DAYTON – University of Dayton head football coach Rick Chamberlin and his staff will welcome 107 players back to campus Thursday, August 8 as the Flyers prepare for the 2019 football season. 

Chamberlin is beginning his 12th season as UD's head coach and returns 13 starters (seven offense, six defense) from last season.

Dayton was picked to finish second in the Pioneer Football League for the 2019 season in a preseason vote of the league's coaches.  Dayton has 12 league championships to its credit the PFL's 26 seasons. 

Captains Andrew Lutgens and Adam Trautman will lead UD in 2019.   Lutgens plays the hybrid defensive back/linebacker position known as "Flyer" in the Dayton defensive scheme.  Trautman is a three-year starter at tight end.

Both, along with offensive guard Michael Niese, were selected First Team Preseason All-PFL

Trautman has been named a Preseason All-America Tight End by two different media outlets.  Phil Steele's College Football has him on the second team, while STATS hash him on the third team.  STATS has also named him to the Walter Payton Award Watch List (the Payton Award goes to the top offensive player in FCS football), while Phil Steele's College Football projects him to be the PFL Offensive Player of the Year.

He enters his final year as a Flyer 24 catches away from Bill Franks' career receptions record of 133 and seven TD's away from Pat Hugar's 24 receiving touchdowns.  Last season, Trautman had team bests with 41 receptions for 604 yards and nine touchdowns.  


Lutgens redshirted his first year on campus, but immediately moved into the starting lineup in 2017.  He has started all 22 games of his college career at "Flyer", UD's hybrid defensive back/linebacker position.  Last season he was named First Team All-Pioneer Football League.  He was third on the team in total tackles (68) and solo tackles (37), and he led Dayton in tackles behind the line (10). 

Niese started all 11 games for Dayton last season.  A two-year starter, he was one of the mainstays on the O-line that paved the way for Tucker Yinger's back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons that were the first in Flyer football history.  Niese was Honorable Mention All-PFL in 2018.

Trautman might break Franks' record for career catches, but if Flyer foes concentrate solely on stopping him, he might not end his career with the UD record.  Teammate Ryan Skibinski is only seven catches behind Trautman and also on pace to surpass Franks' 133 career catches.

Dayton also returns redshirt sophomore quarterback Jack Cook, who was the 2018 PFL Offensive Freshman of the Year, and slot receiver/punt returner Kyle Butz, who is Dayton's 2019 special teams captain and his 11.9 yards per punt return led the PFL and was ninth in FCS football.

The Flyers also return two other starting offensive linemen, both linebackers, both cornerbacks and safety Tim Simon, who was second on the teams in tackles (75, 41 solo).

UD does have to replace four-time All-PFL punter Sean Smith and all-time leading rusher Tucker Yinger.

Dayton was 6-5 a year ago, and 5-3 in the Pioneer Football league.  Three of UD's five losses in 2018 were to teams that reached the FCS playoffs.  Dayton returns 13 starters – seven from the offense, and six from the defensive side of the ball.   

Coach Chamberlin has guided UD to 85 wins in his first 10 seasons, including a record 64 Pioneer Football League wins.  Chamberlin and his predecessor, College Football Hall of Famer Mike Kelly, are the only two PFL coaches to win 55 or more PFL games.  Kelly had 55.  A Flyer All-American linebacker in his playing days, Chamberlin has been a part of 379 of UD's 679 wins – 26 as a player, 268 as an assistant coach, and 85 as a head coach.  

After reporting, attending meetings, getting their equipment and undergoing physicals on Thursday, the team will undergo fitness tests Friday morning.  First practice for the 2018 Flyers will be Friday afternoon on the grass at 2:15 at the Jerry Von Mohr Practice Facility (part of the Arena Sports Complex next to the baseball stadium).  The Flyer preseason practices will be also at Welcome Stadium, and the team will also conduct some walk-thru practices on Stuart Field in the heart of campus during camp.

The Flyers will play three teams ranked among the top 30 in the preseason STATS FCS poll.  UD opens the season at 17th-ranked Indiana State on Saturday, Sept. 7.  Dayton's home opener is Saturday, Sept. 21 against the 28th-best Duquesne.  Dayton will play five home games.  The others are against Jacksonville on Oct. 5 (12 noon), San Diego (Oct. 26 (12 noon), Marist Nov. 9 (1 p.m.) and Butler (Nov. 23 (1 pm).  San Diego received the 29th-most votes in the poll.

Streaking…UD has not been shut out in a school-record 476 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 17 years, the University of Dayton football program has produced 31 Academic All-Americans, the most of any college football team.  In the history of the Academic All-America program, UD football has had 61 Academic All-Americans.   Among schools playing Division I football, only Nebraska (107) and Penn State (65) have had more Academic All-Americans than Dayton's 61.  The Flyers are tied with Notre Dame at 61.  Ohio State (55) and Oklahoma (52) are next. The Flyers also had a PFL-high 79 players on the 2017 PFL Academic Honor Roll, the most in the PFL for the 24th time in the 26-year history of the league (UD had a league-record 81 in 2016).  UD is one of two D-I schools (and the only one in the PFL) to have a Campbell Trophy semifinalist for 13 straight seasons.  The Campbell Trophy is the National Football Foundation's award sometimes referred to as "the Academic Heisman."

PFL Power...The Pioneer Football League is in its 27th season.  The original (and now the only) Division I strictly need-based football league began with charter members Butler, Dayton, Drake, Evansville, San Diego and Valparaiso.  UD's 119-40 record is the best in PFL history.

Tickets Now On Sale...Season tickets are only $40. 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.