What Does the Future Hold for Gettysburg Football?
Musselman Stadium, pictured during Alumni Weekend 2024. (William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
By Owen Kutlu, Sports Editor
When it comes to college sports, football tends to garner the most support and following. A good football program can define an entire school and their athletics as a whole. However, this is not the case with Gettysburg College. In recent years, Gettysburg’s football program has taken a back seat to a majority of other sports due to the consistent lack of winning seasons.
While there is still some talk about the team and they hold relevant status on campus, a large portion of students don’t seem to care too much about what happens in Musselman Stadium on Saturdays in the fall. After all, why should they? The program has not put up more than three wins in a season since 2015. Losses have become expected and nothing has changed.
To give Gettysburg the benefit of the doubt, they play in what could be argued as one of the best conferences in Division III football. Containing yearly powerhouses such as Johns Hopkins, Muhlenberg, Ursinus, and now adding Carnegie Mellon to the conference, the schedule is tough no matter the strength of the team.
Despite the Bullets underwhelming record this year, there have been marginal improvements seen from the past few years. Games that were once blowouts have now become closer losses. It is still not where the team would like to be, but things have been progressing in a positive direction.
So, how can Gettysburg continue to turn things around and get back to competing with the best? To start, the most important aspect that can be looked at is coaching.
Everything stems from the coaching staff: player development, gameday decisions and recruiting. The current Gettysburg football head coach is Maurice “Moe” Banks, who is coaching his fifth season with the team. Banks boasts an impressive resume, previously coaching at both Georgetown University (his alma mater) and the University of Pennsylvania.
Banks took over the team in 2020 after a 1-9 campaign in 2019 led to the Bullets parting ways with former head coach Kevin Burke. In his introductory press conference, Banks declared that Gettysburg was “going to win some football games” and “pushing to win the Centennial Conference Championship.” It is safe to say that in his tenure those statements have come up short.
Banks displays a serious, hard-headed coaching style, not showing much emotion on the sideline and demanding a high standard of effort from his players. Every morning in season, the Bullets wake up at the crack of dawn to take the field for practice. While it seems like a solid tactic to teach discipline, there may be a chance it is stretching the players thin. Being a student-athlete is not easy while in season, and this early morning wake up strategy could be catching up to the players on gameday, giving their bodies and minds limited time to rest and recover throughout the week.
A player celebrates at the 2024 Alumni Weekend football game. (William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
Player development is another concerning topic. The depth of the Gettysburg roster is limited, as the team performs significantly worse when they are down starters due to injury. While the talent and skill gap may be different between the first-team and the rest of the squad, the team sometimes seems unprepared to battle with the adversity of injuries. It is on the coaches to have every player ready for game action no matter their role on the team.
The in-game decisions by Banks also leave some room to be desired. Earlier in the season against Montclair State, Banks sent out the field goal unit on a short fourth down deep in Red Hawk territory at the end of the third quarter with Gettysburg up by a score. Gettysburg had kicking problems all season leading up that moment. That field goal ended up being blocked and returned for a touchdown to give Montclair State life and bring them back into the game. The Bullets would go on to lose the game by a single point. You can’t help but think that if the decision was made to keep the offense on the field while they were moving the ball well and go for it on fourth down, the outcome of the game would have been different.
While all the blame cannot be directed at a single person, if a team is failing, the head coach is usually the first person to get the finger pointed at them. With Banks’ contract running out after the season, it is unclear what plans Executive Director of Athletics Mike Mattia has in store. If he believes in what Banks has done so far, there is a chance that he could renew his deal. On the other hand, he could see the minimal improvement through Banks’ tenure and move in a different direction by cleaning house and hiring new staff. The latter seems more likely at this moment in time.
No matter who the next head coach of the football program is, the future of the team lies within the players. The recruiting has seemed to pick up in the past couple of years, with each class providing some key contributors. While there are some notable names graduating after this season, the core of the team is relatively young.
Quarterback Rocco Abdinoor ’26 will have one more year at the helm to build upon what was his best season thus far. Abdinoor is a freak athlete who’s best trait is his ability to extend plays with his legs and make something out of nothing. In the backfield, Michael Zrelak ’26 also leads the Bullets offense, arguably being the best back in the entire conference. The offensive line has a wealth of young talent including Will Abney ’27 and Casey Cavanaugh ’27, who were thrust into starting roles this year and have done a nice job.
Alumni Weekend Football Game. (William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
The position group with the most potential for the future might just be the receiving corps. Walle Harwigsson Lundblad ’26 leads the way as the top receiver, but the group has already seen production from the freshman class. Nick Wonsala ’28, Edison Case ’28, and Danny Bonato ’28 headline the impressive youngsters that have seen the field this year. With help from Luke Denison ’26 and Josh Burke ’26, there is a boatload of depth to surround Abdinoor with weapons next year.
The future of the offense looks to be in very good hands and the defense is not far behind. Linebacker Nate DeLorenzo ’26 has been the name to watch this year, putting up numbers worthy of consideration for defensive player of the year in the conference. Stonehill College transfer Zach Chostaka ’27 has been a massive addition to the unit, always seeming to be around the football. Along with that, Anad Charles ’27 and Ryan Weems ’27 have proven to be solid defensive backs to hold down the secondary.
The defensive side of the ball has been haunted by injuries throughout the season, leaving them searching for answers week in and week out. If Gettysburg can keep players on the field moving forward, there is an extremely high ceiling for what the team is capable of.
There are a lot of questions that need to be answered when it comes to the future of Gettysburg football, however, the pieces are there for them to turn their struggles around. With a new recruiting class incoming and current players getting another year of development and experience under their belts, things seem to be trending in the right direction for the Bullets. Now, they just have to put everything together.
This article originally appeared on page 20 and 21 of the No. 1 December 2024 edition of The Gettysburgian magazine.
December 29, 2024
This is thorough and insightful, you know football, most of the weaknesses and strengths of the program. Clearly, next year is the end or continuation of the current coaching staff, nothing less than 500 season is acceptable.
Having played during “the glory days” my dream is an occasional home-and-away with detested rivals Bucknell, Lafayette, Lehigh, or maybe Georgetown, a vision which is a stretch, but why not?
You are correct, early morning practices
are counterproductive in several ways—what recruits are disinclined when there are alternatives? Recruiting in talent rich central Pennsylvania needs to be a priority to be pursued by a new staff member who is known throughout the region. Another weakness is the number of team members: Having 100 plus players, the majority of whom simply stand on the sideline, just creates avoidable costs and antagonized parents. The over-abundance of bodies is distraction of limited coaching time. There should be a developmental JV schedule with the many colleges and universities in the region and there should be cuts after sophomore year, harsh, but so is the world post-GBURG.
Sixty players dressing for varsity games is more than sufficient.
The program must be streamlined, the schedule upgraded(How about Susquehanna, another venerable Lutheran college?) and creative additions
that will compete to attract recruits past Lancaster, Allentown, Baltimore and Carlisle. Examples: bring back the GBURG Bullet Logo(an incredibly distinguished rally asset; team dining during season and Spring practice; bullet
stickers on helmets for outstanding performances, coaching staff with matching O&B attire for games and practices, bonfire pep rallies, more and forthright vocal support by the college administration and faculty—there is more. Suggestions? Whatever is legal for encouraging recruits by players and alums, do it!
It’s true, football sets the tone for the school year and is modest supplement to recruitment for other sports. If the performance of the team would match that of the band, the stadium would be full, more recruits would be attracted.
No less than 500, or else.