With new-look roster, Robert Morris football plans reset in 2023

Heading into the 2023 season, the Robert Morris football team has a low bar to clear with regards to improving upon what they did last fall.

On the heels of an 0-11 campaign, the Colonials’ worst performance dating back to the program’s founding in 1994, Robert Morris can produce a more successful season than last by winning a lone game.

For sixth-year coach Bernard Clark, expectations are being set far higher than one measly mark in the win column.

“I think the biggest thing is experience,” Clark said. “We brought in junior college guys, we brought in a lot of transfers, so we’re very experienced. That’s what I think is going to help us win some games. And we’ve got a trigger man — we’ve got a quarterback who we feel real comfortable with so far.”

Tyler Szalkowski, a redshirt sophomore quarterback, joined the Colonials in December after transferring from Albany, and has earned the starter’s gig in Saturday’s season-opener at Air Force.

This year, Robert Morris prepares to participate in the inaugural season of the Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Football Association, which features 10 teams brought together by way of a merger between the two FCS leagues that was announced in February.

Entering a playing field flush with new foes, such as Tennessee Tech, Southeast Missouri State and Eastern Illinois, all of whom Robert Morris will face this fall, presents both opportunities and challenges.

But before any of that, the Colonials have a significant Week 1 test Saturday at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“We know (Air Fore) runs the triple option,” senior linebacker Jamar Shegog said. “They’re going to try to punch us in the mouth, so we have to continue to get more physical and just be ready for a bloodbath when we go up there.”

Clark welcomes back 16 starters from the 2022 squad, three of whom were named to the Big South-OVC preseason watchlist in linebacker Joe Casale and Shegog, plus punter George Souders III.

Casale led Robert Morris with 70 tackles last year en route to a All-Big South second-team selection, and Shegog, a Seton LaSalle alum, will be playing his fifth season in a Colonials uniform.

Clark feels particularly good about his defense, which has been bolstered by transfers such as linebacker Seth Verilus (Dartmouth) and defensive backs Dee Pierce (Miami, Ohio) and Britton Pascoe (North Dakota State).

The defensive backs group also features returning upperclassmen Dakarai Cabell, William Barber and Gregory Young II.

Robert Morris’ eight returning defensive starters will look to elevate a unit that allowed 422.5 yards and 34.3 points per game, which ranked 93rd and tied for 97th, respectively, among all FCS programs.

“To improve our defense, we need to emphasize stopping the run, be physical at the point of attack and just dominate the offense,” Shegog said. “If we can do that, tackle well and play assignment football, we can make strides.”

Offensively, the Colonials have some work cut out for them in improving upon the 9.9 points per game they averaged in 2022, which ranked last in the FCS, as did their 63.5 rushing yards per game.

Robert Morris moved on from coordinator Eric Gallon, with Josh Firm, who coached the team’s tailbacks last fall, now serving as play caller.

“The system we had last year, the guys didn’t really have a grasp of it, of understanding exactly what the coaches wanted,” Clark said. “What (Firm) has put in is a system that’s extremely simple for our guys which will allow them to play fast, which is probably more important than anything.”

Hayden Baron, a Belle Vernon alum, highlights an offensive line that returns four starters.

Behind him at quarterback, the Colonials are counting on Szalkowski, after Anthony Chiccitt (467 yards, two touchdowns, four interceptions) and Zach Tanner (794 yards, three touchdowns, 10 interceptions) struggled to lead the offense to much success last fall.

With a new-look roster, the Colonials aim to rack up some wins in 2023.

“The guys that are returning and the guys that we’ve brought in, we all share the same mindset, starting way back in January when we started our offseason workouts,” Baron said. “We don’t want to repeat last year, and we all bonded over that and went into spring ball, summer workouts and now camp.”