GAMBIER – From roster adjustments to coaching changes and even a shift to a new moniker and logo, the 2022 Kenyon College Owls will certainly see more transition come their way, but their ability to adapt and their devotion to creating stability will be keys in the upcoming season and beyond.
2021 review
The Owls are coming off a 3-7 season under coach James Rosenbury, who resigned a month after the season ended. The team lost an overtime heartbreaker to Benedictine University in the 2021 season opener and then followed with two more losses. Over the next two weeks, however, Kenyon chalked up a home win against Oberlin College and a road win at Allegheny College. The team’s other win was registered in the season finale against Hiram College, and it gave Kenyon a 3-6 conference record, seventh place in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) standings.
Kenyon scored 18.2 points per game and allowed 37.1 points per game. Offensively, the passing attack accounted for 211 yards per game while the rushing attack averaged 103 yards per game. Kenyon’s catalyst on offense was junior receiver Andrew Schnarre, who led the NCAC with an average of 87.9 receiving yards per game. Defensively, defensive back Mychael Leno led the team with 74 tackles.
Preseason polls
Similar to the finish of the 2021 season, the Owls were selected by NCAC coaches to finish seventh in the 2022 preseason conference poll. With Allegheny’s departure from the conference, this year’s title race will be among nine teams. DePauw University, the defending champs, earned three first-place votes and 72 points to earn the label as the favorite heading into the new season. Wabash College collected four first-place votes and 70 points to take the runner-up spot in the poll, while Wittenberg University got one first-place vote and 58 points and was predicted to finish third.
Good moves into top role
The 2022 season is Ian Good's sixth as a coach for the Kenyon football program and his first as head coach. Good was hired at Kenyon as an assistant in 2017. Two years later, he took over as the team's defensive coordinator while assisting in coaching the team’s linebackers. Following the 2021 season, he was hired to replace Rosenbury as head coach. Good was the first coach hired from within the program since Jim Meyer in 1989. In his first season at the helm, Good will have a pair of new coordinators by his side. Corey Headley, who was at NCAA Division I Gardner-Webb University, joins the staff as the new offensive coordinator, while Robbie Brown, who comes to Kenyon from Wilmington College, was hired as the defensive coordinator.
“As a program that has undergone changes in its culture and coaching staff over the calendar year, we are excited to get this season started," Good said. "We return a host of impact players on the offensive side of the ball and numerous defensive players with game experience from the 2021 season. There are a number of underclassmen that will need to step up and have been doing so in a major way thus far.
“The focus of this preseason was to be simple schematically and build a culture rooted in becoming a family," said Good. "Our seniors have put in the time to take our young guys under their wing and bring them up to standards and expectations set forth by our staff. We have put in a lot of work thus far and are becoming a tight group that truly cares about the person next to them.”
Key returners
Schnarre, a 2021 All-NCAC receiver, is arguably the team’s top returning player. Last season, as a junior, he hauled in 53 passes for 896 yards and eight touchdowns. In all likelihood, senior Ryan O’Leary will be tossing him the ball. O’Leary played in parts of nine games last year and racked up 776 passing yards and four touchdowns. Jack Provenza, a senior, and Drake Lewis, a sophomore, both are back to lead the rushing attack. Last year, that duo amassed 634 rushing yards and four touchdowns. They’ll be running behind a line that includes veteran returners in senior Sebastian Winther and juniors Chris Zaiser and Nate Stuart.
On the other side of the ball, Leno and linebackers Darryl Shands and Jason Kessler are among the team’s top returning players. Leno’s team-leading tackle total was followed by 65 tackles from Shands, now a senior, and 64 tackles from Kessler, who is also a senior. Fellow seniors and defensive linemen Isaiah Mann and Jack Baulig also return to provide experience and leadership.
Key departures
Quarterback A.J. Allen, who split time with O’Leary last season, was lost to graduation. He threw for 1,334 yards and nine touchdowns. Receivers Justin Bosch and James Scotto, who combined for 471 receiving yards, also graduated.
Defensively, the losses were much more severe. Eight defenders were lost to graduation. That group included players like Jimi Bello (50 tackles), Niall Regan (44 tackles), Ryan Mott (31 tackles) and Jimmy Lane (29 tackles), among others.
Schedule overview
The Owls open their schedule at home with a non-conference contest against Bluffton University on Saturday, Sept. 3. The team’s conference opener is also at home, against Wittenberg University on Sept. 17. One week later, against Ohio Wesleyan University, the campus will celebrate Homecoming.
