Under new coach Casey Goff, Saint Vincent football wants to establish winning culture

Like anyone in his position, first-year Saint Vincent football coach Casey Goff wants to win. He wouldn’t be in the coaching business if he didn’t.

But Goff also is a realist. After taking over a team that has had only fleeting success and bottomed out at 1-9 a year ago, the coach knew he had a project on his hands. That started with trying to build a roster, which has shrunk to 75 this season.

As he ramps up the Bearcats for the 2025 season, he also has one eye on the future.

“The kids we have in the program are really committed to changing things here,” said Goff, whose coaching resume includes a three-year stint as a defensive assistant at Washington & Jefferson. “The guys that have stayed and are invested have worked really hard and have a really good, positive mindset in terms of what they want their legacy to be for this program.

“We won’t be able to, necessarily, look at wins and losses in terms of how we view this as a successful season. We want to see a change in culture.”

Among the key holdovers are senior offensive lineman Anthony Capozzoli and junior safety Robbie Labuda. Capozzoli said Goff and his staff have made the coaching transition easy, and the players are eager to get the program pointing in the right direction.

“They bring a culture that I haven’t seen before,” Capozzoli said during PAC football media day. “Discipline. And I think that’s big because usually in the spring, you don’t have a lot of people show up. But with coach Goff’s new culture, everyone’s been here.”

Labuda earned honorable mention All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference honors last season after amassing 66 total tackles and four interceptions. Sophomore linebacker Nathan Parker (55 total tackles, sack) also earned all-conference honorable mention.

While roster numbers declined, three players who transferred to Saint Vincent are likely to have a big impact right away. Sophomore quarterback Jake Phillips (Hempfield) and sophomore receiver Jakub Pickett spent a season at Cal (Pa.), and sophomore receiver Ian Tufts (Hempfield) was at Edinboro.

Pickett and Tufts stand 6-foot-2 and 6-4, respectively, which could mean matchup problems for opposing defensive backs. Phillips (6-3, 210), meanwhile, brings big-play pedigree. In a game during his senior year at Hempfield, he accounted for seven touchdowns (four passing, three rushing).

And the three bring built-in chemistry: Tufts and Phillips after playing together in high school, and Phillips and Pickett after being together at Cal.

“They’ve been an awesome addition to what we’re doing,” Goff said. “Jake got here in the spring and really took command of things to the point of being voted captain after one semester with these guys.”

A few other returning players have caught Goff’s eye during camp:

• senior running back Brandon Saint-Preux, who had a touchdown among his 10 carries a year ago

• junior receiver Chris Downs, who had 11 catches for 141 yards in ’24

• sophomore tailback Isaiah Sosak, who had a rushing TD last season

• senior defensive lineman Andrew Gelin, who had a sack among 12 tackles last fall

• senior defensive lineman Josiah Weyandt (36 tackles, sack, forced fumble, blocked kick)

• and junior defensive back Devon Dean-Coles and sophomore defensive lineman Nile Thomas

Saint Vincent will open with two nonconference games (home vs. Hilbert and at Wooster) to work out the kinks, then begins PAC play Sept. 20 at Geneva. And while Goff isn’t ready to declare that his first team will be a winner, he said the players have shown a winning attitude.

“I’ve always felt, even in my time at W&J, that this is a place where you can win and you can sustain it,” he said. “… I wanted to throw my hat into the ring and give it a try my way.

“We’ve got a lot of question marks, but the things that I don’t question are these kids’ heart and work ethic.”