The Waynesburg University football team is headed into its fourth season under Head Coach Dr. Cornelius Coleman. In his first three seasons as head coach, the Yellow Jackets have posted a less-than-desirable record of 10-20. However, the 2025 Yellow Jackets are geared up and hoping to improve from their last campaign.

Each season, the Presidents’ Athletic Conference holds a preseason poll, voted on by head coaches, sports information directors and media members, predicting the finishing order of the standings for the season. The Yellow Jackets exceeded the expectations of the 2024 edition of the poll, finishing three spots higher than their projected ninth place finish. Now in 2025, members of the PAC have voted that the Yellow Jackets will finish sixth in the conference according to pacathletics.org. 

“We don’t worry about what others perceive us as,” Coleman said. “At the end of the day, we’re proud about who we are and where we are.”

Coleman recalled starting the 2022 season, his first as head coach of the Yellow Jackets, with a 4-3 record after being ranked ninth in the preseason poll, adding to his point of only worrying about what happens inside the Waynesburg locker room. 

Although Coleman and the Yellow Jackets are taking a similar mental approach to the 2025 season, the team has some new and exciting additions to the roster and coaching staff.

New Additions

Not only do the Yellow Jackets have returning impact players like running back Zayne Cawley and wide receivers Tyler Richmond and Isaac Trout, but they have a new crop of additions to the team.

“We are extremely excited about this freshman class,” Coleman said. 

The transition from high school to college has been the focal point of teaching for the Waynesburg staff when it comes to the freshman class. 

“The first thing they are understanding is at this level; student athletes do a multitude of things from learning in the classroom to watching and studying film,” Coleman said. 

It is very important to the coaching staff that the freshman learn how to transition to both the college classroom and the football field.

“There are several young men that stick out from a coaching perspective that will be great Jackets,” Coleman said about the freshman class, but he waited to name any individuals.

Another group of incoming players include those who joined the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets through the transfer portal this summer. 

Some of the impactful new additions include two Division I transfers including Linebacker Payton Molter, a sophomore from Jeannette, PA, chose to become a Yellow Jacket after just one season at Mercyhurst University. Molter earned All-State honors in high school and is set to be on the field quite a bit this season. 

The other Division I transfer is Junior defensive back, Joanes Polynice. Polynice played his first two seasons at PAC rival Saint Vincent. In those two seasons for the Bearcats, Polynice earned two Honorable Mention All-PAC honors at linebacker while totaling 11.5 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles. Polynice spent 2023 at Division I Campbell University before taking a year off in 2024. 

“I took a year and a half off after Campbell. I could’ve gone Division II, but at the time I just fell out of love for the game, so I decided to go back home and help the people I love,” Polynice said. “Then, I realized that a part of me was missing as I was growing as a man, I still missed football,” he added.

Polynice ended up talking to his family and decided to give football another shot. He will be shifting from linebacker to safety for the 2025 season.

The only other new additions to the team this season are on the coaching staff. Waynesburg graduate Aaron Giorgi will be coaching the running backs this season and Dominic Bornman will coach the wide receivers as well as taking the role of special team coordinator.

Coach Phil Hamilton was on the Waynesburg coaching staff as the quarterbacks coach and the recruiting coordinator last season. In 2025, Hamilton took on the role as the offensive coordinator. 

“With coach Hamilton being the offensive coordinator, there’s a lot that we have changed,” Coleman said. 

With 2024 Waynesburg quarterback Samuel Barber graduating and with a new system on offense, the battle for the starting quarterback job has been competitive during camp. The three quarterbacks vying for the starting job are seniors Tommy Burke III and Ashton Getz, along with sophomore Luke Hudson. 

“Those three guys are honestly still battling it out for the number one spot,” Coleman said. “We are lucky and blessed to have those guys be able to battle it out.”

Burke has the most experience of the three, playing in 19 games with the Yellow Jackets in three seasons while amassing six touchdowns and eight interceptions.

The other senior, Getz, has appeared in one game each of the last two seasons. However, he has been showing a lot of promise in practice according to Coach Coleman.

Hudson is in his second season at Waynesburg. As a freshman, he appeared in the season finale against Geneva, completing one pass for eight yards. Hudson has also impressed coaches during camp. 

“Coach Hamilton has been doing a quality job of building an offense around their personal skillsets and not just what he wants to run,” Coleman said.

However, there’s a good chance that it is not known who will start at quarterback for the Jackets until they run on the field against John Carroll.

“The other position group we wanted to focus on this offseason was at linebacker,” Coleman said. 

With All-PAC linebacker Jemuel Cypress graduating after last season, the Yellow Jackets look to retool their linebacking unit, but not with just one player. 

“Instead of being three or four deep, we are going to want six to eight guys who can rotate in,” Coleman said. 

Along with being the head coach, Coleman also acts as the linebacker coach. So, adding depth to the unit could give Coleman a lot more ways to use them.

The offensive line will be full of established seniors this season with Dalton Scruggs, Kory Ansell, Jacob Brisky, Patrick Barber and Isaiah Greenway all returning this season. Last season, the offensive line blocked well enough for Zayne Cawley to lead the PAC in rushing yards. 

“People around the conference would probably say that the offensive line is our most skilled position,” Coleman said.

Coach Coleman and the Waynesburg coaching staff are looking forward to getting on the field and seeing how his new crop of guys work together.

They will have that chance this Saturday, Sept. 6, as Waynesburg starts its 2025 season at John F. Wiley Stadium in a non-conference matchup against Division III number 25 ranked John Carroll University. Kickoff is scheduled for 1p.m.