Note: This story is featured in the 2026 edition of Dave Campbell's Texas Football's Summer Magazine, which you can order here.

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The Lumberjacks enter 2026 as marked men after winning the program’s first Southland Conference championship since 2010 and reaching the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs, losing to eventual national champion, Montana State, 44-28. SFA started the season 0-2 before reeling off 11 consecutive wins, including an 8-0 mark against conference foes.  

“We’re going to have a bullseye on our chest this year as defending conference champions and we need to be ready to see everyone’s best in 2026,” SFA head coach Colby Carthel, who is entering his eighth season in charge, said. “We’ve got to be that much better ourselves. We need to be ready for that.” 

Repeating in a crowded and competitive Southland Conference won’t be easy, especially with the turnover experienced on the roster and coaching staff after the season. Carthel was forced to replace his offensive and defensive coordinator when OC Chris Ross left for Tarleton State and DC Mike Mutz departed for an FBS job at Georgia Southern.  

Carthel feels confident in his replacements, however. He stayed in-house for the replacement at offensive coordinator, elevating long-time assistant Jared May to play caller after he earned his stripes as quarterback coach and architect of a punt return unit that ranked first in the FCS in two of the last four years.  

“Loyalty isn’t just a one-way street,” Carthel said. “We’ve worked together for 13 straight years, so that was a seamless transition and an easy call to make. The schemes will mostly stay the same, other than how we adjust to fit our personnel.”  

May inherits an offense that must replace last year’s SLC Offensive Player of the Year, Sam Vidlak, at quarterback. Expected starter Gavin Rutherford did start multiple games last season when Vidlak was injured, including the win over Lamar that clinched the conference championship for the Jacks. Rutherford’s athleticism provides new possibilities for the offense in the run game.  

Eric Gray, the reigning Offensive Lineman of the Year in the SLC, returns as the starting center and will lead an offensive line that also returns right guard Gio Alegria. They’ll open holes for running back Jaylon Jenkins, who was the starter in the opener last year before an early-season injury cost him most of the season.  

The strength of the offense is likely at wide receiver, where the trio of Clayton Wayland, Derrick Bohler, and slot receiver Bugs Mortimer ease the loss of Kylon Harris, who led the Jacks with 86 catches for 1,068 yards, and 10 touchdowns in 2025.  

SFA also turned to a familiar face to lead the defense when Carthel tabbed Caid Faske as the new coordinator.  Faske, who coached the defensive ends at SFA from 2019-2022, wanted the defensive coordinator job in Nacogdoches four years ago, but Carthel told him to go earn experience calling plays first, which he did at Colorado State-Pueblo for the last three years.  

“This wasn’t a job for a first-time defensive coordinator,” Carthel said. “He needed to go prove himself and he did that with a great run at Pueblo. They won back-to-back conference titles and had one of the best defenses in the country, so that was another easy and fun phone call to make when the job came open this time.”  

Mike linebacker Malachi Williams is the only returning starter on defense for the Lumberjacks. Carthel believes the linebacker room is the strongest unit on that side of the ball after pairing Williams with proven transfers such as Eli Ennis, a former FCS All-American at Nicholls who spent 2025 at UAB. Defensive ends Tim Muhammad and Lowote Jurkin return and are expected to start after combining for 12.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks in reserve roles last season.  

“We have some holes to fill up front and in the secondary on defense and it’ll be interesting to see who steps up through the summer and into the season. That’s what is keeping me up at night right now.” 

DCTF Take  

Colby Carthel feels like his Lumberjacks have wind in their sails for the first time during his eight-year tenure entering 2026, thanks to the Southland Conference championship last year and alignment at the top of the university, including a recently passed athletic fee that will help SFA catch up with their peers in the spending department.  

SFA was the only football playing school in Texas without an athletic fee previously and suffered through six presidents in six years while playing in four different conferences in five seasons. This year’s version of the Lumberjacks can’t afford another slow start, however, since the first two games of the season are against conference foes, including a season-opening trip to McNeese State.