Wheeling, W. Va. – When the final whistle blew on November 15th in West Liberty, West Virginia, Wheeling University Head Football Coach Zac Bruney and his staff began preparations for the 2026 season. On Friday, those preparations will start to materialize when the Wheeling University Football team reports for their 2026 fall camp. In total, 145 student-athletes will make their way to Wheeling, West Virginia, as they look to continue to propel the program toward the top of the Mountain East Conference (MEC).
"We're in year nine as a program, and we're getting there," said Bryne. "We are doing a good job, our staff is working extremely hard and we are having a very good offseason. We feel like we are as capable as anyone, but our 'ship' before a championship comes from leadership, ownership, and relationships. So before we can talk about any championships we had to talk about our three other ships this fall."
In their eighth season on the field, the Cardinals put together one of their strongest performances yet in 2025, going 6-5 overall and 5-3 in MEC play. They finished in a tie for third in the MEC standings, the program's highest conference finish in a full season, and they battled through adversity early on. After dropping each of their first two games of the season, the Cardinals would go 4-1 over their next five games, including a 35-28 MEC-opening win over Fairmont State, that got their momentum rolling. As they entered the final week of October, the Cardinals were sitting at 3-1 in MEC play, and sat in a tie atop the conference standings. A loss to Frostburg State would knock them down to third, but back-to-back wins against Concord and Glenville State had them in position to compete for a conference championship with some help from the top teams. Wheeling would score 67 points in their season finale against West Liberty, setting a new program record, but it wasn't enough as the Cardinals would fall 68-67, bringing their overall record to 6-5 and 5-3 in conference play.
Throughout the off-season, Bruney and his staff worked hard on the recruiting trail, splitting their recruiting between talented true freshmen and experienced transfer portal pieces. In the end, the Cardinals brought in a recruiting class of just over 60 players to add to last year's talent. Along with the additions to the roster, the Cardinals coaching staff also has a new look on both defense and special teams. The new leader of the defensive unit is Arthur Smith III, who was promoted in his third year on the coaching staff. Smith has previously served as the team's Special Teams Coordinator and Linebackers coach, where he helped former Cardinal Jefferson Bretanys-Desca break the single-season tackles record. Smith will be leading the Defensive Backs this season, and in his place will step Brandon Robinson, who returns to the Cardinals after a four-year stint as the Head Coach at Bethany College. Robinson was a part of the Cardinals' original coaching staff in 2018 & 2019, serving as the Co-Offensive Coordinator, Recruiting Coordinator, and Wide Receivers Coach. The final full-time addition to Coach Bruney's staff is Troy James, who will serve as the team's Defensive Line Coach and Academic Coordinator.
When the Cardinals report on Friday, it will kick off their ninth season on the field, and 10th overall as a program. After going through their move-in checklist over the first two days, the Cardinals will take the field for the first time on Sunday, August 2nd for their first NCAA DII allowable practice. For the first few days, the Cardinals will be in just helmets, before transitioning to shoulder pads later in the week. The team's first fully padded practice wraps up the opening week of action on Friday and will resume for the rest of the month. When the Cardinals report, it will mark 29 days until their 2026 season opener against Thomas More on August 29th. As they go through their fall camp, Bruney wants the team to develop its identity, both as a unit and as individuals, while also getting their basic install taken care of.
"I think the main thing is just coming together quickly and getting your routine down," said Bruney. "It's going to be new for a lot of the first-year guys, so we are going to rely on the veteran guys to lead the dance and teach some of the younger guys that this is how we do things. And then we want to collectively from our identity. The identity of your team starts to form in the offseason, but there are some new guys joining that fray so you have to kind of reconfigure that identity with the older guys all the way through your younger guys."
The Wheeling University Football team reports for their 2026 Fall Camp on Friday, July 31st, with the first official practice taking place on Sunday, August 2nd.
