Gardner-Webb’s new coaching staff brings an offensive blueprint that has produced at a high level in the Division II ranks. Now comes the challenge of translating it to the FCS level.
With head coach Kris McCullough, offensive coordinator Kenneth Hrncir and co-coordinator Brayle Brown arriving from highly productive stops, the expectation is clear: points, yards and explosive plays.
But while the scheme is proven, the personnel still will have to come together.
👉 READ MORE: Gardner-Webb announces new assistant coaching hires
QB Stability, Depth Provide Foundation
The 2026 roster posted on Gardner-Webb’s official web site shows enviable depth at the quarterback position.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs began spring drills with nine signal callers in the fold, including redshirt senior Cole Pennington, a Marshall transfer who played in 10 games a year ago. It’s reasonable to project the starting job is his to lose.
Pennington completed 126 of 208 passes (60.6%) for 1,601 yards, 7 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, averaging 160.1 yards per game. He split time with Nate Hampton, who threw for 1,245 yards and 10 touchdowns – leaving Pennington as the clear returning leader at the position.
Former South Carolina prep standout Finley Polk, who signed with the previous coaching staff in 2025, will be one to watch as well.
A 3-star recruit out of Northwestern High School (Rock Hill, S.C.), Polk threw for nearly 10,000 yards and 121 touchdowns in his prep career, including a 3,700-yard, 46-touchdown senior season. He remained with Gardner-Webb through the coaching change, a sign of both stability and belief in the program’s direction.
Gardner-Webb signed three quarterbacks with its 2026 signing day class: local favorite Lan Farmer (Shelby HS), Jared Doolittle (Riverside CC in California) and Joey Gaston (Peddie School in New Jersey). Other QBs on the roster include Ty Powell (Southeast Raleigh), Famous Wilson (North Pitt HS), Ben Mauney (Burns HS) and Jessie Easton (Adair County HS in Kentucky).
The depth is impressive, but with a more aggressive system expected under Hrncir, Gardner-Webb will need someone to step in and deliver more explosive plays through the air in 2026.
Spring Ball is right around the corner!
We will host our Junior Day the day of our Spring Game on April 11th.
We welcome all 2027s to come and check us out!
Register using the QR code in the graphic. #FAMILLY #SkoDawgs pic.twitter.com/fc8m5Csd7d — Gardner-Webb Football (@GWUFootball) February 22, 2026
Runnin’ Game Returns Key Piece
The Runnin’ Bulldogs rushing attack was a two-headed monster last season, featuring a pair of first-team all-conference picks. Quasean Holmes gobbled up the most yards (969, 5 TDs), while Carson Gresock provided a bullish counter-punch with an eye for the end zone (798 yards, 14 scores).
Gresock, a redshirt senior from Columbus, OH, is set to return. He averaged 6.7 yards per carry in 2025 and enjoyed a four-touchdown game against Lindenwood. The Bulldogs should be able to lean on his experience as the new system gets established (1,001 total rushing yards, 19 TDs over two seasons).
Transfer running back Adrian Cormier followed coach McCullough from UT Permian Basin and will bring explosiveness to the position. He rushed for 662 yards in two seasons at FCS Weber State before joining UTPB in 2025 (182 yards, 2 TDs across 11 games).
Marshall transfer Randy Young also has great quickness, the coach said. “He will be tough to catch when he breaks into the open field.”
GWU also added former (Raleigh) Cardinal Gibbons running back Noah Terry in its latest signing class. Terry gained 877 yards and scored 14 touchdowns for the top seed from the NCHSAA 7A playoffs.
With Gresock back and multiple capable options behind him, the run game gives Gardner-Webb another reliable foundation — especially early in the season as the passing game develops.
Wide Receiver Room Could Determine Ceiling
McCullough loaded up on playmaking wide receivers on national signing day, inking six from the transfer portal and adding three more high school standouts. Gardner-Webb’s roster lists 19 wideouts in all, but the top two from a season ago — Chris Lofton and Anthony Lowe — are gone. Lofton transferred to App State.
Two of the high school signees played for nearby state championship programs –Lorenzo Roseboro (Shelby) and Michael Edwards (Crest). Brian Green Jr. comes in from Georgia Southern, while others hail from D2 and FCS programs.
The top returning receivers are senior Jabre Bevineau, who caught 12 passes for 180 yards in 2025, and redshirt junior Adopte Giovanni (10 catches, 132 yards).
The bodies are there. But until a go-to target emerges, this group remains the biggest variable in how quickly the offense can take off.
Offensive Line: Major Retooling Likely
The Bulldogs’ biggest challenge may come in the trenches. Gardner-Webb put four linemen on the OVC/Big South all-conference list last season – second-teamers Andrew Threatt and Aaron McIver, and honorable mention picks Luke Rector and CJ Dawson.
None are on the GWU spring roster. Threatt and McIver transferred to Western Carolina. Rector joined former head coach Cris Reisert at Toledo.
Rebuilding the unit will be paramount. Gardner-Webb signed just one O-lineman from the 2026 high school class but did add five from the transfer portal. The roster lists 20 offensive lineman, including nine juniors and seniors, so that is a positive.
No position group may matter more. If the line comes together quickly, the offense has a chance to function at a high level, and Gardner-Webb fans could see a lot of points on the scoreboard.
New Offensive Minds, Proven Blueprint — Now the Pieces Have to Fit
The Runnin’ Bulldogs return a veteran quarterback, a proven running back and bring in a coaching staff with a track record of producing points and yardage.
Hrncir served as McCullough’s OC last season at UT Permian Basin (11-3 record), and his unit led the nation in passing yards (4,622) and averaged more than 37 points per game. Co-offensive coordinator Brown worked with top-10 Division II offenses at Northern State and CSU Pueblo, including a unit that averaged more than 40 points per contest in 2024.
GWU has pieces in place to make an immediate splash. But with major turnover at receiver and along the offensive line, the timeline becomes the biggest question.
Bottom line: If the pieces come together quickly, Gardner-Webb could contend again in the OVC/Big South. If not, this may be a unit that has to go through some growing pains in 2026.
Road tests loom in early part of season
Gardner-Webb will have more than a month to fine-tune its offense before conference games show up on the schedule.
The Bulldogs will open at Austin Peay on Thursday, Aug. 27, then will play Wofford, Liberty, North Carolina Central and Wofford before the annual North-South BBQ Bowl game against Charleston Southern. All but the NCCU game will come on the road, so much of the learning curve will have come in hostile stadiums.
But the blueprint is there, and that is promising for a program that has started to view winning records and conference championship contending as a reasonable expectation.
👉 View the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ complete 2026 football schedule along with 2025 results.
👉 FCS Transfer Tracker: Player movement into and out of North Carolina FCS programs.
