A combined record of 15-5 over the past two seasons will lead Concordia University, Nebraska Football into a 2026 season surrounded by optimism. This spring, Patrick Daberkow and his staff began to put the pieces together for what will mark the 100th season of Bulldog Football and the 10th for Daberkow as head coach. The offseason chatter from Daberkow has centered upon similar refrains: an emphasis on the trenches and on increasing strength across the board.
As a contrast to the turnover experienced in college football programs nationally, Concordia expects to return 29 of the 44 players who were listed in the final offensive/defensive two-deep roster of 2025. That number includes a group of fifth-year players headlined by quarterback Gideon Stark.
“I thought we had a very productive spring ball,” Daberkow said. “We saw a lot of what we wanted to see as far as position group competition and guys stepping into different roles. It was fun to have the pads back on again and to be playing some actual football. We usually push our spring ball back as far as we can so we can get some extra time in the weight room. I don’t know of a football team that doesn’t need to get bigger and stronger. We really make that a big emphasis in our spring semester. We start spring ball a little bit later. It worked out for us this year. The weather was great and it was a beautiful night for our spring game.”
On the night of the open spring practice (April 24), the Bulldogs hosted their junior day and welcomed more than 100 prospective student-athletes for a glimpse at the program. That outing marked the conclusion of a spring featuring the customary 15 practices. Concordia is not yet a finished product, but it has until the season opener versus Waldorf on Aug. 29 to get there.
Spring position-by-position glance:
Quarterback – The 6-foot-6 Magnolia, Texas, native Gideon Stark is back after taking over the starting role in 2025. Stark expects to improve his efficiency and lower his interception total while building upon his 10 starts last fall. Stark returns for his fifth year in the program after he threw for 2,339 yards and 21 touchdowns in ’25. Grand Island native Camden Jensen spent last season as the No. 2 QB on the depth chart. Last year’s passing attack averaged 242.1 yards per game.
Running Back – Three different players carried the ball at least 90 times last season: Carlos Collazo (102 carries for 591 yards and eight touchdowns), Calvin Sassaman (106 for 464 and three touchdowns) and Adam Van Cleave (90 for 310 and four touchdowns). Collazo was leading the NAIA in rushing yards per game at the time he went down with an injury. The Marquette, Neb., native missed spring ball due to the injury. Late in the season, the Bulldogs used the dynamic Van Cleave in the backfield in an effort to get him more touches. There is ample experience here with Tyler Douglass having also received carries.
Receiver – Now a college graduate, Adam Van Cleave returns for his fourth season inside the program. The opposition has to account for Van Cleave whether he’s lined up in the backfield or in the slot. In 21 games as a Bulldog, Van Cleave has hauled in 135 receptions for 1,578 yards while scoring 17 total touchdowns. This group said goodbye to senior starter Max Bartels but brings back the likes of Jonny Puelz, and Carter Skleba. Puelz broke out last season with 519 receiving yards and a team high nine receiving touchdowns. Stark and his receivers have continued to develop a strong chemistry.
Tight End – Maddox Rickertsen took advantage of an opportunity to start at tight end last season and pulled in 19 receptions for 323 yards and three touchdowns in 2025. Rickertsen will return in 2026 as a fifth-year player along with roommates Giden Stark and Derek Campbell. Dustin Kapke spent last season as the No. 2 tight end.
Offensive Line – The offensive line has been a major reason for the offensive outburst that has taken place within the program over the past two seasons. Concordia began to replace at least three starters this spring – center Brevin Damrow, right guard Seth Moore and left guard Kadence Velde. The returning core is headlined by Second Team All-GPAC left tackle Derek Campbell and possibly right tackle Jeremiah Vasquez. Two key players, Joshua Luehr and Thomas Thomas, spent portions of their spring throwing for the track & field team. Luehr is a strong candidate to take on the center role. The o-line surrendered only three sacks all of last season.
Defensive line – The group is an experienced one despite the graduation of All-American Carson Fehlhafer (limited to six games last season due to injury). Terry Sebek stepped into a larger role last season and collected 11 tackles for loss. Sebek and AJ Frazey started all 10 games last season and were joined up front by Lukas Lafler and sometimes Drake Trent, a linebacker off the edge. The focus this spring has been on building greater depth in this area.
Linebacker – After racking up 104 tackles last season, Grant Huss has transitioned to a coaching staff role as a graduate assistant. There’s plenty of starting experience back at the position thanks to the presence of the likes of Deegan Barnes, Dylan Meyer and Drake Trent. As a transfer from Chadron State, Meyer became a force in tallying 16.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in his first season as a Bulldog. Meanwhile, Barnes ranked second on the team with 76 tackles last season. The group projects as a strength in 2026.
Defensive Back – There will likely be a mix of experience and returners looking to make their mark as first-year starters. In the program’s 3-3-5 scheme, safety play is an important part of the unit’s success. Concordia has begun to replace All-American Daylon Henson and Jaden Seier, as well as cornerback Jacob Rolen. The returning starters are safety Luke Penrod and corner Will Potratz. Tanner Frahm, Gabe Schmidt and Kaden Thompson have all seen action. The secondary will be tested in a league featuring big-time passing attacks.
Specialists – This area is in great shape with all-conference returners in kicker Peyton Atwood, punter Braxtyn Koch, long snapper Max Wurdeman and return man Adam Van Cleave. Last season, Atwood and Koch both earned an NAIA National Special Teams Player of the Week award. Atwood is the school record holder for career PATs (121) and longest field goal (50). The Bulldogs expect special teams to give them an edge this fall.
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Additional Comments from Coach Daberkow:
Gideon Stark – For his first year as a starter, I thought Gideon did a phenomenal job. The expectation gets raised every year. He’s making great progress from where he was a year ago after having all those starts under his belt and that in-game experience. He got to wear the QB1 title and go through all those things. It’s helped him developed. We have a more polished, more prepared, better leader version of Gideon Stark in 2026 than we had in 2025. We’re very excited about him.
Spring developments – With your offensive and defensive lines, you’re going to have new faces. We have guys who have graduated and moved on. We have new faces up front. We want to see how those guys gel together and how they work. I was really pleased to see some of the experience that we got. The development of those two position groups is something we really had our eye on. Then our defensive backfield and linebackers. There’s not really a position that we didn’t have our eye on. The trenches were specifically something we were looking at from a developmental standpoint. That’s probably where we are moving the most guys into new roles. A guy like Josh Leuhr, who has been a role player for us, is going to step into a starting role replacing Brevin Damrow at center. We have other competition at those spots. It’s been fun to see guys stepping into new roles. Two guys up front on offense throw for track, so we had to work with their schedules. We weren’t able to have them for all 15 practices because they were out competing.
Summer/offseason plans – My son just got a BB gun, so we’re going to be doing that. I think we’ve already caught all the bluegill in Seward County, so we’re going to try to catch some different kind of fish this summer. It’s awesome to have the community that Seward is – it’s a fun place to have a summer when you’re raising your kids, and we’re right in the thick of that right now. We have teenage daughters and elementary school kids. We are staying pretty busy chasing kids around basketball gymnasiums and baseball fields and all those things.
I’m definitely looking forward to getting the guys on campus, even though they haven’t been gone for that long. It will be good to get everyone back in August. We’ve got work to do that we’ve mapped out for the summer.