Led by first-year head coach Brandon Maguire, the Ithaca College football team plans to tackle the season week by week, aiming to hold the Liberty League trophy following two years ending empty-handed.
Senior Mike Reed, the Bombers’ starting quarterback, said that winning the title is the standard of the program.
“That’s our first goal,” Reed said. “We really think that we can go as far as hosting home playoff games, and then going after a national championship. We think we have the talent and the experience and the senior leadership to do that this year.”
The Bombers will mainly rely on veterans and returning starters, such as Reed. In the Aug. 19 scrimmage, at least eight out of the 11 defensive players taking first-team reps were juniors or seniors who have started at least four career games. According to Reed, 10 offensive starters were a part of the core in 2025.
Maguire said the veterans have helped facilitate the transition to get the younger players up to the physical and mental standard.
“We had a pretty old group,” Maguire said. “They have such a strong bond because they’ve known each other. … For them it was more about getting the young guys up to speed with how things operate because they came in as just a well-oiled machine. … They know what they like. They know how to get in each other’s head. They need that healthy friction, and so the young guys are feeling that out.”
Senior defensive lineman Chris Clax, a 2025 Liberty League Honorable Mention, said the connection between his teammates has been evident in training camp.
“I think the team chemistry has been great,” Clax said. “On the vocal side of things on the field, we’ve really been able to execute and do what we need to do to get the job done when we play.”
Although Maguire controls the Bombers’ offense as the coordinator, he inherits a team with a tangible amount of defensive talent, including junior defensive back Joe Spirra, the 2025 Liberty League Defensive Player of the Year. In 2025, the Bombers allowed on average just 14.9 points a game, 2.6 in front of second-place Rochester Polytechnic Institute of Technology .
Although the team transitions from a primarily defense-minded head coach, former head coach Michael Toerper who departed for a position at Cornell University, to an offense-oriented head coach, Maguire, the team has a strong returning staff to lean on.
“I think it gets lost that I was a defensive coach,” Maguire said. “There is a level of toughness and physicality that we want to instill. … From a defensive standpoint, you keep the whole structure pretty much the same, and [first-year defensive coordinator Will] Margraff came up in that same tree that Coach Toerper did.”
Clax said there is little to adjust to in terms of coaching staff role changes.
“With our defense, we’re kind of in a pod when we’re in practice,” Clax said. “Obviously, the talks may be a little bit different, but not in a way that really messes with how our team flows and what we have to do to get things done. Maguire’s been a great coach for us right now. He’s filled the spot well, and I think he’s going to continue to do that.”
The Bombers’ offense also has the advantage of continuity from 2025. Reed, who started the final three games following the benching of former Bombers quarterback Matthew Parker, is anticipated to return as quarterback one. Reed formally contributed on special teams and took snaps as a wide receiver, but this offseason and training camp, Reed got to devote all of his energy to being the team’s primary playcaller.
“Getting the QB reps gets me in the flow of the game,” Reed said. “Each practice we get better with reps and connecting with receivers, learning the playbook and how to read and go against different defenses.”
Maguire said that every snap at quarterback Reed has gotten with the first-team is just more experience he did not get in the first half of 2025.
“He’s seeing the field better, and I think it’s going to be super beneficial for this group,” Maguire said. “He’s just such a weapon with his legs. He’s leading really well, and the arm has gotten even stronger. So accuracy’s been there.”
Reed said chemistry with his wide receivers and offensive linemen has been “brewing since the spring” and recognized a few of his wide receivers slated to make a large impact: Seniors Nicholas Lang and Nick Matos, junior Tian Murray and sophomores Nicholas Herskowitz and Tyler Sanders.
On the ground, the Bombers will look for a combined effort from Reed’s legs and 2025 leading rusher and All-Liberty League second team junior running back, Chris Scully.
Earning a Liberty League title will require the team to clean up for all four quarters of football, Maguire said. Maguire also said the conference is full of unknowns, but the Bombers must not worry about other teams.
“[University of] Rochester’s been getting a lot better, they damn near got us last year,” Maguire said. “St. Lawrence [University] gave us a hell of a time up there, and then you add them into the Union [College], [Rochester Polytechnic Institute of Technology] and Hobart [College] mixture, and it’s something that you got to be super worried about. And then you got a new staff over [at Buffalo State] and a new staff over at Hilbert [College].”
Clax said the Bombers will carry throughout the season, looking ahead week-by-week and adjusting as needed. Clax also said that while the general fan excitement is around the 67th Cortaca Jug Game at Yankee Stadium on Nov. 14, the team cannot stray away from the opponent directly in front of them.
“Every day people talk about Cortaca when you know we’re on a different week,” Clax said. “So it can be difficult at times. … I think just knowing that we haven’t won a Liberty League in the past two years, what we need to do and the majority of our team hasn’t had an experience … [holding] the trophy [will help us].”