While a new field was christened last season, a disturbing trend continued: the Greendevils’ 3-8 record was the third straight losing season.
This season’s goal: having the first winning season since 2020. (Dayton went 6-6 in 2022).
Here’s five things to know about the Dayton football team headed into the 2026 season:
‘Different, very special’
You can’t talk about the Greendevils without junior Malachi Kennedy dominating the conversation.
Kennedy’s 2025 numbers were impressive: 1,509 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns, 275 receiving yards with five scores, and 58 tackles.
Head Coach Jesse Herbst was Simon Kenton’s defensive coordinator when Miles Simpson ran for over 4,000 yards from 2008-09. He puts Kennedy in the same class.
“He’s just an unbelievable athletic specimen,” Herbst says. “He has athletic ability that the average high school doesn’t have – his reaction time, his ability to accelerate in speed, his vision, his patience, his ability to block, break tackles. I mean … he’s a different, he’s a very special, special athlete.”
Kennedy appreciates the compliment, but he’s not arrogant about his ability.
“I’m very thankful,” he said. “I’m very thankful that my coach would help me like that; it’s really the truth.”
Dayton’s 62-49 win over Pendleton County Aug. 29, 2025 is Kennedy’s favorite football memory. He ran 25 times for 398 yards and seven touchdowns and caught a 67-yard pass for an eighth.
“I kept my head on a swivel,” Kennedy said. “But I had eight touchdowns, and confidence really just led me through that game.”
‘He never played ball’
Don’t mispronounce Elias Lopez Torres’ first name.
Dayton’s senior middle linebacker leads the defense. In just seven games he had a team-high 82 tackles last year – with 10 for loss – plus three forced fumbles and two recoveries; on offense, he ran for 469 yards and four touchdowns.
For the record, Torres prefers ELL-e-us to the more common e-LIE-us. He doesn’t mind correcting people about pronunciation.
“I’m Puerto Rican, so I come from Spanish heritage, and that’s how it’s pronounced in Spanish,” he says.
Herbst remembers the first time he saw Torres three years ago – an eighth-grader who played baseball at Tichenor Middle School in Erlanger. Two years later, Herbst convinced Torres to at least try football.
“Long story short, he never played (football),” Herbst said. “He came out, and right away, he was our leading tackler.”
Torres remembers a bathroom conversation in particular.
“He was very serious about me playing, so he was talking to me every single chance he could,” Torres says. “I mean, I’m very glad he did, ’cause I would’ve regretted it if I didn’t play.”
Torres admits his game needs work, especially his tackling technique.
“Last year, I was tackling very high,” he said. “I mean, I did have a high success rate, but it wasn’t 100%. I’m very good at going from sideline to sideline no matter where the ball is played.”
Everything back
Herbst begins his eighth season at 200 Greendevil Lane. You’d think the 10-24 record (including last year’s 3-8) since 2023 would make him buy about 34 cases of antacid tablets or at least worry about his job status.
You’d also be wrong.
“We won three games,” Herbst says. “Actually, we could have won seven games; we lost four games that we were leading three of those games, and we lost one within a touchdown. So we definitely had a chance to have a pretty decent season last year.”
What especially makes Herbst happy is graduating just one senior last year and having 37 in the program.
“That’s it,” he said. ”We’ll get everything back. I have 20 juniors and seniors on the roster right now; I have about eight to nine to 10 in each class, so we’re very balanced.”
Veering
The Greendevils are scrapping their Power-I offense for the Veer, a triple-option scheme Herbst had used for most of his previous six seasons.
Former Houston coach Bill Yeoman created the Veer in the 1960s. It gives a quarterback three choices: hand off to a fullback, pitch to a tailback or run around the end, depending on how defenders read the quarterback.
Former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne and others ran veer variations in the 1970s. Today, Tennessee’s Josh Heupel, Mississippi State’s Jeff Lebby, South Florida’s Alex Golesh run the “veer-and-shoot,” which mixes in passing concepts, while Rice’s Scott Abell, Army’s Jeff Monken and Air Force’s Troy Calhoun stick with the traditional triple option.
Herbst will not forsake the passing game altogether.
“We’re running the Veer, but we’re also maybe running a multiple I,” Herbst says. “We’ll be very dynamic offensively.”
A quarterback competition
Senior Landan Harris and junior Mykah Foster, a converted receiver, are the top two contenders. Harris threw for 634 yards with nine touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and Foster caught nine passes for 96 yards and two scores.
Harris is more a stay-in-the-pocket passer, while Foster is not afraid to scramble.
“I’m gonna miss throwing a bunch, but we’re gonna throw,” Harris said. “We have a bunch of passing plays here and there, though.”