Despite the same head guy in charge since 2015, Covington Catholic will enter a little bit of a new era in 2026 on the gridiron.
Gone is Cash Harney, one of the most decorated players in Colonels history. Same with Dylan Gaiser, the 1-2 punch that helped carry the load for CovCath the past two seasons. The coaching staff has endured a bit of a makeover too with defensive coordinator Terry Brown taking the Newport Central Catholic coaching job and other assistants moving elsewhere.
Despite the turnover, the standard remains the same for Eddie Eviston’s squad in Park Hills. It’s championship or bust as they come into 2026. They’ve been the only 4A team to beat Boyle County since 2019 (a 31-28 region championship victory in 2024), effectively stopping the Rebels from winning six straight state championships. The 2019 season is also the last time the Colonels hoisted the championship trophy, claiming the 5A title at the time.
Here’s five things to know about Covington Catholic headed into the 2026 season:
Who is the new 1-2 punch?
Harney graduated and is a preferred walk-on for Kentucky’s football program. Gaiser headed to Centre in Danville to continue his playing career. The two accounted for 2,240 rushing yards and 36 rushing touchdowns last season. Harney threw for another 1,941 and 15 touchdowns while Gaiser caught 22 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns.
That production certainly won’t be easy to replace.
Who will it be?
“That production those two had was unreal,” Eviston said. “You look at it and 90-95% of our offensive production graduated. Lot of points, lot of yards and a lot of touchdowns. Now we’re looking at guys with maybe not a lot of true varsity experience, but played well at other levels and now they come up to the next level to fit in.”
Eviston is high on sophomore Kiyan Miller to help fill the running back role.
“That’s a name people will learn real quick,” Eviston said.
Miller may not possess the speed like Harney and Gaiser did, but is a big, physical back that can carry the load. Cash Myers is also expected to get some run in the backfield. He transitions from tight end and will be heavily featured on the Colonels defense at linebacker.
The Colonels also lost the majority of their pass catchers, 95 of the 127 receptions last season graduated. Out wide, look for Evan Link, Mac Cogswell and Brandon Smith to garner targets. Others like Walker Murphy, Jason Fedor and Jamir Kirtley are expected to step up and produce.
As far as quarterback, Dylan Courtney will take over the reins. He was the main backup last season and played some wide receiver.
“Playing receiver helped him understand the offense more,” Eviston said. “Dylan is more of a pocket passer and can stretch the field. He’s more athletic than people think.”
Courtney stands at 6-foot-3 so expect things to look a little different scheme-wise on the offensive end for the Colonels this season.
Coaching staff changes
With Brown’s departure to NewCath and others taking roles elswhere, Eviston’s staff will look a bit different in 2026.
Some familiar names will be walking the sidelines with headsets. Mike Woolf, who recently retired as Ryle’s Athletic Director, will help with the defense. As will Brian Weinreich, the former Campbell County head coach.
Both have plenty of experience to bring to the Colonels.
“It’s the most turnover we’ve had since I’ve been here, most new faces we’ve had,” Eviston said. “The approach may be a little different, scheme-wise similar, coaching and teaching a little different. It’s gone well in that regard and kids have had to relearn things in a different way and they’ve caught on well early on.”
Faster starts
The past two seasons, Covington Catholic has opened 0-2 with losses to Ryle and Highlands in 2024, Ryle and Elder, Ohio in 2025. They open up with Ryle and Elder again this year.
While 0-2 isn’t the end of the world, it becomes important come postseason time with the RPI. The past two seasons the Colonels have had to spend the quarterfinals and on with road games. Last season the road traveled started in the second round at Johnson Central.
“We need to get off to a better starts, plain and simple,” Eviston said. “High school is really hard with so much turnover at different positions. When Cash started for us two years ago it was different. Now we’re going into that same thing. Different rules for different states doesn’t do us much favors. Those states are allowed to do a lot more and we have to use our time to the best of our ability. We try to prepare and know that the RPI is a big deal. Kentucky doesn’t value out of state opponents and we can’t control that and that’s a conversation for another day.”
Lind, Pitzer land D1 commitments
Offensive lineman Jonny Lind and tight end Owen Pitzer committed to the next level prior to the start of their senior seasons. Lind is headed to Army next year while Pitzer is going to Ball State.
With Pitzer, he returns 17 receptions for 349 yards and four touchdowns from 2025. That’s significant considering 95 of the 127 receptions from a season ago graduated. Expect to see him more heavily featured in the Colonels offense this year. The track record of Covington Catholic tight ends in recent years, well…tracks. Michael Mayer is in the NFL with the Raiders, Willie Rodriguez is expected to have a big year at Kentucky and Trevor Wilson is at the University of Buffalo.
“It’s cool to talk about and get excited about,” Eviston said. “We feel Owen can be very similar to Mike and Willie. He’ll play on both sides of the ball at tight end and linebacker. We feel Owen is ready to carry on that torch. Tight end is very important to what we do on offense.”
Lind will play along both lines at defensive end on defense and along the offensive line.
“”He’ll be a leader up front on both sides of the ball,” Eviston said. “He had a tremendous offseason.”
Last year in 4A
With the new realignment set to roll out in 2027, this will be the last season the Colonels play in 4A for at least two seasons. At a board meeting earlier this year, the KHSAA Board of Control rolled out a new multiplier for private schools meaning their enrollment would multiply by 1.35, bumping the Colonels up to 5A.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing for CovCath. Since the KHSAA went to a six-class system in 2007, they won 5A titles in 2017 and 2019 and have played in 5A for 10 seasons. They’ve yet to claim a 4A title in nine seasons.
“In 4A from top to bottom there’s more quality programs,” Eviston said. “But we don’t really care where we are. No matter what the standard is a state championship. Just tell us what the schedule is and we’ll play. We always stress to our guys each week is a new week and a different opponent and we have to approach it that way.”
