DAYTON – University of Dayton head football coach Rick Chamberlin and his staff will welcome 109 players back to campus Monday, August 10 as the Flyers prepare for the 2015 football season.  Chamberlin is beginning his eighth season as UD's head coach and returns 14 starters (seven offense, six defense, one specialist) from last season.

The Flyers finished 8-3 last season and tied for second place in the Pioneer Football League with a 6-2 record.  UD was predicted to finish second in the PFL's preseason coaches' poll, in a tight race that featured four points separating the top three teams – San Diego, Dayton and Drake.

This is the 23rd season of the PFL.

The Flyers have had 37 winning seasons in the last 38 years.

UD is led by redshirt senior running back Connor Kacsor, a preseason All-American (2nd team Stats LLC and 2nd team Lindy's).  Kacsor is the reigning Pioneer Football League Offensive Player of the Year. In 2014, he rushed for 1,547 yards, which led the PFL by more than 300 yards. He also broke Sylvester Monroe's all-time Dayton career rushing record of 2,940 yards, a record that had stood for more than 35 years.

Last season, Kacsor had seven games of at least 100 rushing yards, including three games where he rushed for more than 200 yards.  Kacsor was fifth in FCS football in rushing yards per game (140.6).  His 301 yards against Georgetown in the season opener is the Dayton record, and he was the only FCS player with three rushing performances of 210 yards or more last season.

Kacsor is one of three Flyers who were voted Preseason All-PFL by the league's coaches.  Joining him are linebacker Christopher Beaschler and defensive end Nate Sudnick.

Beaschler, a captain this season, led the team with 101 tackles a season ago. He was named First Team All-PFL for his efforts.  He is one of just seven players who were named First Team All-PFL and First Team Academic All-PFL in 2014. In two seasons of action, the senior has 183 total hits and 12.5 tackles behind the line, with two interceptions

Sudnick returns to the line after a breakout season in 2014. Sudnick had 64 tackles, including 11.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.  He also intercepted a pass.  As a redshirt freshman in 2013, he had 7.5 TFL in just 21 total tackles.

That trio is among the eight Flyers named to the College Sports Madness Preseason All-PFL teams.  Joining Kacsor, Beaschler and Sudnick on CSM's first team is placekicker William Will.  Tight end Ian Palin, offensive tackle Zac Morgan and Flyer Ryan Schwenke were named to the second team, and offensive tackle Jimmy Vogel is on the third team.

Will is also on the Watch List for the Fred Mitchell Award, which goes to the top kicking specialist at the FCS, NCAA Division II, Division III and NAIA levels.  This is the second straight season Will is on the Mitchell Watch List.  Will was 14 of 19 on FG, while hitting one from a personal record 49 yards. He was 36 of 38 on PATs. 

One more Flyer football player received preseason recognition.  Senior offensive guard Pat Nuzzolese is a nominee for the 2015 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.  Nuzzolese is a full-time volunteer firefighter for the Port Washington Fire Department back home on Long Island. A mechanical engineering technology major, Nuzzolese hopes to use his degree and experience to work for a company that designs and manufactures firetrucks or fire-fighting equipment. 

Along with Beaschler, the other two team captains are wideout Cory Stuart and safety Danny Leach.  In his first season as a starter, Stuart's 35 receptions were third on the team in 2014.  He averaged 10.9 yards a catch and also had three touchdowns. Leach is a two-time first-team Academic All-PFL selection.  He was third on the team in tackles (67) and tied for second in passes broken up (6). He also had two interceptions, forced two fumbles, recovered one and had a sack.

All this veteran talent will ease the transition to a new era at quarterback for the Flyers.  Four-year starter Will Bardo has graduated, and the battle to succeed him has come down to a two-man race between redshirt senior Luke Johnson and redshirt sophomore Blake Bir.   Johnson completed 30 of 57 passes for 327 yards in 2013, while Bir was 9 of 24 for 95 yards in 2014.

Coach Chamberlin has guided UD to 55 wins in his first seven seasons.  A Flyer All-American linebacker in his playing days, Chamberlin has been a part of 349 of UD's 649 wins – 26 as a player, 268 as an assistant coach, and 55 as a head coach.  He has also been a part of 460 of UD's 1,035 games.

After reporting, attending meetings, getting their equipment and undergoing physicals Monday, the team will undergo fitness tests Tuesday morning.  First practice for the 2015 Flyers will be Tuesday afternoon.  Practices will be at Welcome Stadium and the adjacent Jerry Von Mohr practice field.

Dayton will play six home games, with two night games. In addition to the home opener on Saturday, Sept. 19 against Duquesne, UD will play a second home non-conference game against Kennesaw State on Sept. 26.  Pioneer Football League teams visiting Welcome Stadium in 2015 are San Diego (Oct. 10), Butler (Oct. 17), Jacksonville (Oct. 31) and Marist (Nov. 14).  Kennesaw State and Butler will kick off at 6:00 p.m. ET.  The other four games are all 1:00 p.m. ET starts.

Tickets Now On Sale...Season tickets are only $50 for adults and $25 for ages 18 and under.  Single game tickets are $10.00 for adults, and $5 for children high school age and younger.  Groups of 20 or more are $5 each.  UD students are admitted free with an ID.  Call 229-4433 for more information. 

New Look…The Flyers will be sporting a new look this season, taking the field for the first time in Nike uniforms that members of the teams helped design.  The home uniforms are red with blue numbers on the torso and shoulder pads, with a blue patch and red stripe on the upper arms.  On the road, Dayton will wear white, with red numbers and a red patch on the upper arms.

Good News Worth Repeating...The Flyers enter the season with the fourth-best winning percentage (.751, 124-41) in FCS football since 2000 AND have produced the most football Academic All-Americans (22) at any level of competition in the same time frame.  The top five are Harvard (.799), Montana (.761), North Dakota State (.753), Dayton (.751) and Appalachian State (.703).

Streaking…UD has not been shut out in a school-record 431 straight games, the best such active string in all of college football. The last team to shut out the Flyers was Marshall, 9-0, on Oct. 16, 1976. That is also the all-time FCS record.

Success In The Classroom…In the last 15 years, the University of Dayton football program has produced 22 Academic All-Americans, the most of any college football team.  In the history of the Academic All-America program, UD football has had 52 Academic All-Americans.  Among schools playing Division I football, only Nebraska (106), Penn State (62) and Notre Dame (58) have had more.  The Flyers also had a PFL-record 76 players on the 2014 PFL Academic Honor Roll, the most in the PFL for the 20th time in the 22-year history of the league.  UD is one of eight D-I schools (and the only one in the PFL) to have a Campbell Trophy semifinalist for nine straight seasons.  The Campbell Trophy is the National Football Foundation's award sometimes referred to as "the Academic Heisman."