Vigil's third Pack football team welcomes back 65 lettermen, including 17 starters from last season's 10-2 team that closed the regular season winning seven consecutive games and finished the season ranked No. 8 in the final AFCA Division II Coaches' Poll after losing 26-23 in the second round of the NCAA Playoffs at home to Minnesota State.
"There is no substitute for experience, and we have a lot of experienced players returning from last year's team, and hopefully we'll be able to build off the success from last season this year," said the Pack coach. "We feel like if we can focus on us and get better every day, then we're going to have a chance to do some special things."
One of the biggest reasons for the Pack's success the past few seasons is the culture that Vigil and his coaching staff have built, and that culture has helped us assimilate all the players into playing the way we want to play.
"We lost 21 seniors from last year's team, so we had to go out and find some guys with some experience that could come in and help us right away, and I think our staff did a good job of doing that," Vigil said. "We added 18 midyear transfers, and those players have been here with us for nearly eight months, including the summer, and those transfers have done a good job assimilating into what we're about. Guys who come in and want to do their own thing don't last very long. So, it's a testament to these guys and the belief that they have in what we do and how we do it. Most guys when they come here, they understand this place is different and this is how we do things, and they jump in line."
Among the 17 returning starters, eight return on offense, while five are back on defense, and four return on special teams. In addition, 17 players who earned All-RMAC accolades from last season return, including four first-team selections, three second-team selections, and 10 honorable mention honorees.
"Offensively, we know who we are and what we can do, so it's really about getting through fall camp and improving every single game and staying healthy. Also, we need to make sure that some of the new concepts and new wrinkles that we are all in sync with and on the same page and going in the right direction," the Pack coach added. "On defense, we don't return a lot of starters, but we have a lot of players back that have played but just didn't start a lot of games. A lot of young guys got game time experience and will get more experience this season."
Perhaps two of the biggest additions this season on offense are the return of redshirt senior receiver
Andrew Cook (Tucson, Ariz./Ironwood Ridge) and redshirt senior running back
Kiahn Martinez (Denver, Colo./University of Idaho) from knee injuries suffered in 2024 spring football that forced those two players to miss the entire 2024 campaign. Cook and Martinez were each All-RMAC players during the 2023 season.
"With those two players returning, there will be more competition. We're going to try and bring in as many people to compete as much as we possibly can. The more competition you can bring and produce, the better you're going to be as a team, no matter the position," said Vigil. "We want to bring in talented players that can come in and compete."
In 2023, Martinez earned Second-Team All-RMAC honors after rushing for 796 yards and scoring seven touchdowns. In his Pack career, he has rushed for 1,136 yards and has scored 11 touchdowns.
"I'm excited to see Martinez take the reins and take off where he left off in 2023, but we've got some guys in that room who are talented," added Vigil.
Cook rejoins a receiving corps that welcomes back six of its top nine pass catchers from last season, including redshirt senior receiver
Reggie Retzlaff (Corona, Calif./Riverside City College), who was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Year and a Harlon Hill Trophy finalist after setting single-season school records for receptions (67), receiving yards (1,228) and receiving touchdowns (12).
"Kiahn and Andrew have done an unbelievable job staying engaged while they were injured and were still leading. They are extremely strong leaders on our team," said Vigil.
During the 2023 season, Cook caught 46 passes for 566 yards and had seven touchdown receptions, and has recorded 20 career touchdown passes, which is third on the school's all-time chart.
"I haven't gotten a chance to play with Andrew (Cook) yet on the field, except for this past spring, but no game time yet. I'm super excited to see what he can do in a game. He is a great player, a great kid, and a hard worker," Fuller said when asked about Cook.
Directing the Pack offense this season will be Fuller, who set a single-season school record for completion percentage (70.3 percent) last year. In 2024, Fuller was 137-for-195 passing for 1,842 yards and had 18 touchdowns and four interceptions. Fuller shared starts last season with
Devin Larsen, who was 134-for-218 passing for 1,705 yards and had 16 touchdowns and three interceptions. Larsen completed his eligibility last season.
"Roman had an excellent year for us in 2024 and has had an excellent spring and summer with the guys, and I'm excited to see his growth this fall," added Vigil.
Last season, the Pack offense set single-season school records for pass completions (276), passing yards (3,702), passing yards per game (308.5) and finished the season ranking seventh in Division II in scoring as the Pack averaged 40.2 points per game and scored over 35 points in eight of its 12 games, including three games with 55 or more points.
"I think we're going to score a lot of points, and I don't think we're going to get stopped very often," Fuller said. "We've got a lot of weapons on offense."
Perhaps the biggest strength of the Pack offense is its offensive line which returns four starters, all of whom were All-RMAC selections a season ago. The four returning offensive linemen are senior left guard
Arthur Braach (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo East), junior left tackle
Tyler Ethridge (Midlothian, Texas/Midlothian), senior right tackle
Jaiden Jones (Dallas, Texas/Tyler JC), and senior right guard
Domingo Prince II (Aurora, Colo./Cherry Creek). Ethridge and Prince were both named Preseason All-RMAC selections.
"I am most excited about our offensive line. We return four of the five starters on the line, and we've got three other guys who are fighting for starting positions. We are deep on the offensive line, and that is such a luxury going into camp, and those guys on the line are going to make it easier for Roman or whoever's throwing the ball and whoever's running the ball," the Pack coach stated.
Meanwhile, on defense, one of the top returners is Seidenberger, who was named a Preseason All-RMAC selection after leading the team with 87 tackles and added 7.5 tackles for a loss, three sacks, two pass break-ups, and one interception. In 2023, he was named the RMAC Defensive Freshman of the Year.
"Gary is a true junior this year. He came in and started as a freshman and has taken off both as a player and as a leader," Vigil said about Seidenberger.
The Pack defense returns just five of its top 10 tacklers from last season, as long with Seidenberger, who led the way with 87 stops, junior defensive lineman
Jusiah Sampleton (Giddings, Texas/Giddings) returns after talling 38 tackles, 5.5 tackles for a loss and a sack, while junior defensive back
Kahden Rullo (Denver, Colo./Grandview) added 37 tackles, three interceptions, two tackles for a loss and two sacks and senior defensive back
Peyton Shaw (Savannah, Texas/Midwestern State) had 37 tackles, one interceptions and four pass break-ups.
Seidenberger says he expects this year's Pack defensive unit to be the best since he's been here at CSU Pueblo.
"I expect our defense to be better than it has been the last few years. I feel like in the spring, we were firing on all cylinders more than I've seen since I've been here. We have lost some experience, but I think the guys who are going to replace those guys are just as talented," Seidenberger said. "I think the biggest stride the defense has made is in our discipline."
One area that was hard hit by graduation last season was the Pack's defensive line, as four of the five starters were seniors and all four of those players were All-RMAC selections. The four departed defensive linemen were
Dominick Fini,
Cody Ramming,
Makeah Scippio, and
James Turrentine.
"I don't know if there is a replacement for experience, as you don't have it till you have it, but I think that we did a good job in the portal in bringing in some guys that have had experience at other places. We also had some guys that redshirted last season that are going to have breakout seasons this year," added Vigil. "It's hard to replace guys like Scippio,
Cody Ramming, and
Dominick Fini, but I do think we have some young, talented players who just need some experience."
Fini, Ramming, and Scippio combined for 80 tackles, 27.5 tackles for a loss, and 18.5 sacks last season.
The other two returning defensive starters are senior defensive back
Keith Mckaney (Avondale, Ariz./Desert Edge) and senior defensive back
Ben Wilson (Pearland, Texas/Midwestern State).
CSU Pueblo will get the 2025 season starting by playing a conference game at home with South Dakota Mines on Thursday, Aug. 28, in the ThunderBowl. It marks the second straight season that the Pack will open the season with a game against the Hardrockers. The Pack collected a 35-6 in last year's opener at South Dakota Mines.
"I have a lot of respect for Coach (Charlie) Flohr and what he's been able to do at South Dakota Mines. They're always well coached and play extremely hard, so we'll need to make sure we're on our game," Vigil said about the season opener with South Dakota Mines. "I love that we get the opportunity to play week zero once again this season. The week zero game give us an opportunity later in the season to have a little bit of a break later in the season before the stretch run of the season."
Along with playing its first two games at home, the Pack, who will play only five home contests this season, will play three straight road games sandwiched between its bye week on Oct. 25 over the final five weeks of the regular season. After hosting Fort Lewis for Homecoming 2025 on Oct. 12, the Pack will play games on Oct. 18 at Black Hills State, Nov. 1 at Western Colorado, and on Nov. 8 at Colorado School of Mines, before closing the regular season on Nov. 15 at home against Chadron State.
"If we can get started on the right track, then we're going to have a shot to play our best football in November and December," added Vigil. "I can't worry about where we're going to be in two or three months from now, is all I can control is today and making sure we're doing what we need to do to be firing on all cylinders down the stretch of the season."
The football postseason will look different this season as the during the offseason, the NCAA increased the playoff field size from 28 to 32 teams, which amounts to eight teams qualifying for the postseason from each of the four Super Regions. With eight teams qualifying for the playoffs, the No. 1 seed will no longer receive a first-round bye.
Along with increasing the playoff field size to 32 teams, the NCAA has also added automatic qualifiers to each of the 16 NCAA Division II conferences that sponsor football. With the addition of automatic qualifiers, the Division II playoffs will now feature 16 conference champions and 16 at-large teams.
Additionally, the NCAA has also adjusted the Super Regions for the 2025 season. The Pack will still be in Super Region 4, but instead of the RMAC being paired with both the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and the Lone Star Conference (LSC), the RMAC will now be paired with the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), the Great American Conference (GAC), and the LSC.
During the offseason, the Pack made several changes on its coaching staff as
Jordan Dodge was named the co-offensive coordinator, along with still coaching the tight ends, while
Neema Behbahani will still work with the linebackers and also serve as the program's recruiting coordinator. In addition, Vigil has added
Neal Davis as the team's new co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach,
Paul Browning as the receivers coach,
Trevor Hopkins as an offensive line assistant,
Dennis Osagiede as the defensive tackles coach, and former player
Thomas Webb, Jr., will coach the cornerbacks.
"Jordan is a coach's kid. His dad was a long-time coach in college, and since day one has nothing but impressed me. He did an unbelievable job during the spring, and the thing that Jordan does is that he holds every single person on the offense accountable and makes sure all the guys are playing to our standard," added Vigil.
Vigil says his team understands there is no room for complacency coming into this season.
"I'm excited about this year, and I'm excited about the opportunities this year is going to present. We are hungry and we're excited to begin fall camp this weekend," added Vigil. "These guys have worked their tails off all spring and summer. We've had over 100 players on campus all summer long who have been throwing and working out."
Prior to Thursday's Media Day activities, all the RMAC coaches and student-athletes attended a community service event at the Children's Hospital of Colorado on Wednesday afternoon. Following the Children's Hospital visit, the coaches and players received a tour of Empower Field, which is the home of the NFL's Denver Broncos, and then on Wednesday night, there was a social outing at Dave & Busters on Colorado Blvd., where the players and coaches ate dinner, played arcade games, and also competed in team building event.
The Pack will report to campus on Saturday, Aug. 2, and will conduct physicals, meetings, check out equipment, and take photos on Sunday, Aug. 3, before conducting their first practice of the 2025 season on Monday, Aug. 4.
