New faces aplenty as Tops open spring practice
Published 11:13 am Tuesday, March 10, 2026
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Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Head Coach Tyson Helton speaks about the upcoming football season during a Football Media Day press conference at Harbaugh Club in Houchens-Smith Stadium on Friday, July 25, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS (Grace McDowell)
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Western Kentucky redshirt freshman quarterback Rodney Tisdale Jr. (16) runs the ball for a touchdown in the Hilltoppers’ 42-26 win over the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders in WKU’s final home game of the regular season at Houchens-Smith Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
Western Kentucky football coach Tyson Helton doesn’t need to hand out name tags at Tuesday’s first day of spring practice – probably – but it might be a helpful touch for many associated with the program.
The Hilltoppers, entering their eighth season with Helton leading the team, feature what has become the customary roster turnover in the days of the NCAA transfer portal. Losses were heavy from last season’s 9-4 squad that capped the year with a 27-16 win against Southern Miss in the New Orleans Bowl – the team’s seventh straight bowl appearance under Helton – due mostly to graduations and transfers.
“A lot of new faces – I think we’re close to 60% of the team that will be new which is kind of the new norm, I think, for college football,” Helton said Monday. “But excited about our guys. They’ve had really good winter workouts and good team camaraderie, a lot of good competition. So we’ll get the pads on and see what we’ve got over these next couple weeks. But looking forward to it – also got a lot of new coaches as well. Those guys are doing good, excited to let those guys work with the players.
“A lot of question marks, a lot of things we’ve got to get done but excited to get started.”
The spring practice period wraps up with the Red & White Spring Showcase on April 11 at Houchens-Smith Stadium.
NEW LEADERSHIP
Helton had some significant changes at the top of his coaching staff, with Davis Merritt taking over as the sole defensive coordinator after serving as co-DC with Da’Von Brown last season. Brown left after the season to become co-defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach at Cal.
“I really felt like Davis did a quality job along with Da’Von Brown,” Helton said. “Both those guys were really good coordinators for us last year. I was pleased with them, so Davis was kind of the obvious choice for me to take the sole role at this time.”
Merrit, who will continue to coach inside linebackers, is entering his fourth season on Helton’s staff at WKU. The Hilltoppers finished the 2025 regular season second in the league in scoring defense, allowing just 23.4 points per game. WKU had the second-best pass defense efficiency in the conference in at 113.9, and was second in the league in passing yards allowed at just 221.4 per game. WKU had the second-best third down defense in the conference, allowing opponents to convert just 35.3% of the time, and the best fourth down conversion defense, allowing opponents to convert just 32.1% of the time. The fourth down defense ranked sixth nationally.
WKU allowed the second-fewest first downs per game in CUSA in 2025 – 20.4 per game. The Hilltoppers were strong in the red zone defensively, allowing opponents to score touchdowns just 34.7% of the time once reaching the red zone, the third-best mark nationally.
The Tops will also have a new leader on the other side of the ball after offensive coordinator Rick Bowie departed to take the same job at UTSA. Helton hired former MTSU offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Bodie Reeder for the same role at WKU, and also promoted offensive line coach Joe Bernardi to co-OC this coming season.
Reeder coached a Middle Tennessee offense that finished second in CUSA the past two years in passing offense, behind only WKU. In 2025, the Blue Raiders averaged 266.1 yards per game through the air.
“I like what he does,” Helton said of Reeder. “We’re going to always do what we do here and I’ll be a part of the offense, but I like Bodie and some of the things he brings to the table for us.”
Bernardi, in his second season at WKU, helped produce the top scoring offense in CUSA at 29.5 points per game. The Hilltoppers ranked third in the league in sacks allowed and were first in passing at 272.2 yards per game, despite replacing four starters along the offensive line from the 2024 season.
SCHEDULE IN FLUX
Like the rest of Conference USA, WKU’s league schedule still has not been set due to uncertainty about Louisiana Tech’s impending departure for the Sun Belt Conference. LA Tech wants to make that move for the 2026 season, but faces stiff exit fees from CUSA for leaving early. Now Louisiana Tech has taken the league to court to try and leave without paying that penalty.
With LA Tech’s status for the coming season unclear, CUSA has delayed releasing the conference schedule.
“It’s very liquid,” Helton said. “For me it’s easy just because, hey, you play the schedule you’re handed. But there has been multiple conversations about — you know, we have weekday games and what that might look like.”
For now, the Tops know their first four games, with the first three on the road – at Nevada (Sept. 5), at Georgia (Sept. 12) and at defending national champion Indiana (Sept. 19) before hosting their first home game against Mercyhurst on Sept. 26.
WKU will have only five home games at Houchens-Smith Stadium this season.
QB COMPETITION
Last season, the Hilltoppers had a strong idea of who would be the starting quarterback heading into the season opener. Maverick McIvor, an accomplished transfer from FCS-level Abilene Christian, followed Bowie when he took the job as the program’s new offensive coordinator.
But when McIvor got injured in an Oct. 14 home loss to FIU, redshirt freshman Rodney Tisdale Jr. stepped in and led the team to three straight wins before competitive losses at LSU (13-10) and at Jacksonville State (37-34). Tisdale got dinged up in the New Orleans Bowl win and McIvor come on in relief to lead the team to the win, earning game MVP honors.
Tisdale did enough to merit serious consideration as the incumbent starter with more of a track record of sustained success than former WKU quarterback Caden Veltkamp, who burst on the scene at the end of the 2023 season with a jaw-dropping relief performance to lead the Tops to a 38-35 overtime win against Old Dominion in the Famous Toastery Bowl.
That was Veltkamp’s first real game experience, and Helton elected to bring in veteran transfer TJ Finley to compete for the starting QB job the following year. Finley won competition, but went down with an injury in the third game of the season. Veltkamp finished out a strong 2024 season, then transferred to South Florida.
Tisdale will face a similar situation, with Florida State transfer Brock Glenn joining the program. Glenn played in 16 games with seven starts over three years with the Seminoles, including the 2023 ACC Championship Game and the Orange Bowl.
Helton said Tisdale has a natural advantage going into his third season at WKU, but the QB competition will continue through the fall.
“You have a young veteran guy coming back in Rodney, who’s talented, who’s still developing and growing and he’s come a long way through winter workouts,” Helton said. “Then you have another transfer in Brock – he has started some games at Florida State and had some successes. A rising tide lifts all boats and competition brings out the best in everybody.
“I think this is a long process as opposed to let’s just get through spring and pick a quarterback.”
About Jeff Nations
Sports Editor, Bowling Green Daily News
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