By Allison Dobson, Volunteer Writer

Mary Hardin-Baylor football spent last November celebrating a share of the ASC championship, then watched the league’s automatic playoff bid go to co-champion Hardin-Simmons on a point-differential tiebreaker. That gap between “champion” and “playoff team” is exactly what this year’s Crusaders are chasing down.

The Bells met with all three architects of the program – offensive coordinator Stephen Lee, defensive coordinator Mark Carey, and head coach Larry Harmon –and one word kept surfacing before wins, losses or schemes: chemistry.

“It’s about meshing the two groups of returners with the groups of the newcomers,” Lee said, comparing the process to watering one bush more than the others until it grows. This offseason, that extra water went to the offensive line, where UMHB added transfer tackles and a wave of freshmen after what Lee called “a definite need” up front last spring.

At quarterback, redshirt Carson Horton has emerged as the front-runner, though Lee stressed the job is still open. “He’s kind of the captain of the ship,” Lee said. “You don’t want that guy to be the wrong guy.” Leadership elsewhere on offense is coming from right guard Kyle Willingham, a slot receiver Lee called “little BJ,” and, notably, Coach Harmon’s own son at center.

Defensively, the Crusaders return their identity intact. Senior linebacker Gavin Brzezinski  headlines the unit as its captain, with junior defensive lineman Gage Sanders tabbed as the next face of a line UMHB has built its reputation on for decades. “Our defense better be our strong side, that’s my job!,” Carey said, before adding that complementary football, not rivalry between units, is what actually wins games.

Harmon offered the fullest picture of what this season demands. UMHB doesn’t get a traditional fall camp, so this year’s live scrimmage came after just ten practices, the first six spent in acclimatization gear before players were cleared for full contact. “We’re a long ways away from being a championship team right now,” Harmon admitted, though he praised how his players fought back after a rough first half.

Much of that fight, Harmon said, traces back to the program’s Unity Council, a player-elected leadership group that splits the roster into smaller accountability pods each spring. He called this year’s group “probably the best we’ve had since 2021,” the year UMHB won it all.

The road there won’t be easy. UMHB opens with three straight non-conference road tests before conference play even begins, and Harmon didn’t blink when asked which game matters most: Hardin-Simmons, the rival that’s claimed a share of nearly every ASC title over the past three decades.

Everything is business for Harmon, it’s not about atmosphere or rivalry theater. “What’s fun for me is just seeing your team develop and get better,” he said. For the Crusaders, that development starts now, with a long season and one clear goal: turning “co-champion” into “playoff team.”