Aug 22, 2017 4 min read

For most college coaches, breaking in a new quarterback can be a stressful and uncertain experience.

Not at Washington & Jefferson College.

Pete Coughlin, a four-year starter and one of the most prolific quarterbacks in the program’s history, graduated in May.

He joins a long line of successful quarterbacks in the Mike Sirianni era.

Coughlin followed Matt Bliss, who followed Gino Rometo, who followed Bobby Swallow, who followed Chris Edwards, who followed Brian Dawson.

That group has helped produce 128 victories for Sirianni and brought him close to the point where he will be the winningest coach in the program’s history. John Luckhardt leads with 137.

This season, either Alex Rowse, a 6-2, 200-pound senior from Beaver, of Jacob Adams, a 6-2, 195-pound sophomore from Louisville, will be Coughlin’s replacement.

And Sirianni is so confident in both players that he made a bold statement during the PAC Media Day at Saint Vincent College in early August. With two of the league’s best quarterbacks in attendance in Rob Cuda of Case Western Reserve and Brennen Kuntz of PAC defending champion Thomas More, Sirianni said:

“Not many players have meant more to a program than Pete has for us over the last four years. … (I’ll make) a bold statement and I’ll say this in front of two great quarterbacks here. … Our quarterback will be first team all-conference this year. That’s how confident I am in our two.”

Nothing like raising expectations.

Rowse was Coughlin’s backup last year, so he should have the experience advantage. Rowse played in nine games, completing 24 of 34 passes (71 percent) for 237 yards and a touchdown. Adams completed all three of his passes for 49 yards.

“It’s funny because we play exactly the same way,” Rowse said of Adams. “In practice, you can’t tell who’s who.

“I believe I’m the front-runner. I did a lot of hard work all summer to get ready for this.”

Whoever wins the job will have the advantage of throwing to one of the best wide receivers in NCAA Division III in Jesse Zubik, a 5-10, 175-pound senior from Avonworth High School.

Zubik was named the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year by Lindy’s magazine after he caught 97 passes for 1,413 yards and 18 touchdowns in 11 games last season. He had 84 catches, 1,316 yards and 16 touchdowns during the regular season.

“Jesse and I worked out this summer,” Rowse said. “It’s amazing how good he is. I know with him in there, I can throw the ball up there and he’ll get it. He always shocks me when he makes those catches.”

The critical part to this team is the defense. In its last four postseason games, W&J has been outscored by a combined 137-99.

The Presidents were a middle-of-the-pack team in most PAC defensive categories last season and over the past four years have been outscored by a combined 314-252 by playoff teams and the PAC’s top teams, Thomas More and Case Western.

“Last year, our defense was stressing making tackles for loss,” said defensive back Luke Merhaut, a senior from Pine-Richland High School. “We also made it a point to turn the ball over.

“In previous seasons, our offense has been the strongest part of the team. We feel the defense picked it up and started to click at the end of last season. We have seven or eight guys retuning who played a lot on our defense. We think we can carry that into the season.”

W&J is coming off a third-place finish in the conference, thanks to losses to Thomas More and Westminster, and played in an ECAC Bowl, defeating Brockport. This will be the final season to play Thomas More, which is severing ties with the PAC after 12 years.