Football | 8/26/2026 6:25:00 PM

A new season brings a fresh opportunity for the Gannon football team, with experience, returning talent and a revamped coaching staff providing plenty of optimism entering the 2026 campaign.

Erik Raeburn enters his seventh season at the helm of the Golden Knights and his 26th season overall as a collegiate head coach. He originally joined Gannon as offensive coordinator in 2019 before being named the sixth head coach in program history later that year.

Six Captains Lead the Way

Gannon will turn to a group of six captains for leadership in 2026. Quarterback Ty Hurst (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge), center Nevin Davila (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) and wide receiver Donell "Tank" Mason represent the offense, while defensive linemen Myron Green (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) and Jeremiah Lovely (Jacksonville, Fla./Andrew Jackson) and defensive back Serrell Curtis (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) represent the defense.

New Look on the Sidelines

The Golden Knights will have a significantly different look on the sidelines in 2026, with defensive backs coach Torrey Benning the lone returning assistant on Raeburn's staff.

Among the most notable additions are a pair of experienced coordinators in Mike Hallett and Rich Yahner.

Hallett takes over as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach after spending the previous ten seasons as an assistant at Toledo. He brings nearly 30 years of collegiate coaching experience to Gannon and previously served as the head coach at Heidelberg and Thomas More. Hallett also has a longstanding connection with Raeburn, with the two playing together at Mount Union.

Yahner takes over as defensive coordinator after most recently serving in the same role at VMI. His more than 20 years of coaching experience includes stops at Delaware, Penn State and Virginia, along with previous PSAC experience at Seton Hill and Clarion.

The staff also features new defensive line coach Jeffrey Fitzgerald, linebackers coach Caleb Basaldu and wide receivers coach/special teams coordinator Matt Evans.

Experience Leads the Offense

Gannon will have plenty of experience to work with offensively in 2026, beginning with Hurst and an offensive line that returns four starters.

Hurst took over as the Golden Knights' full-time starting quarterback midway through the 2025 season and went on to finish sixth in the PSAC in passing. The former Clarion transfer completed 133-of-226 passes for 2,057 yards with 16 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He also added seven touchdowns on the ground.

Continuity up front should help Hurst as Erick Delgado (Lakeside, Calif./Granite Hills), Brad Kormanec (North Canton, Ohio/Canton Hoover), Nevin Davila (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) and Shane Ramey-Rowland (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) all return after starting 11 games a season ago. The veteran group will work under new offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Mike Hallett in 2026.

The receiving corps could receive a major boost with the return of Donell Mason (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) and Andrew Kuban (Pittsburgh, Pa./Avonworth) after both were limited to four games due to injury in 2025.

In the four games he appeared in a season ago, Mason caught 18 passes for 269 yards and four touchdowns. The former PSAC West Freshman of the Year and 2024 second-team All-PSAC West selection enters his final season fourth in Gannon history with 1,984 career receiving yards, just 16 yards shy of reaching 2,000 for his career.

Zaheem Crawford-Patterson (Irvington, N.J./Irvington) and Matt Cannone (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory) provide additional experience in the receiving corps. Crawford-Patterson finished with 15 receptions for 225 yards while appearing in seven games last season, while Cannone appeared in all 11 games and finished with nine receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown.

Despite the returning experience, Gannon will have production to replace following the departure of tight end James Faulkner (West Bloomfield Township, Mich./West Bloomfield). The Don Hansen NCAA Division II All-America honorable mention and second-team All-PSAC West selection led the Golden Knights with 46 receptions for 666 yards and two touchdowns in 2025.

Faulkner set Gannon single-season records for both receptions and receiving yards by a tight end.

The Golden Knights will also look for a new option in the backfield following the departure of Tristen Kenan (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar). The second-team All-PSAC West selection led Gannon with 671 rushing yards and four touchdowns while adding 29 receptions for 405 yards and two scores.

Gannon enters the 2026 season without a running back on the roster who has recorded a carry as a Golden Knight.

Returning Pieces Bolster Defense

Gannon will feature a number of familiar faces defensively in 2026, led by David Fairer (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis), the Golden Knights' lone returning All-PSAC West selection.

Fairer started all 11 games a season ago and finished with 42 tackles, including 32 solo stops, while tying for the team lead with two interceptions and adding a team-high four pass breakups.

Jeremiah Lovely (Jacksonville, Fla./Andrew Jackson) also returns following a breakout 2025 campaign in which he led the Golden Knights with nine tackles for loss and five sacks. Darius Hubbard Jr. recorded 23 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack in nine games during his first season with the Golden Knights, while Myron Green (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) appeared in all 11 games and finished with 22 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.

The return of Serrell Curtis (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) should provide another boost. Curtis missed the entire 2025 season due to injury after recording 52 tackles in 2024 despite missing the final portion of that season.

With several starters lost from last year's unit, Fairer, Lovely, Hubbard, Green and Curtis give new defensive coordinator Rich Yahner an experienced group to build around.

A New-Look PSAC West Awaits

Picked eighth in the PSAC West Preseason Coaches Poll, the Golden Knights enter 2026 with an opportunity to exceed outside expectations.

The PSAC will have a different look this season with Lackawanna joining the conference as a member of the Eastern Division and Lock Haven moving to the Western Division.

11-Game Slate Awaits

Gannon's 11-game schedule features five games inside McConnell Family Stadium and six road contests. The Golden Knights open with back-to-back road games at Davenport on August 29 and Shepherd on September 12 following an open week.

Gannon returns home to face Bloomsburg on September 19 for its home opener and Senior Day before opening PSAC West action against Lock Haven on September 26 as part of Homecoming Weekend.

All five home games are scheduled for noon, with the exception of the Homecoming contest against Lock Haven, which kicks off at 1 p.m.

The five-game home slate also includes Seton Hill, Indiana (Pa.) and West Chester, with the Golden Knights closing the regular season at home against West Chester on November 14.