Kennesaw State excited about talent infusion for Jerry Mack’s second season
Jerry Mack has been a football coach for more than two decades, so he’s just about seen it all. But there’s still something about the start of another season that gets his emotions stirred up for the first day of practice.
“I told the team, ‘I don’t think I went to sleep until 3 o’clock in the morning,’” Mack said Tuesday after his Kennesaw State team opened preseason camp with a spirited morning practice. “It’s my 22nd year coaching football, and I feel the same way as Day 1, Year 1.”
Excitement is particularly high at Kennesaw State, where Mack set high standards for the program a year ago, in his first season. In only their second season at the FBS level, the Owls went 10-4, won the Conference USA championship and played in the first bowl game in school history.
“It was great. Energetic. It should be like that on the first day,” senior receiver Davis Bryson said. “Everybody’s coming out all confident, ready to get the season started. We’re sick and tired of conditioning all summer, so we’re finally ready to toss the football around a little bit.”
It’s a different scenario than a year ago, when Mack was trying to sort through the transfer portal and find enough players to fit his new system. The staff excelled at identifying players and putting them in the right spot. This spring they were able to do the same thing, only at a higher level.
“I think we’ve definitely increased some of our strength and length, for the most part,” Mack said. “I also think just the way these guys go about their business — you know, every team is going to have some ups and downs, some adversity. Those things are going to happen because they’re young men, and they’re still learning and growing, but it’s been a smaller amount.”
Kennesaw State brought in 29 transfers. Mack admitted that last year’s success helped open a few more doors than a year ago, when the Owls transitioned away from a ground-and-pound attack.
“You get a chance to see body types and the skill sets that I want to go and try to recruit and attack,” he said. “Sometimes you hit on them, sometimes you don’t. I think we did a good job of hitting on some guys to include on our roster.”
It also meant Kennesaw could be more exclusive in its offers.
“There were a lot of people that wanted to come play for us that had some talent, but we didn’t feel like they fit the culture or had the type of personalities we wanted,” Mack said. “Sometimes you get seduced by the talent. You turn on the film and you say, ‘Those guys will be great players for us.’ And you get them in the building, and you say, ‘I just don’t think they’re going to fit.’ We had to do a little bit of that, as well.”
The team will be anchored by linebacker Baron Hopson, a graduate senior from Lee County. Hopson was voted the preseason CUSA defensive player of the year after he set a program record with 138 tackles in 2025. On Tuesday, he was one of 68 players named to the watchlist for the Bronco Nagurski Trophy, given the national defensive player of the year.
Most eyes this spring will be on the competition at quarterback, where Syracuse transfer Rickie Collins and record-setting junior college quarterback Landon Varnes are vying for the job. The outcome likely won’t be determined until the week before the season opener Sept. 3 against West Georgia.
“We talked about some of the things they need to get better at in the summertime and, so far, what we’ve seen after the first day, they have started taking those steps,” Mack said. “We’ve got 15-16 more practices left, and it will be interesting to see just how they continue develop and how they continue to grow. We feel very good about both those guys.”