Ohio finished the 2025 season with a 9-4 record, capped off by a bowl win against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Frisco, Texas. This game marked a changing of the guard in Ohio, as John Hauser coached his first game as the head coach of this program. New coaches build on the past but have to find their own rhythm in recruiting and in their team's mentality throughout camp.
The Bobcats are a young program heading into the 2026 season, but Hauser is optimistic with on-field reps and a collective culture built from the top down, this group will continue to improve throughout the summer.
“We always tell guys to be who you say you are,” Hauser said about his first recruiting class. “We got a lot of team-first guys in that group, so they have really bought into the culture and run with it. Some of those guys have experienced playing FCS, so they're a little different from some of the guys coming from the group of four, or power five, who have not played as much, so it's been fun to see them get some really meaningful practice reps.”
On Saturday, Ohio closed out spring camp with its spring game in Peden Stadium. The event was open to fans to see a sneak preview of the Bobcats as they look to get back to the Mid-American Conference title next year. At the conclusion of Saturday’s practice, Hauser met with reporters and gave his thoughts. These were some of the biggest takeaways.
Quarterback battle is the story of the summer
Over the past three seasons, Ohio found remarkable success at quarterback with Kurtis Rourke and Parker Navarro, whose college football career ended in 2025. Now, questions have surfaced about the position in Hauser's first year, with many names hoping to fight for the starting job, including graduate student Nick Poulos, who took first-team reps, but the decision is not finalized.
“As far as the depth chart, I think we have three or four guys that are competing,” Hauser said. “I think Nick (Poulos) is ahead of some of them right now and is carrying himself really well, but we've got guys on his heels. It'll be fun to see as Matt Vezza and Levi Davis work in our system this summer from the second install, just how much ground they can make up here.”
Offensive skill positions deep with talent
Saturday’s exhibition showed Ohio brought back lots of strong talent from last year's group, but with graduates and transfers having hit the portal themselves, it started on offense. Skill positions will make the difference in 2026, and it starts at running back with junior Duncan Brune and transfer graduate student Victor Rosa, who looks to split time next season, plus a pair of fresh faces Hauser wants to get involved, too.
“We've got a couple of guys with a lot of experience there,” Hauser said. “Duncan's kind of been in the mix for a couple of years now, and then bringing in Vic Rosa, who has a ton of experience from UConn, is a good one too. Then I think we’ve got two young guys that are battling to get in that mix, with Michael Taylor and Irving Brown. So I'm really happy with that room.”
Similar to its quarterback, Ohio had plenty of success in recent years at wide receiver with Coleman Owen, Chase Hendricks and Rodney Harris II. Owen has seen NFL reps after his time at Ohio, while Hendricks and Harris II decided to move on after the year, calling for a rebuild of the receiver room this offseason.
“We got Dom (Dorwart) coming back as the returner,” Hauser said. “We've had a number of guys step up, and we have to keep pushing at that position. Preston Bowman's done a really good job coming in and showing he can be explosive. We're excited to get Max Rodarte and Ian Ver Steeg back from injury in the summer. I mean, we got a good pool of guys now. We got to play more, but we got to have one of them step up.”
Learning through failure
The final big thing Hauser addressed was the growth he hoped to see in his team after the work they did this spring. He also addressed the fact his group was inexperienced and has to fail before seeing total success.
Hauser and his staff have been working in practice on the players' response to adversity, and it has been helping build the culture and trust within the program from the top down.
“I think they have to fail in practice and then respond the right way,” Hauser said. “That's where I'm really focused on some of these guys that I haven't coached a lot, especially to coach them hard, you've got to know them, they've got to know you and we've got to trust each other. It's just, how are we going to respond to the bad things, and can we get right back and reset?”
