HARTFORD, Conn. – The Trinity College Football squad is gearing up to return to the gridiron with a new look for the 2024 season, as the Bantams anticipate a new offensive scheme and new faces playing in key roles.
 
In 2023, the Bantams boasted the New England Small College Athletic Conference's (NESCAC) top offensive and defensive units en route to back-to-back conference titles and their 11th conference crown in program history. The Bantams graduated 22 players from their 2023 squad, including nine of 11 starters on defense and nearly the entire starting offensive line.
 
"Our goal is to win the conference again, and we are excited for the challenge," said Trinity College Head Coach Jeff Devanney. "We graduated a lot of players with a lot of experience. I think we'll be talented this year, but we'll be very young. Offensively, we lost Spencer Fetter, who broke nearly every record at quarterback while he was here, so we'll have to be a little bit different offensively from that position. Defensively, we had nine fifth-year seniors that started last year, and we purposefully played guys so it wouldn't be a big shock this season, but we'll have nine new starters on defense."
 
Three All-NESCAC First Team selections return for the Bantams offense in fifth-year Anthony Casillo, senior Sean Clapp and junior Tyler DiNapoli. Clapp set new single-season records for receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, while averaging 129.8 yards per game. Clapp was a 2023 New England Football Writers' All-New England selection. Offensively, the Bantams led the conference in points per game (44.1), touchdowns (51), passing yards (2782), passing yards per game (309.1), and passing touchdowns (33).
 
"We'll have Jaheim Scott and Casillo back as fifth-years," clamored Devanney. "That's big for us, because if we lost them, we'd be replacing our entire offensive line this season. They'll solidify the interior of the offensive line with new starters at tackle. We'll be returning a good amount of talent and experience at the running back and wide receiver positions, but definitely the quarterback position will be different than it's been the last couple of seasons."
 
The Bantams will adjust to a new offensive scheme after graduating quarterback Spencer Fetter, who set new program single-season marks for passing yards, touchdowns and passing yards per game in 2023. Fetter owns the program's all-time record for passing yards (7,468) and passing touchdowns (80), and now fifth-year graduate Zander Zebrowski will take over starting quarterback duties entering the 2024 season.
 
"Zander is returning for his fifth-year and has been very patient waiting behind Spencer for three years," said Devanney. "The one thing Spencer was limited at was running the ball, and Zander can run, so we'll be moving towards a more run-heavy offense. We'll need Tyler DiNapoli to have a great year without the luxury of having Kirby and McCabe backing him up, so he'll have to take on more of the lead back role. We're very talented on the perimeter and at running back, so if Zander can play well, I think we'll be in good shape."
 
Defensively, the Bantams limited opponents to a league-low 12.8 points per game. The Bantams ranked second in yards allowed per game (256.9), including a league-low 583 rushing yards on the season.
 
"The biggest thing for us is that we have tons of depth on defense with really good sophomores and juniors," stated Devanney. "If you look at the defensive line, we graduated some great players, but we might have more depth this year than last year at the position. The question is, can two or three of those players not just be depth players, but become all-league players. We'll need that at all three levels. I'm not as worried about the front-seven, since most of those guys have played, but we run a three-safety system and we'll be playing some guys in the secondary that will be since significant action for the first time."
 
On special teams, Trinity is bringing back All-American Matthew Jumes, who became the first kicker in program history to be recognized as an All-American. Jumes was the only Division III kicker in the nation to notch a 100% conversion rate on his field goal attempts last season, and was voted the top kicker in New England by the New England Football Writers. Jumes also grabbed D3Football.com All-Region 1 First Team and All-NESCAC First Team selections.
 
The Trinity College Football team returns to the field for the 2024 season looking to capture their 12^th New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship, after grabbing a share of the conference crown after the 2023 season.
 
"Like all the sports across the conference, the NESCAC attracts a higher-level of player than typical Division III institutions due to the academic standards," stated Devanney. "Unfortunately, we don't get to play outside the league to show that. If you look at sports like Basketball, Hockey, Lacrosse, the NESCAC is usually the top league in those sports, and I'd expect the top teams in the NESCAC to compete well in the Northeast."
 
For the third time in program history, the Bantams are seeking to capture three straight NESCAC conference championships. Trinity's first championship streak ran from 2002-2005, followed by a run from 2016-18. But following the 2018 season, the Bantams faced their first four-loss season since 2001.
 
"My challenge for the team is to not be complacent," voiced Devanney. "We'll take a lot about what happened to us in 2019, when we won three straight conference titles and had a 5-4 season. That team is a little different from us because it had a lot of juniors who won three straight titles and then came out and were complacent their senior year. This season, we have a bunch of guys who have been waiting for their opportunity playing behind the guys we graduated, and that chance is here now. I expect these guys to come out hungry to prove themselves."
 
Trinity will kick off the 2024 season with their home opener against Colby College on September 14 at 1:00 p.m. at Jessee/Miller Field.