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CEDAR RAPIDS The goalposts are pointing in the right way. There are blocking sleds in position.
Now is the official start of Mount Mercy University’s football season.
We’re ecstatic, A day before the Mustangs took to the field at Hadzic Field within the Robert W. Plaster Athletic Complex, MD Daniels stated on Saturday.
Following their move into their new residences on the Mount Mercy campus, Daniels had his first team meeting on Sunday night. When he and his helpers teach the players how we practice, he hopes that more than 60 guys will be watching.
Showtime is on Monday.
“We can get started right away and begin developing these guys,” he said.
Mondays are filled with firsts. Most high school football teams are able to begin practicing for the first time. This also applies to cross-country, girls’ swimming, and high school volleyball.
However, this is the first football practice ever held on the Mount Mercy campus, making it a historic first for the institution. Daniels, 35, was Mount Mercy’s first football coach.
He was the wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator at Bethel University in Tennessee before moving to Cedar Rapids a few months ago. From 2020 to the spring of 2023, he was also Iowa Wesleyan’s head football coach.
This will not be the first season of football, even if it is the first practice for the original Mustang football team. Grinnell will play Mount Mercy in a scrimmage on August 24 at noon. Additionally, it will travel to Clarke (October 5) and Simpson (September 7) for scrimmages.
They will also be significant, historic occasions. But at Cedar Rapids University, this autumn is all about preparing for 2026, when football actually starts.
Daniels stated, “It’s setting up really good for us.”
63 players from all over the United States are listed on the Mount Mercy website, including those from Texas and California as well as Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Georgia, and Alabama.
Naturally, there are many from Iowa, some of which are from Eastern Iowa. West Union (North Fayette Valley)’s James Baumler, Cascade’s Cody Beecher, Solon’s Tyler Bell, North Liberty (Liberty)’s Daiavion Burrell, Central City’s Braxton Davis, Mount Vernon’s Dom Kocher, West’s Jalyn Ford, Iowa City’s Jostin Vega and Mack Kuyu, Marion’s Coda Johnson, Washington’s Alex Cain, Jefferson’s Daythan Ehlert, Prairie, and Cedar Rapids’ Brady Marak (Alburnett).
Bell, Eash, Knoxville’s Brenden Woosley, and Bay City, Texas’ Alex Estrada are the team’s four quarterbacks.
Greetings from your very first Mount Mercy football squad.
“This class has a lot of talent,” Daniels said. They get to participate in a brand-new football program, which many people have found quite appealing.
They desired to be a part of an initiative that prioritizes them.
According to Daniels, this season will focus mostly on instruction and determining the precise requirements for formally launching the program in 2026. Do he require additional defensive tackles? Additional running backs? More experts?
He anticipates an even larger class in 2026 and will soon find out.
“The past five or six months have been such a whirlwind,” Daniels remarked. All I’m ready to do is coach football.
It’s that time of year again, people, whether you like it or not. With the Cyclones less than two weeks away from their season opening in Ireland, Iowa, Iowa State, and UNI are hosting media days. From NFL training camps to preseason games on television to high schools starting a new season with great expectations, it’s time to go.
Are you prepared?
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