continue to push each other for playing time. We will find out who separates themselves at the linebacker position as we play the game because we have some real good ones, and I'm excited to see them have the opportunity to finish plays in games which you don't always get to do in practice. Some younger players, Cal Nitti and Etienne Isuk are really smart players and definitely providing us with necessary depth, they are competing on special teams and I'm excited for them to take advantage when their opportunity comes."
 
Fifth-year linebacker Ben Rehl is one of the most experienced players on the roster, having played 26 games across the last three seasons following his 2022 redshirt season on campus.
 
He's compiled 134 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, seven passes defended, three interceptions and had a fumble return for touchdown as a sophomore. He was pacing out for his top season last year, with 33 tackles in five games before an injury shut down his season. He finished out as the team's fourth-leading returning tackler despite playing in less than half of the games. He put up over half of those in one game, a 17-tackle performance which was the eighth-most in a game in school history, helping CSP secure a road win at Minot State.
 
Filling in for Rehl following his injury, Jonas Barros returns, starting the final six games in his second season in the program. He concluded a breakout season with 43 tackles, topping all returning defensive players, adding 1.5 tackles for loss and an interception.
 
"Ben is a smart, savvy veteran who brings a lot of stability and maturity to our defense. Jonas did a great job in the spring season and has been continuing to learn, showing growth when in bigger formations which is when I see him on the field."
 
Clarence Chaney, a transfer from Cerritos College, and returning senior Jude Onuoha look to factor in at outside linebacker.
 
"Jude has been able to turn the page with a fresh start and he has taken advantage of that. He's flashed and made plays but also has good feel for coverage as well as coming down in the run game. Clarence has shown up and popped, whether in the run game or in the blitz and is a smart player."
 
Onuoha has played in five games each of the last two seasons, working his way from special teams into a role on the defense.
 
MEET THE DEFENSE: SECONDARY
"Our secondary features great communicators. I was blown away at how well they communicate with each other. Walking into the program, it was impressive that we didn't have to teach them how to talk on the field, now we just need to get them comfortable with our words and concepts," said Coach Schumacher.
 
The safeties feature a pair of sophomores who gained on-field experience last year as true freshmen, Kam Williams and Aydin Buchanan. Williams saw four games of playing time and turned in seven tackles in those opportunities while Buchanan was one of the more productive players on the defense with 38 tackles in nine games while securing six starts as a rookie.
 
Buchanan is the team's third-leading returning tackler and was fifth on the team overall. He also had three pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, showing a nose for the ball.
 
"Kam is showing great technique and skillset, and Aydin is a coach on the field. His ability to communicate is at an elite level. It makes sense why he played as a true freshman."
 
Veterans Hudson Jean and Ricky Dixon bring important experience and versatility to the group. Jean has played in 30 games for the Golden Bears with 73 tackles, coming off a career-high 40 tackles last season and had a career-high 11 tackles in the road win at Minot State. He's the team's second-leading returning tackler behind Barros and made five starts while playing all 11 contests. 
 
Dixon played in nine games and made seven starts and is the fifth-leading returning tackler with 28. His career has seen him switch from wide receiver and kick returner to defensive back, making a seamless transition and excelling in the weight room to accommodate the position change.
 
He's played in 30 career games, nearly split evenly between offense and defense.
 
"Ricky has done a great job, he's a veteran who has played both sides of the ball here, he's worked hard to improve his game and has the ability to force turnovers. Hudson has great athleticism, great coverage skills and is a good blitzer. We will use his abilities and highlight him in those ways."
 
The cornerback position features an experienced, high-level transfer from a playoff program with the addition of fifth-year TJ Easley-Jones from the University of Indianapolis. Last year, he was named a D2CCA All-Super Region 3 Team selection and was an All-GLVC First Team performer. A starter in all 11 games, he had 29 tackles, an interception and led the Greyhounds with 12 pass breakups. Prior to UIndy, he also appeared in four games at the Division I level at Jackson State.
 
"TJ Easley-Jones was a first-team all-conference player at Indy, he comes in and can play every technique you ask a corner to play. He can blanket a wide receiver. We've also had nice growth from CJ Jackson, and J-Rod Abrams brings energy to the defense and corner room, as well."
 
Jackson made 11 tackles in eight games and Abrams had three tackles in six contests as the duo each received important reps, Jackson in his redshirt-freshman season and Abrams in his true freshman season. Under new eligibility, Jackson heads to his junior year and Abrams becomes a sophomore.
 
MEET THE BEARS: SPECIAL TEAMS
The special teams unit features returning punter Caden Carsen and long snapper Carter Miller in the kicking game, with EJ Previlma, BJ Davis and Tony Edwards III returning in the return game.
 
Carsen had a big season punting for the Golden Bears in his return to football. Originally a key bullpen arm for the baseball team by way of Minnesota State University, Mankato, Carsen's punting ability was discovered heading into fall camp last year and he took hold of the job immediately.
 
He posted a 40.3 season punting average, ranking third in the Northern Sun and 37^th in the country, with his punting average only telling part of the story as his directional kicking and hang time helped the punt coverage unit rank 27^th in the nation in net punting (37.83) while opposing returners averaged just 4.64 yards, ranking 29^th in the country.
 
The kicking game also brings in new talent with Drake University transfer Ryan Schroeder who has punting and kicking experience, and freshman kicker James Graves.
 
"Ryan Schroeder and James Graves, one lefty and one righty and I'm really excited to have both. James is a freshman while Ryan is a transfer from Drake. Ryan shares his wisdom with James, and James brings competitiveness to our kicking game. I'm really confident in both of them right now."
 
He continued, "Ryan also punts and is competing with Caden. We're excited to have Caden back this year, it's great to have multi-sport athletes. It's a great group of specialists."
 
The team also has depth at long snapper with freshman Justin Robbins joining junior Carter Miller. "Robbins is a long snapper and running back and brings that athleticism, while Carter is getting more consistent."
 
In the return game, "Elvick (EJ Previlma), BJ (Davis) and Tony (Edwards III) have been our primary returns and I'm excited to see them take advantage of good blocking," noted Schumacher.
 
Last year, that trio led the team in kickoff returns with Edwards returning a team-leading 10 kickoffs for a 19.0-yard average with Davis getting five for a 20.8 average and Previlma's five returns going for a 16.0 average.
 
This year, Schumacher hopes to see those numbers rise through team play.
 
"We spend a lot of time working on our technique and our blocking. Some of the guys who have been buying in and getting after it are BJ Davis, Carter Zezulka, Aydin Buchanan, Hudson Jean, Ben Rehl and Vinny Wanda, but it's really been a lot of guys buying into it."
 
On special teams kickoff and punt coverage units, Schumacher notes that freshmen linebackers Garett Bauer and Cullen Christensen's elite wrestling background have made them assets. "Garett was a state champion and Cullen placed third. We also have Milton Blamo and Tyrelle Owens, younger guys who have been flying down on kickoff coverage. I'm also really excited about Colin Avery's impact on special teams, and it's neat because his dad is an alum of the program. Avery Favors comes to us from a great prep program and has been doing a good job on special teams, as well."
 
Putting his finishing thoughts on the balance of the roster and direction of the program, Schumacher concluded, "I would say that I am thankful for this opportunity and I am passionate about where we are headed with the CSP football program. I am excited to meet more people who have been in and around the program. I see a competitive team that is continuing to get better."