Previewing Curry College football as Parsons enters second season as head coach

MILTON – There's a youth movement going on with the Curry College football team this fall.

Under second-year coach Todd Parsons, the Colonels will be relying on a bunch of underclassmen this fall.

“We’re going to have freshmen playing for us,” said Parsons. "Over half our roster is freshman. We’re technically really young, and we’re on track to graduate only four guys.”

102 players to start training camp

Wednesday, Aug. 9 was the first day players moved into their dorms, and 102 players took the field to start training camp. A whopping 54 of them were freshman. The Colonels went 3-7 in Parsons' first season.

“We’re excited,” said Parsons. "Sounds cliche but we’re more concerned about what we’re going to be doing more than any of our opponents we’re going to be playing.

“We got a really good core group of guys back going into year two. Really talented group of freshmen, (we'll) see how fast they can pick up on things. We’re excited to see the competition going into camp here,” he continued.

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One of the few upperclassmen on the team is center and captain Brendan Bedell. The post-grad lineman will have a new group of blockers next to him this upcoming season. He’s hoping the 322.5 total yards per game they racked up last year will increase.

“There’ll be a lot of guys stepping up,” said Bedell. “I think we had three guys graduated that started ... we have a lot of good guys, and it brings out competition.”

Quarterback job wide open

Last season, the Colonels averaged 24.5 points per game with under 200 yards through the air. Now the quarterback position is wide open. According to Parsons, whoever gets the starting job will be making "their first college start."

Ty Tedesco, Finn Sullivan and Dallas Murphy along with some other freshman will compete during camp.  For Bedell, he’s excited about the competition and will be glad to block for whoever steps on the field.

“I love it,” said Bedell. "Every day, all eight guys or whoever it is have to come in and prove themselves. If anything, it’s going to breed competition, O vs. D, and I know those guys are ready to go. Whoever comes out as the starter, everyone is going to have their back.”

Opponents of the Colonels scored over 30 points in six out of seven losses last year. They averaged 31.4 points allowed per game as well. After struggling in the conference by going 1-5, the Colonels will hope their defense steps up this fall.

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Linebacker and senior captain Marcus Sims will be the leader for the defense. Parsons holds Simms in high regard when it comes to being a leader on the field. For Simms, he saw the positives in the last four games of the season they lost. He sees the turnaround they can have now.

“I think coming off last year, three wins but hoping to improve on that,” said Simms. “We have a lot of incoming recruits, a lot of talent coming in, second year for the new coaches, so I think they’re at a new spot.”

Players to watch

Brendan Bedell, Center: “He did a great job, his football IQ is really good,” said Parsons. “Getting calls on the offensive line, setting protections and everything like that.”

Mike Simms, Linebacker: “All-Conference linebacker from last year,” said Parsons. “Same thing. He’s kind of the quarterback of the defense, gets guys where they need to be, excited to see those two.”

Noah Coppinger, offensive lineman: “Started because we had some injuries week 3 and then he never gave up the starting spot after that,” said Bedell. “I think he's gotten way better every time he’s stepped on the field, especially in the spring.”

Adem Kica, Linebacker “He only started the last three games of the year because he’s a sophomore being overlooked by a senior,” said Simms. "The last four games he was incredible. He’s due for a breakout game.”

Pete Jurovich, Defensive lineman: “He was our freshman last year, he was our ‘Rookie of the Year” last year,’” said Simms. “He continued to grow throughout spring, so I’m excited to see what he can do as a D-end."

When asked about any freshman that could be a standout, it’s still too early in the process for Parsons to find out.

“If you ask me in a couple days I might be able to give that answer," said Parsons. "We have a lot of talent in the freshman class. But that’s all based off evaluation. It’s going to be how fast guys can adjust to the speed of a college game.”

2023 Curry College schedule

Friday, Sept. 1: vs Salve Regina, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 9: at UMass Dartmouth, 5

Saturday, Sept. 16: vs MIT, 1

Saturday, Sept. 23: at Utica, 12

Saturday, Oct. 7: vs Dean, 1

Saturday, Oct. 14: at Husson, 1

Saturday, Oct. 21: U. of New England, 1

Saturday, Oct. 28: vs Nichols, 12

Saturday, Nov. 4: at Endicott, 12

Saturday, Nov. 11: Western New England, 1

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Curry College 2023 football season preview