By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Elon was voted to finish sixth in Coastal Athletic Association football in the preseason coaches’ poll released Wednesday, while Phoenix cornerback Caleb Curtain was voted as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
Villanova was dubbed the preseason favorite, receiving nine first-place votes among the conference’s 16 coaches. The next four teams in the poll are Richmond, Albany, William & Mary, and Delaware. Villanova, Richmond and Albany shared the 2023 league title.
Of the teams ahead of Elon in the poll, the Phoenix face Richmond, Albany, and William & Mary, with the latter two on the road.
Also, Campbell is at No. 11 and North Carolina is at No. 14, and Elon meets both those teams in November.
Curtain, a junior from Greensboro, was a preseason all-conference choice at safety. He led Elon with 80 tackles last season and topped the CAA with four interceptions.
Elon’s Chandler Brayboy is the team’s other preseason All-CAA selection, taking two spots on the list. He was named at receiver and kick returner.
Quarterback Matthew Downing and defensive lineman Cazeem Moore of Elon are on the honorable mention list.
Elon opens the season at 7:30 p.m. August 30 at Duke and goes back to Durham for a 6:00 p.m. September game at 7:00 at North Carolina Central before the home opener at 6:00 p.m. September 14 vs. Western Carolina.
Captains named
On Tuesday, Elon revealed its captains for the season. They are Brayboy, Curtain, Downing, offensive lineman Kevin Burkett, defensive lineman Josh Johnson, center Jabril Williams and defensive back Dylan Tucker.
New staff on board
Earlier this month, Elon announced the additions of Akeen Dent as assistant defensive line coach and Chris Schultz as offensive and special teams assistant.
Dent was an All-Southeastern Conference player at Georgia before playing for the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans.
Last year, Schultz was defensive line coach at Walsh after previous stops on staffs at Savannah State, North Carolina Central, Florida International, Catawba and Bluefield. He was a student assistant in 2010 and 2011 at North Carolina.
In February, Elon welcomed new defensive line coach Joe Perri.
