Will Strong returns to lead Tipp’s receiving corps. He recently committed to play at Illinois State. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie McMaken Wright)
Matt Burgbacher’s Red Devils are experienced, explosive and aware of what it takes to excel. And if they forget, which they won’t, there are signs strategically placed to remind them what it feels like to fall painfully short of their goals.
Dayton, OH – When Tippecanoe football players enter the locker and weight rooms, they are reminded why offseason work requires their best efforts, how nothing is a given, and where they want to go.
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They see the signs. They can’t miss the signs.
Matt Burgbacher, head coach of the Red Devils since 2019, chose signs as a reminder to learn from history, not repeat it. On the other side of those doorways, players get an eyeful of this: “Tipp 14, St. Mary’s 16.“
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“We walk in and see it every day, and I’ve noticed something in this offseason where we’re pushing even harder and working even harder to get better,” junior quarterback Larkin Thomas said Wednesday during a 7-on-7 event at Chaminade Julienne High School.
“It makes everybody real mad,” senior linebacker Collin Issac said. “Everybody just shakes their head and gets all annoyed with it.”
That score serves as a humbling reminder of November 8 when the top-seeded Red Devils’ 11-0 season ended 11-1. They remember the two empty trips to the red zone in the third quarter. They remember the inability to stop St. Mary’s ball-control offense in the fourth quarter. They remember the 25-yard field goal with 11 seconds left.
And what they can’t forget is how hollow they felt. How devastating it was to lose to the No. 8 seed in the second round of the Division III playoffs when so much more was their expectation.
Tipp coach Matt Burgbacher is working his team hard this summer, pushing them to not forget what it feels like to exit the playoffs far short of their goals.
“We had a little bit of cockiness, I’d say, going into that game last year, and that bit us in the butt,” Thomas said. “It’s definitely going to be motivation.”
Burgbacher didn’t hang the signs to rub his team’s noses in the stench of that loss. He saw how the loss hurt, so he wanted to help them remember what is required to reach the goal of a much deeper run in the playoffs.
“It’s just that subtle reminder for when you want to take a day off and take it easy, that’s the days you have to press, that’s the days we’ve got to keep going,” Burgbacher said. “It goes back to anything can happen, especially when you get in the playoffs and you play good teams.”
Teams are permitted 21 summer practice days. This year the Red Devils will be on the field more than in past years. They agree more time together and more reps will prepare them better for the start of August practice. But they also agree that taking off the final 10 days of July to reset, like they did last year, will also help them.
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“It gives you a break from a lot of the stress of pushing yourself every day,” senior running back Xavier Melton said. “I also think it’s really good just to be able to escape and spend time with your family.”
Then, on August 1, the Tipp football family will reconvene with much to prove to themselves. Their wealth of experience – for a change – could lead them to the kind of season when they won the regional title in 2022 and played in the state semifinals.
Max Deckard hauls in a Larkin Thomas pass for a touchdown.
The Red Devils were at CJ to take part in the Miami Valley Football Coaches Association Social Justice 7 on 7. These scrimmages are helmets only and are designed to work on the passing game. And the Red Devils are never afraid to throw the football. They’ve led the Miami Valley League in passing yards the past three seasons.
Their experience begins with Thomas, who threw for 2,679 yards (223.3 per game), completed 68.5% of his passes, and had a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 38 to 7. He’s grown an inch to 5-foot-11 and Mid-American Conference schools are noticing.
Burgbacher sees Thomas pressing at times, feeling the pressure of duplicating last season.
“Then we get back down to reality and he realizes, ‘Hey, I got playmakers out there. It’s just my job to get the ball to them,’” Burgbacher said. “You’re a two-year starter on an experienced football team, just go be Larkin.”
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Twelve months ago Thomas didn’t know for sure he would be the starter, so as the season progressed, he grew into the leadership role required of every quarterback. He sees talent around him and chemistry being refined in the hot summer laboratory.
“I’ve learned more about leadership and just getting the team together and building our chemistry because we’re a we, not a me, team,” he said. “The guys listen to me more because they trust me now.”
Junior Cade Havill will be one of quarterback Larkin Thomas’ weapons as the H-back.
Thomas lost his main target from last year in Jackson Davis who caught 73 passes and 20 touchdowns. But he isn’t worried because of the emergence of senior Will Strong, who just committed to Illinois State, which returned the FCS playoffs last year for the first time since 2019.
Strong caught two touchdowns against St. Mary’s and finished with 36 catches and seven touchdowns. He’s 6-foot with sprinter’s speed and the ability to outjump defenders. At the state Division I track and field meet this year, Strong placed seventh in the 100 meters, eighth in the 200 and 11th in the long jump.
“He’s just a freak of nature – the kid was made in a lab it seems,” Thomas said. “He’s quick, he can catch everything, his routes are good, he understands where to be, when to be there.”
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When the Red Devils aren’t throwing the ball 20-plus times a game to Strong, returning junior H-back Cade Havill and some new starters, the bulk of the carries will go to Melton. He was fifth in the MVL last season with 900 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. He wants to be more involved in the passing game this season even if it’s mostly short passes when Thomas doesn’t have a receiver open downfield. But running behind an experienced offensive line led by returning starters Jeffrey Martin, Mason Dungan and Cal Connors, will be Melton’s most important task.
Senior Evan Cooper stops a Chaminade Julienne receiver during Wednesday’s 7-on-7 scrimmage.
“I expect nothing but the best for myself because this is my last year, and it’s something I’m really trying to embrace,” he said. “It’s one of the hardest things for me to think that a year from now, I’m not going to be doing this.”
The defense has returning starters in Isaac, senior defensive backs Max Deckard, Jackson Robbins and Micah Pyles-Dodds. Isaac led the team with 153 tackles.
“A lot of speed and we got a lot of big guys up front, so it’s going to be a little different for everybody, because normally our D line’s on the smaller side,” Isaac said. “So just expect a lot of power coming from the front seven and then a lot of speed from the back four.”
Put it all the pieces together and Isaac sees the signs of a good football team.
“With offense we got a lot of guys coming back that know everything about our playbook and know exactly how to execute it,” he said. “We run a pretty simple defense, but it tricks a lot of other teams up and makes them think a lot more because we move our D ends around, and our safeties are always moving around. We just got a lot of talent everywhere that can help us out.”
And, for perspective when needed, players will be reminded what is required of their talent when they see the head coach’s signs: “Tipp 14, St. Mary’s 16.”
Senior running back Xavier Melton will lead Tipp’s ground game and hopes to be a bigger part of the passing game.
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