SE Louisiana Lions 2026 Season Preview

Scelfo's Program Peaked

Frank Scelfo's 2025 was not a fluke season propped up by a soft slate, it showed up in a No. 20 power rating that belongs to a program punching well above its Southland address. A 9-4 finish with a 6-1 league mark is the kind of foundation that lets a staff turn 2026 into a step up rather than a hold-the-line year. The Lions have built real conference control, and the roster now carries the expectation of chasing a Southland title outright instead of just contending for one.

Lowe Inherits a Defense-First Team

SE Louisiana's identity next season runs through the defense that allowed just 18.0 points and 295 yards a game, ranking 7th and 6th nationally in those categories, not through an offense that finished middling by comparison. Kyle Lowe is projected to take over after throwing for 854 yards, 8 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in a backup or partial-season role, and his development matters less for explosive numbers than for simply not costing the Lions a defense-driven formula that already produced a 9-4 season. If Lowe manages the game the way the run-heavy attack (174 rushing yards per game) suggests he should, this defense is talented enough to keep SE Louisiana squarely in the Southland race.

Kyle Lowe is the projected starter after throwing for 854 yards with 8 touchdowns against 4 interceptions in relief work last season, but camp is not a formality with Tanner Murray, Casey Avrard and Conner Nelson all still in the mix. The bigger swing is replacing Carson Camp's 1,794 yards and 14 touchdowns, production that outstrips anything Lowe has proven as a full-time starter. New Mexico transfer Cole Welliver adds another arm to that competition, and whoever wins it inherits an offense that ran the ball well (174 yards per game, 32nd nationally) but was middling through the air (206 yards per game, 66th), meaning the passing rank is the number this room actually needs to move.

Deantre Jackson (586 yards, 7 TD) and Calvin Smith Jr. (413 yards, 5 TD) both return to anchor a run game that already ranked 32nd nationally in rushing yards per game, and that continuity matters more than the loss of Jaedon Henry's 430 yards. Kyree Paul adds a pass-catching element out of the backfield, giving Frank Scelfo a proven two-back rotation rather than a rebuild job. With the passing attack sitting at just 66th in yards per game, this ground crew is the engine that has to keep pushing a 31.0-point offense forward.

Kentrell Prejean's 14 catches were the top mark in this room a year ago, and that modest number says plenty about how SE Louisiana moved the ball in 2025, a 174-yard rushing attack (32nd nationally) that leaned on the ground game while the passing game settled for 206 yards per game (66th). Tristan Goodly and Dkhai Joseph each return after matching 115 and 108 yards on eight catches apiece, giving Frank Scelfo a trio of proven hands even as Jordyn Williams and Luke Besh, who combined for real production on the perimeter, are gone. The path to more explosive passing runs through unproven names like Khai Prean, Aamir Ellis and Jayden Ivory stepping into bigger roles, with Covington's Jiwaun Brock added to the mix behind them.

Lonnie Shinn's 11 catches for 143 yards outpaced Cade Collier's own solid line in the room last season, and with Collier's 16 catches and 173 yards now gone, Shinn becomes the clear veteran target at the position. Adyn Wilkinson (10 catches, 81 yards, 1 TD) gives Frank Scelfo a second reliable option, while Brant Monistere, Beau Perez and Dalton Rufini all return with the offense that ranked 32nd in rushing yards per game and 28th in yards per play. Hayden Ray arrives out of Live Oak as a high school signee, adding a fresh body to a group that otherwise leans entirely on last year's contributors.

That 174-yard rushing average and 8 sacks allowed a year ago point to a line that did its job in an offense scoring 31.0 a game, but Frank Scelfo has to replace three of the five up front with Holden Kareokowsky, Noah Devlin and Javin Turner all gone. High school signees Wesley Sandefur and Maddox Caldwell join the interior mix, though neither has snapped a college play, which puts real weight on the experienced hands still in the room to hold the identity of a group that ranked 28th nationally in yards per play. The floor here was strong enough to build on, but 2026 is about whether the pass protection, already just 87th in sacks allowed, can hold up while two new bodies work into the rotation.

Frank Scelfo's defense allowed just 4.82 yards per play and 133 rushing yards per game a year ago, numbers that kept SE Louisiana in position to win the line of scrimmage most weeks. That production walks out the door with Ahmad Bradley, Kaleb Proctor, Rowan Briggs and Joshua Randall, who combined for the bulk of the front's tackles for loss last season. Replacing that disruption falls to an experienced group in the room and whatever transfer help arrives, with the 18.0 points allowed per game standard now the bar to clear.

KK Reno's 24 tackles and lone TFL walk out the door, but the group that finished 7th in points allowed per game and 4th in sacks still has its floor intact with Jirrea Johnson Jr., Carter Hanberry and Jordan Okoye all back after modest tackle totals last fall. Kyle Cannon, Jackson Casanova and Stiles Guidry return without a statistical track record, giving Frank Scelfo bodies who already know the scheme even if none profiles as a proven every-down thumper yet. Zachary high school product Dylan Shelmire headlines the incoming names as a signee rather than a portal addition, and how fast he or Dylan Post push into the rotation will decide whether this defense keeps its rushing numbers respectable or slips from the 30th-ranked mark it posted in 2025.

Southeastern's secondary held opponents to 161 passing yards a game, 4th nationally, but the tackles column tells the real story: Ian Conerly-Goodly's 16 stops and Zach Johnson's 7 are gone, leaving Shakespeare Louis (9 tackles) as the clear holdover anchor. Jakyri Jones and Richard McKneely both logged modest snaps behind him, and neither has shown he can replace the physicality Conerly-Goodly brought to the back end. Frank Scelfo's group can still lean on scheme and the pass-defense numbers that made this unit elite in 2025, but the tackling production for 2026 has to come from Louis first and everyone else second.

Jack Hunter's leg was a weapon in 2025, averaging 40 yards on 30 punts, and he comes back to anchor a specialist group that has real continuity. Alec Mahler, who averaged 41.7 yards on 20 punts a season ago, gives Frank Scelfo two proven legs rather than one, with Guillermo Garcia Rodriguez and Drew Talley also back at placekicker for competition and insurance. The one subtraction, Guillermo Garcia, left no statistical footprint, so the drop-off from a 9-4, 6-1 league finish is more paperwork than production lost.

Kyle Lowe

Carson Camp's 1794 yards and 14 touchdowns walk out the door, leaving Kyle Lowe, who threw for 854 yards and 8 scores in his own action last season, projected to run the offense. Lowe already has a proven ground game behind him in Deantre Jackson and Calvin Smith Jr., so his job is managing the passing game rather than rebuilding it, and how quickly he tightens his 4-interception rate will decide whether SE Louisiana's offense stays as efficient as it was in 2025.

Scelfo's Cushion Problem

Frank Scelfo's team went 9-4 straight up but just 5-7 against the number, the classic sign of a program winning on talent gaps the market already knows about. Home was where bettors got paid the closest to even, 3-3 with straight-up wins in five of six, while road trips turned brutal at 2-4 against the spread despite a 4-3 record on the field. The real red flag is composure after a stumble, 0-3 against the spread the week after a loss and 0-2 against ranked competition, so any 2026 step up in schedule strength will test whether Scelfo's Lions can cover when the margin actually matters.