By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Kennesaw State kicks off the 2026 football season Thursday, September 3^rd at home (Walens Family Field at Fifth Third Stadium) against West Georgia. We are going to take a look at how the Owls will do this season.

Jerry Mack took over as the head coach on December 1, 2024. KSU went 2-10 the previous season after Brian Bohanon stepped down in November after a 1-8 start. Bohanon was the head coach for the Owls since the inception of the program in 2013.

He led the team from the FCS level until they moved up to FBS and joined Conference USA in 2024. His overall record was 72-38.

Coach Mack was the head coach at North Carolina Central from 2014-17, with a record of 31-15. He was the offensive coordinator/assistant head coach at Rice (2018-20) then he became the running backs coach at Tennessee (2021-23). He was hired as the RB coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars for the 2024 season.

The Owls shocked everyone and went 10-4 last season. They started the season on the road against Wake Forest and Indiana, who won the national championship last year. KSU almost pulled the upset against Wake Forest, losing 10-9.

They went 7-1 in C-USA, with their only loss on the road against Jacksonville State, 35-26. They met them again in the C-USA Championship Game, which was also on the Gamecocks home field. They beat them, 19-15 and went to the Myrtle Beach Bowl.

With the success of last season, the expectations are high coming into 2026. They have 6 Owls selected to the Pro Football Network Preseason All C-USA team. The First team selections are RB Latrelle Murrell, DL Marcus Patterson and LB Baron Hopson.

WR/KR Davis Bryson was selected to the Second team. DB Isaac Paul and WR/PR Zion Booker were selected for the Third team.

In 2025, Murrell rushed for 894 yards and 3 touchdowns, while averaging 5.1 ypc. He also had 22 receptions for 246 yards and 4 TD’s.

Last season’s starting QB, Amari Odom transferred to Syracuse. Ironically, QB Rickie Collins transferred to KSU from Syracuse. He was at LSU from 2023-24.

KSU added a total of 28 players from the transfer portal. Some of the marquee players are LB Josh Anglin (Tulsa), OL Luke Duska (Elon), DB Perry Fisher (UAB), DB Kaleb Gray (West Virginia), OLB Corey Kelly (Baylor), P Matt McKenzie (Arizona State), DB Tony Williams (UCF) and DB Maliki Wright (Duke).

“This is an excellent group of young men and we’re excited to have them join the Kennesaw State family,” coach Mack said. “Our coaches worked extremely hard this offseason to add both experience and depth, and I can’t wait to see them out on the field this spring.”

West Georgia moved up to FCS from Division II in 2024. That will be an easy win to start the season.

The rest of the non-conference schedule is against Georgia State, at #18 Tennessee and at Arkansas State.

Conference play begins October 7^th against Jax State.

The rest of the CUSA schedule is at Missouri State, Liberty, at Middle Tennessee, Delaware, at Sam Houston, FIU and at Western Kentucky. The first four CUSA games are played on Wednesday or Thursday.

With the transfer portal, rosters change drastically each season. I believe KSU can continue the momentum from last season but they also have a lot of new players on the team.

I expect them to contend for the C-USA championship again and make a bowl game. I believe they will win seven or eight regular season games.

By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Kennesaw State went 2-10 last season. It was their first year as an FBS/Division 1A team. They play in Conference USA.

Head coach Brian Bohannon held that position from the inception of the program in 2013. The Owls began playing in 2015. He stepped down as the head coach November 10, 2024 after starting the season 1-8. His overall record is 72-38.

Jerry Mack was hired as the new head coach December 1, 2024. He was the head coach at North Carolina Central Univ. from 2014 to 2017 and his record was 31-15.

He was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Rice from 2018-20. He went to University of Tennessee as the running backs coach from 2021-23. He went to the Jacksonville Jaguars in February 2024 as the running backs coach.

He spoke at the Conference USA media day event and he said signing local talent is his priority.

“What we decided to do here at Kennesaw is basically draw about a four-hour radius and try to stay more regional than anything else from the standpoint of recruiting,” Mack said. “But with the transfer portal, we’re always going to venture out and try to take the best student-athletes to fit our style of play.”

The current roster features nine players from Cobb County or Cherokee County, 25 others from metro Atlanta and 21 more from the rest of Georgia.

An example of this is redshirt senior wide receiver Christian Moss. He was a three-star recruit from North Cobb High School and he committed to Virginia Tech. He transferred to KSU in 2024.

The Owls used to run the triple option under Bohannon. Mack plans to run a spread offense.

“It’s no secret that my background has always been more of a spread, no-huddle style of tempo,” said Mack. “I want to continue to try to incorporate those things and try to do those things here at Kennesaw. The plays are the plays, but the plays aren’t as good as the players, and as we continue to get better players, they’ll get a chance to grow and develop their craft.”

Senior QB Dexter Williams II was named the starting quarterback in the spring. Williams grew up in Macon and graduated from Mount de Sales, where he threw for 1,524 yards and 15 touchdowns and ran for 984 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior when he was named Middle Georgia Player of the Year by the Macon Telegraph.

He played at Indiana from 2020-23 but missed 2021 because of a season-ending ACL injury that occurred in the spring. He transferred to Georgia Southern in 2024 and played in five games.

The Owls added 16 transfer players in 2025. Some of the standouts are S Isiah Thomas (Miami), IOL Brandon Best (Georgia Tech), DL Donovan Westmoreland (South Carolina), CB Alexander Ford (Western Kentucky) and RB Coleman Bennett (Rice).

The season begins August 29^th at Wake Forest. The next week is at #20 Indiana.

They play two more non-conference games after that against Merrimack and Arkansas State. Both of these are home games.

After Week 4 KSU will face Conference USA opponents. They will play Middle Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, at FIU, UTEP, at New Mexico State, at Jacksonville State, Missouri State and at Liberty.

Kennesaw State should be better in 2025 but that might not equal a winning season.