Richmond coach Russ Huesman worked this season with roster of 83, significant smaller than other CAA teams.
DANIEL SANGJIB MIN/TIMES-DISPATCH
University of Richmond coach Russ Huesman said his program will hold tryouts in January for UR students interested in playing football as the Spiders explore ways to grow their roster size.
Depth is always a significant concern at a relatively small private school that draws few walk-ons due to attendance costs, Title IX considerations and other factors. But the Spiders became particularly thin this season, primarily because of injuries. A total of eight players, only three on offense (each an offensive lineman), started every game.
In frustration, Huesman raised a question a couple of days after UR lost 28-9 to Maine on Nov. 10. He considered that UR’s top three wide receivers and top two tight ends did not play because they were hurt.
“How does that happen?” said the Spiders’ second-year coach.
Richmond finished 4-7 (2-6 CAA), its first losing season since 2011.
Huesman, Chattanooga’s coach for eight years prior to his arrival at UR, identified this season’s injury situation as the worst he encountered as a head coach.
It began in August, when Xavier Goodall, the Spiders’ finest ball carrier, suffered a knee injury in a noncontact drill. Goodall missed the entire season. In the third game, UR’s best receiver, Dejon Brissett, injured his foot and missed the rest of the year.
As the season progressed, several other Spiders were lost because of physical issues. “Decimated” was the word Huesman used to describe his offensive personnel late in the year.
UR’s top two quarterbacks, Kevin Johnson and Joe Mancuso, each missed games because of concussions.
“The continuity that you try to develop during the week, ‘Well, you may have him,’ [so] how do you game plan? ‘Well, you don’t have him,’” said Huesman. “Or it’s, ‘You do have him, but he hasn’t practiced.’ It’s not an excuse. I think we’ve had chances.”
Huesman then reviewed some of the pivotal turnovers that sunk the Spiders in various games. Among 124 FCS teams, UR ranked No. 107 in turnover margin (minus-9). In CAA competition, Richmond finished last with a turnover margin of minus-14. No other league team had a turnover margin worse than minus-5 in CAA play.
“We couldn’t overcome a lot of that stuff,” Huesman said.
Correcting the turnover problem will be an offseason priority. Huesman sounded confident that will be fixed. But how does Richmond avoid again being dragged down by injuries?
Grow the roster to build more depth is one approach. Richmond worked with a roster of 83. James Madison had 114 players. New Hampshire had 102 players. Delaware had 120. William & Mary had 94.
The 2008 FCS championship Spiders had only 87 players, but that group stayed healthy, for the most part.
Lack of depth and roster-size challenges were serious concerns of former Richmond coach Danny Rocco, who left the Spiders following the 2016 season for Delaware, a CAA member.
