Two linebackers is our base defense. Three if you count the “rush” linebacker who plays on the line of scrimmage. If the nickel position is more of a safety than a corner you have three safeties. Last year we had some good sized safeties.
I’m sure the DC is a very sharp guy, but we have always fallen short of being a dominating defense, even when we seem to have quality players. If you look at last season before the Connors’ injuries they gave up 549 yards to Southern Utah. Thats with five all conference players on defense.
On the related subject of depth or lack there of, it is puzzling when a team has 105 players on the roster, has injuries in the high teens or low twenties, and doesn’t have 60 players to take on a road trip. Thats a lot of guys on the roster not trusted to play. Some of that is the players aren’t good, some is that the coach is conservative about letting guys on the field, some of it is that almost all the games are close so there is not the same opportunity to play reserves, but the bottom line is not a very deep team.

"On the related subject of depth or lack there of, it is puzzling when a team has 105 players on the roster, has injuries in the high teens or low twenties, and doesn’t have 60 players to take on a road trip."

Does anyone know our roster size?

until 2031. Boom! https://x.com/i/status/2021678123289338162

I'd be very curious to see the damage UCD could do with FBS quantity of scholarships...

When the roster is finalized just count names. It has been over 105 by a few but once they sign onto the settlement which they said they intend to do it can be no more than 105.

There is no longer a subdivision difference in number of scholarships. Missouri Valley Football teams can have 105, as can several other FCS conferences. The Big Sky chose to retain the 63 limit. I doubt that lasts past a few losses to Missouri Valley teams in the playoffs.

Massive difference. I wonder what even constitutes a "scholarship" anymore. Could I just pay a player the NIL dollar equivalent of a tuition, lodging, etc and circumvent the "scholarship" limit?

I’ve wondered this too…especially for those who get NIL that’s 2-3x more than the cost of school. The cost of school is nothing compared to many basic NIL deals now.

You have hit on the reason the new rules limit roster size and not scholarship number; NIL and revenue sharing make scholarship limit unenforceable, because players can be otherwise paid.
I know that people use NIL as shorthand for other ways of compensating players, but revenue sharing is going to be the bulk of it. When teams sign on to the settlement they can directly pay players in house via revenue sharing, whereas NIL deals also move in house but have to have a business case.

SEA is the best tackling and pass rushing Secondary team of all time, or at least that I have ever seen. Had to be in order to hold up and pressure the way they did in Dime. New England didn't have the Tight End depth to bang the Dime. The Rams ran more 13/12 pers than anyone and those were the Seahawks' worst games Defensively, although they found a way to win when it mattered most (thanks, McVay). First round 49er game might have been different with Kittle and a healthy TE room. You look at the recent Aggie recruiting class and there is a smallish LB and some good tackling DBs from the few clips I've watched. You're right and we will see more Dime/Nickel than traditional Defensive packages. We need to do a better job with downhill run teams.

I believe this is the link to the live silent auction. Just started. Lan Larison signed white helmet is cool. https://paybee.io/@ucdfootball@1

Dude thats sweet! As a huge Giants fan that Giants experience is enticing too...

Signed Steph Curry jersey is bound to be a hot item also.

Nevermind. I think this is the early silent auction link: https://paybee.io/quickpay.html?handle=ucdfootball#optionList

Illinois State gets a nice donation from an “anonymous former quarterback”

https://goredbirds.com/news/2025/12/23/redbird-athletics-announces-2-5-million-gift-to-football-program.aspx

A friend who is an Illinois State grad told me they had received $25M but evidently he moved the decimal point over a digit.

Haha after that playoff run they have had a few big donations. Pretty awesome to see. Speaking of all the realignment stuff, Illinois state would have made a hell of a lot more sense than Sac State but geography doesnt matter anymore so what do I know.

If you want to watch a heartfelt podcast, watch the “fatherhood and football” podcast with Todd Shaner. He’s a remarkable person and great Aggie!

Todd was a senior when I was a freshman. Totally great guy.

Todd was a teammate in 80-81. Still friends. He came out to two games last season.

I've seen Todd quite a bit at games now that I think about it - didn't realize he was a Northwest kid like me, I'll go up and say hi next time I see him.

he was at first two games this season - he lives in Virginia so planned a trip out here to deal with estate issues around those games. He’s coming for wine event.

Take a look at the updated spring roster. As I said before he was always an undergraduate student. He was just incorrectly listed by the SID. Very glad we have him and cofield back. Was told they both were getting huge offers to leave but the appeal of graduating from davis for richardson and continuing to develop for cofield were what kept them at davis.

Let the dominoes fall, let's go, stay healthy.

About one month from the start of spring practice... any reports coming out of the winter conditioning period?

Who's front runner for new RB coach?

Have heard or seen nothing as far as the new RB coach. Easiest job on staff, just need to be a talented and connected recruiter and amateur psychologist.

The Aggies have announced Cody vonAppen as the new Special Teams Coordinator. He comes to Davis from Cal Poly where he was the Defensive Coordinator since 2022. Taylor Chapatte will return to his primary role of Tight Ends Coach. Chapatte held both positions last year.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2026/2/26/football-welcomes-cody-vonappen-as-special-teams-coordinator.aspx

Plough made a solid move by not only retaining Chapette as TEs Coach, but by bringing vonAppen in as the Special Teams guy. He has coordinating experience as a DC which will help greatly and I believe he has history with the current staff.

Anything update on the RB hire?

Do we typically produce a 2-deep for spring ball? There are some interesting questions to be answered at several key spots.