NEC Football Preview and Predictions 2025: “The NEC is a Funny Thing.”

We’re going to try and provide predictions for the order of finish in this preview, but as a sitting NEC head coach once told me, “The NEC is a funny thing.” It was the first interview I’d ever done as a media member covering the league, and for the time I’ve been covering it has been a repeated statement I’ve made, most obviously when Central Connecticut State- picked last in 2024- won the league and challenged Rhode Island on the road in the first round of the playoffs.

If you bought the magazine, please don’t worry- this is more of a primer on the season than the full blown deep dive you’re enjoying as a reader. However, I noticed some errors in other previews and felt a set of corrections was necessary as a result. The league is kind of hard to follow casually; if you’re not embedded in it, you’ll miss transfers and graduations. It’s part of what makes it so much fun.

1. Duquesne

CCSU was picked first in the coaches preseason poll, but in our NEC preview magazine we picked Duquesne first after the meticulous research and coach interviews we conducted with the schools over the offseason. There’s just very few questions with Duquesne. We wondered about the QB situation with the graduation of Darius Perrantes- easily the best QB in the league last year and the likely Offensive Player of the Year prior to a poor performance in the season finale in a loss to CCSU- but the Dukes were able to reload here. Ty Riddell, a former SoCon champion, joins the team as a heavily experienced transfer. The Dukes lost RB JaMario Clements in the transfer portal to the P4 at Wake Forest, but they’ve got Taj Butts and Offensive Rookie of the Year Shawn Solomon available. It barely matters who has the rock, though, because they return 5 linemen with significant starting experience and will ave the best offensive line in the league without question. On the DL, they return A.J. Ackerman and Jack Dunkley. We have two all-NEC Blitz first teamers on the back end with Antonio Epps and DJ Cerisier. We had some questions at linebacker, but transfer Tyson Meiguez has gotten rave reviews and the Dukes should be favored in every NEC game this season. 

2. CCSU

The defending champions were picked first by the coaches, but they’re actually something of a wildcard. They return Offensive Player of the Year Elijah Howard, so the offense should still be potent. They’ve actually added here as well, with WR Donovan Wadley transferring in from Merrimack. Wadley is the former NEC Offensive Player of the Year from 2023, so the Blue Devils now have the past two OPOYS in the year at QB Brady Olsen’s disposal. Olsen is solid and experienced, even if he’s not in the conversation for the best QB in the league.  The real trouble for the Blue Devils is what they’ve lost in the trenches, with most of their vaunted OL graduating or transferring- it was easily the best in the league last season and a huge part of their success. The issue is only compounded by OL coach Jeff Ambrosie departing for Syracuse. They’ve also lost the two leading pass rushers on the defensive line and their prduction will be difficult to replace even with Derek Berlitz coming in from WVU. Christopher Jean in the secondary was the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2024, and the linebacker corps is led by Jack Stoll, but this is still a unit that has to replace Defensive Player of the Year Kimal Clark although they added a ton of transfer depth to try and do that. It’s hard to know what the Blue Devils will be without the same line play as they enjoyed last year, and they did benefit from a lot of bounces their way last season. I have them at second, but this is a competitive league and close losses could easily be coming their way if they lose some of their turnover production.

3. LIIU

The Sharks are likely going to become a bigger force in the league moving forward as the program opted in to revenue sharing- one of 3 NEC football squads to do so. They return all purpose threat Ethan Greenwood, rushed and threw for over 900 yards last season despite earning the starting job midway through the year. The Sharks were historically unlucky last season, losing close games to open 0-6. Greenwood took the reigns and the team led in the rest of their games in the 4th quarter and went 4-2. They’ll still use two QBs this season and run the most unique and unconventional offense in the NECC. They’re difficult to prepare for and talented, but will have a lot of new starters. They lost 4 OL this offseason to the FBS- OL coach Ian Pace does a tremendous job here and recruits as well as he coaches. On the defensive side of the ball, DQ Watkins, Rafael Fasolino, and Todd Bowels are all returning players that we love at each level (Edge, LB, DB respectively). The Sharks might actually surprise people on defense this season and with Ethan Greenwood as the most dynamic player in the NEC, they’ll challenge for the title.

4. Stonehill

Stonehill?! Everyone else has them picked 8th, including the league Coaches Poll. I like Stonehill because my philosophy has always been that the most important metric in college football- and particularly in the transfer era- is returning production and continuity. The Skyhawks have more of that than anyone else in the NEC. The trouble is that they had a poor showing last year with only one win. The coaching staff responded by changing things up in the offseason, revamping the strength and conditioning program and accordingly the Skyhawks set over half of their 30 strength records they track this offseason. Charles Battaglia at LB and Mo Seide at DB lead what should be a much improved defense- probably by more than a touchdown per game. The offense returns two solid RBs and WR Brigham Dunphy, but the QB situation took the entire season in 2024 to resolve. Hopefully, this is now settled with Jack O’Connell, and if so Stonehill will have a big turnaround. It’s also worth noting that they’ve defeated Duquesne 2 of the last 3 years.

5. RMU

RMU is the wildcard this season. They were hit harder by coaching turnover (including two coaches in the past month) and the transfer portal than anyone. Noah Robinson, the star WR and engine of this offense, transferred to Tennessee Tech and was the biggest loss, but they lost effectively the entire RB room and QB Anthony Chiccit to Temple. The OL was injured in spring and didn’t get as much work as you’d hope. Defensively, they lost some of the best players in the NEC and will have to rebuild at almost every position. Acrobatic viral sensation Rob Carter Jr. graduated and is currently in the CFL. RMU is skilled at building through the portal and has done it at a scholarship disadvantage in the Big South-OVC before, but this might be a down year with the coaching turnover getting settled still.

6. Wagner

The Seahawks should be improved in 2025 but face a logjam ahead of them. They’ll be running two quarterbacks out on the field against Kansas (that’s Jordan Barton and  Jack Stevens) and will have to decide between young potential and JUCO experience at the position. WR Jaylen Bonelli departed in the portal, but Terree McDonald should be able to step into the lead receiver role. Brady Anderson anchors the offensive line and Logan Barnes will be a force on the defensive line. It’s not really a question of if Wagner has improved- they’re more talented and deeper offensively than they’ve been since Coach Masella began rebuilding his alma mater- but they may have been hit harder in the transfer portal over the years then you’d like to see from a contender. They’re capable of surprising anyone, though.

7. Saint Francis

This is Saint Francis’s last season in the NEC before they drop to Division III and the PAC, which does include perennial powers like Grove City and especially Carnegie Mellon, which they’ll have to find a way to recruit successfully against when they’re at the same level. Coach Villarial is one of the best to ever coach in the NEC, and they’ve only lost the usual amount of production that they go through every offseason. We should note here that Markell Holman has departed in the transfer portal despite some reporting to the contrary and Andrew Vines, a DB, was listed at RB in the spring and may be switching positions this season. The Red Flash will lean on three QBs with starting experience, an experienced OL, and Geno Calgaro and Trey McLeer on defense (LB and DB respectively). The Red Flash always seem to have players ready to step into the voids filled by transferring players, but it’s hard to know what to expect with the talent dropoff they’ll likely start to experience with the transition down to D3.

8. Mercyhurst

The Lakers have begun to build a Division I caliber program after their transition from the PSAC. They return the best QB in the NEC, Adam Urena, RB Brian Trobel, and an experienced WR corps including Rylan Davison and Adam’s brother, Austin Urena. The issue for the Lakers is that they’re replacing an OL and good DL, including Camden White. While they return a lot in the receiving room, WR Cameron Barmore transferred into the Big 12 with Arizona where he’ll play tight end. Barmore is a legit pro prospect and a big loss for the Lakers. When you have a quarterback, you have a chance, but the Lakers are still building up to the level of the rest of the conference.