As the 2026 college football season gets closer and closer, Ohio has finally announced this year's football team captains. This season, the Bobcats will have four captains for the second straight year, tied for their lowest number of captains since 2022, when they only had three.
This year, the team has a perfect mix of defensive and offensive players to represent the team.
Starting off defensively in the secondary is redshirt junior DJ Walker, who is the only returning captain from last season. Last year, Walker was selected to be captain along with quarterback Parker Navarro, safety Adonis Williams Jr. and offensive lineman Davion Weatherspoon.
Walker was selected as captain last season at 19 years old, his 20th birthday a week later. Getting selected as captain at such a young age is a huge honor, but comes with large expectations for a player.
Walker was able to live up to the expectations as he played all 13 games last season and recorded two interceptions, tying for the most on the team. He was also fifth in total tackles with 61, fifth in assists with 24 and fourth in solo tackles with 37. With Walker already proving himself as a leader and a star player, it was a no-brainer to choose him as a captain for his a second year.
Switching over to the offensive side, the most common position to see a captain for Ohio over the years is its starting quarterback.
Recently, the Bobcats announced graduate student Nick Poulos as its starting quarterback. Patiently working and learning behind Navarro, Poulos has been waiting for this moment for years. Over the off-season, his work paid off as he won the fierce quarterback competition.
Prior to the 2024 season, Poulos transferred to Ohio University. Poulos appeared in eight games and threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns. His appearances were limited in 2025, as he only appeared in four games and threw for 19 yards and zero touchdowns.
Poulos' patience, hard work and discipline made choosing the veteran QB as a captain easy.
Staying on the offensive side, the final offensive captain is junior running back Duncan Brune. The German running back made a name for himself in the backfield last season with 585 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns.
Without Sieh Bangura in the backfield, Brune is set to have a huge season in his first year as a starter. Not only will Brune carry weight of being the starting running back, but he will also be carrying the weight of being a captain. From what the coaches have seen, Brune is ready for the challenge.
The fourth and final captain is redshirt junior Jack Fries. Despite missing time in 2025, Fries was a force to reckon with on defense last season with 54 total tackles, 29 assists and 25 solo tackles in eight games. Fries was second on the team in pass breakups with five and also recorded an interception.
These four players have spent years working hard and patiently waiting for their moment to come. Hard work has led to all four players being bona fide starters and the coaches trusting them enough to name them the 2026 Bobcat football captains.
