Spring football is in full swing, and while spring games may not be that appealing, the fact that they’re here means we are halfway through the offseason! There is plenty to talk about in what has been a busy offseason in the American Athletic Conference. Since the departures of Cincinnati, Houston, SMU, and UCF, the playing field feels like it has evened a bit, and AAC newcomer Army proved that by winning the conference in 2024. 2025 is a new season though, and because the roster turnover bug spares no team, and the coaching carousel is always open, the conference’s top dogs will have to adjust to losing some of their key players and staff. Here are the biggest questions facing all 13 AAC teams as we approach the halfway point in the offseason.
Army
Who will replace Bryson Daily?
2024 was a historically successful season for the Black Knights. In their first year as a member of the American Athletic Conference, they won the conference championship, and for the first time in program history, they won 12 games. On the offensive side Bryson Daily was the catalyst for their success. He accounted for 32 touchdowns on the ground and rushed for over 1600 yards on almost 5.5 yards per carry. Unfortunately for Army, 2024 was Daily’s last year of eligibility.
Army coach Jeff Monken said rising senior Dewayne Coleman is No. 1 on the depth chart, but that there will be an open competition between the three returning QBs, Coleman, Cale Hellums and Ethan Washington. Coleman was Daily’s backup in 2024 and saw a bit of action. He is the only QB on the roster who has started a game, as he led the Black Knights to a win over rival Air Force in 2024 when Bryson Daily was injured. Regardless of who the starter is in 2025, he will need to step up big time if the Black Knights want to repeat as AAC champs.
Charlotte
Will the 49ers be able to put more pressure on opposing QBs?
Since Charlotte brought back its football program in 2015, it has only had one winning season. Luckily for 49ers fans, their new head coach knows a thing or two about winning. In his three years as Ohio’s head coach, Tim Albin took Ohio from a 3-9 record in his first season, to three consecutive ten-win seasons capped off by a MAC championship in 2024.
Perhaps their most glaring issue is their defensive line. In 2024 they ranked 13th of 14th in the American in sacks, and it didn’t help that they lost four edge rushers this offseason. Returning Edge rushers from 2024 Donovan Spellman and Zion Shockley will see plenty of snaps. Charlotte also added JUCO duo Jaylon Johnson and DJ Burgess to bolster the interior of their D-Line. Albin has said that he hopes to continue his success of rushing the passer that he had at Ohio over to Charlotte, and to be successful he will need to sure up his loose ends on defense, pun intended. Things will improve sooner rather than later if the 49ers are able to get more pressure on opposing QBs this season.
East Carolina
Will 2025 be a rebuilding year for the Pirates?
The 2024 season saw East Carolina finish with a respectable record of 8-5, thanks in large part to the emergence of QB Katin Houser, who took over for Jake Garcia after Garcia was benched during the Pirates game against Charlotte.
ECU shocked many by firing head coach Mike Houston mid-season in 2024, saying that “We have not seen the results we all want, and a change is needed to move the program forward.”Interim head coach Blake Harrell was named as the permanent head coach after leading the Pirates to a 4-0 start during his first few games.
The Pirates lost key offensive pieces in running back and 1K yard rusher Rahjai Harris, WR Anthony Smith, as well as three of five starters on the offensive line. On defense, they lost projected first round pick in Shavon Revel Jr. They also lost almost their entire starting defensive line to graduation.
However, the Pirates have brought in plenty of new blood from the portal – DE Kendrick DuJour (Sam Houston) and WR Jaquaize Pettaway from (Oklahoma) are two newcomers poised to make an immediate impact at positions of need. Whether or not 2025 will be a rebuilding year for the Pirates, or a year in which they make a run at the AAC title, will depend largely on how well the new faces and the “OG’s” of the team cohere.
Florida Atlantic
Can the Owls passing offense take a step forward?
In 2024 under Tom Herman, Florida Atlantic ranked 11th out of 13 in the conference in passing yards and 12th of 13 in passing touchdowns. Herman was fired mid-season, following a string of disappointing seasons. The combination of lack of consistency at QB, a WR corps that lacked depth and size, as well as bad coaching can be attributed to their lack of success. Over the offseason, the Owls lost QB Cam Fancher to the portal, who started the first nine games of the season before missing the final three due to injury. But they may have found a worthy successor in C-USA 2024 player of the year Caden Veltcamp. The receiving corps will be spearheaded by Veltcamps right hand man at Western Kentucky – receiver Easton Messer – who will be joining Veltcamp at FAU for the 2025 season. Omari Hayes, who went from the scout team in 2023 to being FAU’s leading receiver in 2024, will be back in 2025. Owls also scored a pair of three-star receiver recruits that will give them some size, Jade Card and Mykel Calixte are both over 6-foot-2.5. New FAU new head coach Zach Kittery will be bringing his pass heavy philosophy with him from his time as offensive coordinator at Texas Tech. This offense has the pieces to improve on it’s 2024 performance, whether or not it actually improves will be something to watch out for.
Memphis
What will this offense look like sans Seth Hennigan?
For the past 4 seasons, Memphis had their guy at QB in Seth Hennigan. Hennigan led the Tigers to a 34-16 record in his time in the Bluff City, setting numerous school records along the way.
The Tigers landed former Nevada QB Brandon Lewis through the portal this offseason, along with the 11th ranked QB in the 2025 recruiting class in A.J Hill. Although Lewis has starting experience at the college level, Hill has already impressed offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey in his short time on campus.
Although the Tigers were senior heavy at other skill positions on offense in 2024, they went out and found replacements in the portal, namely receivers C.J. Smith and Jadon Thompson. Rising Sophomore receiver Brady Kluse showed flashes of potential as a freshman and could be a big contributor to this offense as well. 1st team all AAC RB R.J Anderson Jr. will not be returning in 2025, but the Tigers snagged Ole Miss transfer Rashad Amos in the portal, who is the prime candidate to replace Anderson Jr. Before playing one season at Ole Miss in 2024 where he didn’t see much action, he rushed for over 1000 yards in 2023 while playing for Miami (OH). 2025 will be a year of transition for this Tigers offense, whether they will take a step back or forward remains to be seen.
Navy
What is the Midshipman’s ceiling?
Brian Newberry’s second season in Annapolis was quite successful – he led the Midshipmen to their first winning season since 2019, which was capped off by a bowl victory over Oklahoma. QB Blake Horvath and RB Eli Heidenreich led the Midshipmen’s formable triple option attack in 2024 and both players will return in 2025 to finish what they started. In total, over a dozen starters from both sides of the ball will be back in ’25.
They play a hard-nosed, smart brand of football. Navy was one of the least penalized teams in the nation, had a top ten turnover ratio, and ran teams into the ground with their physical triple option offense. Outside of their loss to eventual national runner up Notre Dame, a shutout at the hands of AAC runner up Tulane when Horvath was injured, and a bizarre loss to Rice when Horvath turned the ball over thrice, Navy played lights out in 2024.
In my eyes, this is a team that can win the American, as Navy retained most of their core, while others in the AAC experienced a lot of roster turnover. If the cards fall their way, they can make a legitimate push at the college football playoff in 2025.
North Texas
Can the defense pull their weight this season?
If I told you there was a team that averaged 488.8 yards per game offensively, 3rd in the nation, and ranked 23rd in the nation in scoring offense, what do you think their record would be? 9-3? 10-2?
The team behind those numbers is North Texas, and they finished the season 6-7.
The Mean Green gave up over 34 points and 460 yards per game on Average, which put them near the bottom of the American.
The Mean Green took their first step towards fixing their defensive woes by hiring former Sam Houston State DC Skyler Cassity, who guided the Bearkats to the 20th-ranked defense in FBS at the end of the regular season in 2024.
Personnel wise, they bring back a few key contributors from the 2024 season in safety Evan Jackson, middle Linebacker Chavez Brown, and corner Brian Nelson. Key portal acquisitions include D-lineman Richard Outland Jr. and corner David Fisher, both transfers from Cassitys former school Sam Houston State, and safety Will Jones II from Old Dominion.
Cassity was able to turn things around quickly at Sam Houston, will he be able to do the same in Denton?
Rice
Can the Owls find a spark on offense under new tutelage?
Just a few hours south of Denton are the Rice Owls, and they have the exact opposite problem that North Texas does.
In 2024, Rice had the 13th ranked scoring offense in the AAC out of 14 teams, averaging only 22.2 points a game, and had the worst red zone offense in the conference.
Rice also needs to cut down on turnovers. In 11 starts, (former) Rice QB E.J. Warner threw a conference high 13 interceptions, and as a team, the Owls had a turnover margin of -10, which was tied for 2nd to last in the AAC.
E.J Warner took his talents to Fresno State this offseason, which left Rice without a clear QB1. AJ Padgett has the most out experience of everyone in that QB room but was benched in Rice’s 2023 bowl game after throwing three picks. We may not know who the starter is until the end of fall camp.
The Owls will have new leadership in 2025, with offensive coordinator Vince Munch and Head Coach Scott Abel coaching their first seasons at Rice after working together to turn FCS Davidson’s program around in a historic way. Although they may have run a successful offense in the Pioneer league, it remains to be seen if they will fare as well in the American.
Temple
Will the run game finally come alive?
2024 was a bad year all around for Temple. Their run game was especially bad, and it limited the Owls on offense. Although Head Coach Stan Drayton was fired with two games left in the 2024 season, the Owls rushing problems will not be magically solved with his departure. Temple ranked dead last in the AAC in multiple categories on offense, including scoring offense and rushing yards. They were also last in yards per rushing attempt with 2.88, which was 4th worst in the entire FBS out of 134 teams.
Rising Senior running back Terrez Worthy tested the transfer portal, before ultimately deciding to return to the Owls. Temple also added back Jay Ducker, who has a 1,000-yard season under his belt at the FBS level. Although the blame for Temple’s horrendous run game can be placed partially on Stan Drayton’s play calling, the offensive line was also lackluster. The Owls allowed 37 sacks in 2024, which was the most in the AAC. New head coach KC Keeler and offensive coordinator Tyler Walker will certainly have their work cut out for them when it comes to turning this running attack around.
Tulane
Who will replace Hughes and Mensah?
Jon Sumrall’s first season as Tulane’s Head Coach ended in two consecutive losses, one in the AAC title game to Army, and the other at the hands of the Florida Gators in the Gasparilla bowl. Following the season, the Green Wave suffered two more losses, something that hurt even more than the ones they suffered on the field. QB Darien Mensah and RB Makhi Hughes, who were central to the success of Tulane’s 16th best scoring offense in the country, both hit the portal.
At running back, rising Junior Arnold “Duda” Barnes could be the Green Wave’s next RB1, and his tape shows shades of Hughes North-South running style. Tulane also brought in a handful of solid talent at the RB position through the portal.
The quarterback room has a lot more experience than it did at this time last year, albeit with different faces. Journeyman dual threat T.J Finely arrives in what New Orleans for what will likely be the last stop in his college football journey after playing for four different FBS teams. Finley most notably led Texas State to their first ever bowl game in 2023, throwing for 3,439 yards and 24 touchdowns with a completion percentage of nearly 70%. Then there’s Kadin Semonza – a rising Sophomore transfer from Ball State, who was a bright spot in what was a forgettable 2024 season for the Cardinals. Whoever the starter ends up being has big shoes to fill if they want to get back to the AAC title game.
Tulsa
How can the defense get better?
The Golden Hurricane gave up 42.5 points a game in 2024, the 2nd most in FBS. Only hapless Kent State gave up more. Tulsa will have an all new coaching staff in 2025, which includes defensive coordinator Josh Reardon, who will be tasked with turning around a unit that was one of the worst in the nation in 2024. Reardon coached at East Tennessee State alongside new Tulsa HC Tre Lamb for one season before leaving for Tulsa. Before his time at ETSU, Reardon was the DC at Gardner-Webb, where in his final season (2023) he coached 5 players to first team all-conference honors.
Lamb and Reardon brought standout linebacker Ray Coney with them from ETSU, who led the Buccaneers in tackles in 2024 and recorded 5 sacks. Portal acquisitions J’Dan Burnett (Louisiana Tech) and Nahki Johnson (Pitt) will help sure up the defensive line. Despite returning a few of their key starters on top of the transfers, Tulsa still lacks depth and talent on defense, and must try and snag a few more players once the spring portal opens up. This unit should improve in 2025, but allowing less than 42 points a game seems like low hanging fruit.
UAB
Can Trent Dilfer coach himself off the hot seat?
Since taking over as Head Coach in 2023, former Super Bowl winning Quarterback Trent Dilfer has led the UAB Blazers to a 7-17 record. Dilfer’s only coaching experience prior taking the job at UAB was at Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, TN, where he was head coach for four seasons.
Trying to get top talent to play at UAB is already difficult given they are in the heart of SEC country, so I can empathize with Dilfer there. But on the field, it’s easy to see that the Blazers are not a well-coached football team. Dilfer has said his program needs to do a better job of mastering the little things it takes to be successful, and I agree. For starters, UAB averaged 73 penalty yards per game, which was 5th worst in the country.
Dilfer’s sentiment about mastering the little things was personified in their loss to Charlotte. Down 2 points late in the 4th quarter, deep in Charlotte territory, UAB had a chance to finish the season with a win by kicking what should have been a chip-shot field goal. The first attempt from 35 yards out was missed, but nullified after a 49ers Personal Foul which made the second attempt a 27 yarder, and that was also missed.
UAB also let their November 2024 contest against UConn slip away from them after leading 20-3 at the half. Despite forcing two turnovers, the Blazers turned the ball over four times, ultimately losing 31-23. Like Dilfer said, the little things are killing his team, and that starts up top. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him fired mid-season if he can’t clean things up.
USF
How Bullish is USF’s outlook if Byrum Brown can stay healthy?
The Bulls had themselves a decent year in 2024 after being projected 13th in the conference pre-season polls. Despite losing starting QB Byrum Brown after only four games, they finished the regular season bowl eligible and went on to win the Hawaii Bowl against San Jose State. When Brown played a complete season for USF in 2023, the Bulls had one of the more dynamic offenses in the AAC, averaging 31.9 points per game. Brown’s dual threat talents fit perfectly into USF’s spread option scheme and kept defenses honest. According to his teammate and fellow QB Bryce Archie, Brown looks “looks 10 times better.” USF has the same coaching staff from Brown’s 2023 breakout season back for their 3rd year in Tampa. If Brown can stay healthy and gets a little help from his defense, USF could go from being a dark horse to win the AAC to a favorite.
UTSA
Can the Roadrunners defense limit big plays through the air?
UTSA, like their Lone Star state AAC conference counterpart North Texas, was great on offense but porous on defense last season. The difference was that the Roadrunners, despite allowing 85 yards fewer per game than the Mean Green, and having one of the better red zone defenses in the conference, could not stop the big play for the life of them. UTSA was in the top 5 in the nation in most passing plays allowed of 20, 30, 40, and 50 or more yards. Opposing offenses averaged 4.3 plays of 20+ yards through the air per game against UTSA, despite UTSA averaging over 3 sacks a game. With that being considered, their secondary deserves a big portion of the blame, but it can also be put back on the coaching staff.
Tulsa’s Kamdyn Benjamin’s 74 Yd touchdown catch and run in the 3rd quarter of Tulsa’s 28 point comeback victory against UTSA could have easily been stopped after just 15 yards, but the secondary took horrible angles to the ball carrier which resulted in a score.
In UTSA’s last second defeat at the hands of Rice, Roadrunners defensive back Ken Robinson committed a critical pass interference penalty after being beat on a double move with no help over the top. That set up Rice in the red zone, where they would ultimately score the go-ahead touchdown.
UTSA was also the 3rd most penalized team in the nation last year, averaging almost 9 penalties per game. Defensive coordinator Jess Loepp needs his unit to improve in 2025 or he may be on the way out in San Antonio.
Group of five til' I die 