Aug 25, 2014 5 min read

Residency atop the football standings of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference requires a lot of hard recruiting, numerous hours handling the minutia that comes with a large group of athletes, and the patience to allow the growth process to proceed at its own pace.

So forgive Mike Sirianni if there appears to be a little more excitement in his voice. The Presidents’ head coach believes that with this current recruiting group now secured and a healthy dose of experienced veterans returning, holding onto the top spot in the conference won’t cause as much heartburn this season.

“We lost some big-named players,” said Sirianni. “But that’s the reason why we play seven JV games and recruit for that reason.”

The Presidents lost a lot from last year’s team that went 7-1 in the conference, tied for the top spot with Thomas More, but received the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs via a 45-21 regular season victory.

Quarterback Matt Bliss, tailback Dion Wiegand and wide receiver Alex Baroffio combined for 4,475 yards and 38 touchdowns in their senior seasons, so a good chunk of the offense needs revamped.

Pete Coughlin, who replaced an injured Bliss and threw three touchdowns and no interceptions in a first-round playoff game against national power Mount Union, is expected to win the quarterback job; Trevor Morrow, a promising freshman from Upper St. Clair, could be in play for the tailback position, but will have to beat out Ryan Ruffing; and senior Max Creighan is coming off a 21-catch season and should be the main target in the spread offense.

“We have the players,” Sirianni said. “It’s just a matter if they are ready to play.”

The Presidents offense will rise or fall on the performance of Coughlin, a sophomore from Upper St. Clair High School. Coughlin, a 5-10, 175-pound sophomore, completed 58 percent of his 100 passes for 589 yards.

But it was his effective play in a first-round loss to Mount Union that was so impressive. In snowy conditions that covered the field and caused some whiteout moments, Coughlin completed 20 of 44 passes for 216 yards and three touchdowns. Most impressive was that he did not throw an interception.

Sirianni said he is not going to automatically name Coughlin the starting, waiting for the camp battle with junior Kevin Mechas (6-0, 175) and any of the incoming freshmen.

“I’m not just handing the job to him,” said Sirianni. “I want to make him compete for the job. I expect him to play great. He and Kevin have played (in games) before so they know what the expectations are.”

The graduation of Alex Baroffio, who last year had 91 catches for 1,051 yards and 11 touchdowns, will be hard to replace. But Sirianni doesn’t seem concerned.

“There is a reason why they call us Wide Receiver U.,” he said. “We have kids who have patiently waited their turn and will play very, very well.”

One is Dan Lis, a junior from Chartiers-Houston High School. Lis played in 11 games and also can return kicks.

Junior Ruffing rushed for 384 yards in 11 games, but it was his 6.0-yard average on 63 carries that impressed. At 6-1 and 215 pounds, Morrow matches Ruffing’s size.

“We won’t have the jump-cut thing going on the way we did with Dion last year,” Sirianni said. “We’ll run a lot early on.”

One of the strong points with this year’s team is the offensive line, where four players — senior center John Wanner (6-0, 240), junior left guard Joe Graziani (6-1, 280), senior right tackle Ty Wildley (5-10, 270) and junior left tackle Zach Crossey (6-0, 280) — return as starters.

“All the guys I’ve played with got lots of reps in practice,” said Wanner. “We have skilled guys who we can switch in and out of the line. We’re told the play starts at the offensive line and it’s our job to hold (the defense) up for the pass plays and move them away for the run plays.”

Five starters return to Sirianni’s 4-2-5 defensive scheme, including senior cornerback Alec Schram, a Canon-McMillan High School graduate. Senior linebacker Jared Pratt led the team with 98 tackles, and freshman Zach Walker, a South Fayette graduate, could get some playing time at the other linebacker spot.

The defensive line is the unknown part, especially with the graduation of tackle Chris Heim, who had 49 tackles and four sacks. Junior John Turner is the only returning starter so the camp battles should be interesting.

“Unless we develop some people there, I might just play a 1-5-5,” Sirianni joked. “Turner is one of the best defensive linemen in the conference. It’s just a matter of what players develop for us.”

Another spot that has openings is special teams. W&J lost its punter, kicker and most of the return men.

“We’re young, real young,” said Sirianni. “Potentially, this could be a terrific team.”