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Kennesaw State Football Preview 2026: Jerry Mack Built a Winner Fast
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- Kennesaw State Football Preview 2026: Jerry Mack Built a Winner Fast
Jerry Mack crushed his first season at Kennesaw State
, and now he might have one more year before he's on to a big-time head coaching gig.
It wasn't easy, but four conference titles in five seasons in two stops as a head coach - he figured something out.
- Conference USA Win Total Predictions
Kennesaw State Coach Jerry Mack celebrates a 19-15 victory over Jacksonville State in the C-USA Championship at AmFirst Stadium in Jacksonville, Alabama December 5, 2025. (Dave Hyatt / Hyatt Media LLC)
© Dave Hyatt / Hyatt Media LLC / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
He won three MEAC titles at NC Central, won seven games in the one season he didn't take a conference championship.
A star running backs coach and offensive assistant before getting the Kennesaw State job, he took a 2-10 team to ten wins and a Conference USA Championship right away.
He made the Owls
fun, the offense was explosive, and now comes the hard part - putting the pieces together to do it all again.
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Kennesaw State Quick Hits
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Head Coach:Jerry Mack (2nd year, 10-4; 6th year overall, 41-19)
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Best Case / Worst Case:Win another CUSA title/Fall back into a losing season
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Key Player:Baron Hopson, LB Sr.
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2025 Record:10-4
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Biggest Question:Can the Owls start to do all of the little things right to have another big season?
Kennesaw State Key 2025 Stats
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119th in the country in penalties and 132nd in penalty yards
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KSU 1st Quarter Scoring 121, KSU 2nd Quarter Scoring 63
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120th in the nation in red zone scoring (76%)
Offense
Jerry Mack knows offenses, and his offensive coordinator, Mitch Militello can get a passing game working.
Granted, the offense had to shine to make up for the problems on defense, and there's a whole lot to improve on, but the attack scored points with the most efficient passing game in the conference.
Even with all of the new guys taking over, the coaches will figure this out fast.
What's Working
Besides the coaches, the key is the midrange passing game.The Owls averaged over 13 yards per completion and were able to connect on the big plays here and there, but they were at their best when everything got into a groove.
They were 7-0 when completing 65% or more of their passes, and 3-4 when they didn't.
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The tackles are set.The pass protection wasn't anything special, but there's size and experience. JaDarious Lee and Nikola Milovack went through the wars, and now they're set. The interior is workable.
Control.Magical things happened when the offense didn't push and kept the mistakes to a bare minimum.
The Owls turned it over four times in the loss to Jacksonville State
in the regular season, gave it up four times in the didn't-show-up loss to Western Michigan in the Myrtle Beach Bowl, and lost it twice against Indiana.
They were 8-1 when they didn't turn it over multiple times, including the 10-9 thriller of a loss to Wake Forest.
What Needs Work
That's a lot of talent the Owls lost.The all-star interior of Brandon Best (East Carolina), Josaih Chenault ( Sam Houston
), and JT Pennington has to be replaced. The guys coming in are promising, but the depth isn't anything special.
Again, the coaching is great,and the portal should take care of a slew of concerns, but you don't get better by losing those three all-star linemen, the First Team All-Conference USA quarterback ( Amari Odom
), receiver (Gabriel Benyard), and the top three leading running backs.
The receivers.To keep stressing this, the staff did a good enough job to find guys who fit, but Benyard led the league with 949 yards and nine touchdowns, Christian Moss ( Washington
) averaged close to 50 yards per game, and Clayton Coppock ( Coastal Carolina
) scored five touchdowns.
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Player to Watch
Mateo Guevara, OG Sr.
Don't be shocked if the Owls just upgraded one of the guard gigs.
The 6-4, 317-pound Guevara can play center if needed, but he's likely going to be a mainstay elsewhere. There's all-CUSA talent with his bulk and experience.
Defense
The defense wasn't anything special, but it was more than good enough to get the job done in conference play.
There wasn't any great calling card, but the pass rush was good, the third down stops were timely, and the takeaways picked up.
There's a lot to like coming back to go along with a good group of transfers to beef things up a tad. This year's D should be better.
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What's Working
The takeaways.There weren't a ton - 15 total in a 14-game season - but after not coming up with any over the first three games, they started to flow.
At least in the regular season, they all mattered. The Owls were 8-0 when coming up with a takeaway - let's just forget the bowl debacle against Western Michigan - and 2-3 when they didn't.
The linebacking corps is strong.Baron Hopson led the team with 138 stops and was one of the best open-field tacklers in the conference.
Second-leading tackler Tywon Christopher is back, too, Donovan Westmoreland is a nice hybrid on the outside, and three decent transfers are on their way to bring the depth.
There was plenty of bending without a lot of breaking.The run defense would take a punch, but when absolutely needed, something would work.
The Owls went 9-1 when allowing fewer than 250 yards, partly because they buckled down in the red zone. Teams only scored 76% of the time when they got inside the 20. However ...
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What Needs Work
The run defense could use some tightening.When things are working, forget it - Kennesaw State will once again control games with the offense, so all the defense has to do is hang on. However, it allowed 4.6 yards per carry and got shoved around a bit too much.
The defensive tackle situation could use some help.The D lost bulk with Adam Watkins done. The tackles have promise and size, but they're young. There's a little help from the transfer portal, but no sure things.
Playmaking corners have to emerge.Overall, the Owls should be fine with several options to play around with, but Caleb Offord was a ball-hawking machine - they'll miss his 12 broken up passes and ability to get into the backfield.
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Player to Watch
Baron Hopson, LB Sr.The guy hits everything. He's a 6-1, 222-pound veteran with range, breaking up five passes, coming up with nine tackles for loss, and earning all-star honors with his 138 stops. Get him close and he'll make the stop.
Keys to the Season
Simple - keep the party going. However, just make things a little bit easier.
Everyone in Conference USA loses key players, and everyone needs to adapt and adjust. Kennesaw State appears to be in good enough shape to handle the various changes better than most.
Player Who Needs To Shine
Rickie Collins
, QB Jr.
It's an odd situation. Syracuse and Kennesaw State are swapping quarterbacks, but former Owl main man Amari Odom might not be more than a key reserve for the Orange if Steve Angeli
is back to full strength.
Meanwhile, Collins gets his shot to be the main man now for the Owls. The 6-2, 222-pound former big recruit for LSU
took over the Syracuse attack when Angeli went down, but the offense didn't move. The tools are there to finally make an offense his.
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Biggest Concern
PenaltiesThe Owls got away with it last year, but they got tagged with way too many penalties, averaging well over seven per game for 66 yards. They went from 67 sins in 12 games to 104 in 14 games.
Biggest Game
Jacksonville
State, October 7
Let's do this right out of the gate.
The Owls lost to Jacksonville State in the regular season, won the repeat battle in the Conference USA Championship, and start the Conference USA campaign getting the Gamecocks at home. This is the tone-setter for the league race.
Transfer Portal
All things considered, it's not a bad run of transfers.
Yeah, the Owls had plenty of stars to lose - the all-star playmakers got sucked up fast by the Power Four programs - but Mack and his staff managed to find an interesting group of transfers to fill in the gaps.
There are a few FCS-level options that proved themselves well, but for the most part, they're going with the power conference athletes who didn't get enough of a shot.
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Best Signing
Tony Williams
Jr., S ( UCF
)
There were plenty of good signings, but Williams has the upside to be the star of the secondary right away. He's lightning fast, and he has the bulk - he'll be all over the place as a top safety.
Biggest Loss
Amari Odom, QB (Syracuse)
The playmaker who took to the job right away hit 65% of his passes with 19 touchdowns and ran for seven scores.
The quarterback situation will be fine, but Odom is going to Syracuse for a reason, and Kennesaw State has Syracuse's quarterback for a reason.
Other Names to Know
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Luke Evans , CB (Miami University)
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Latrelle Murrell, RB (West Georgia)
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Corey Kelly , EDGE (Baylor)
CFN Season Prediction
Do it all over again, Kennesaw State. At least be in the running for another Conference USA title.
No one's expecting College Football Playoff appearances, but ... why not? Go 12-1 with a conference championship, and there's a snowball's chance to at least be in the discussion.
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CFN Prediction: 8-4
The Owls will get rocked at Tennessee , and there will be a few tough losses here and there - like, at Western Kentucky , and maybe at Missouri State, or on the road at Arkansas State - but they should be good enough to at least go into almost every game with a chance to win.
