St. Thomas football: Great expectations even though it's only Year 2 in Division I

It's easy to look at St. Thomas football coach Glenn Caruso and think he was a natural fit to take one of the biggest leaps in college football history and compete immediately.

He exudes curiosity and confidence, two traits that seem well-suited to what the Tommies accomplished last season — going from the NCAA Division III MIAC to the Division I Pioneer Football League and finishing one game out of first place.

But at a recent media day, Caruso leaned forward in his chair and said with a smile that the biggest harbinger of the team's whiplash success was something he didn't foresee — the leadership of a bunch of fourth- and fifth-year seniors who came to the team to play small college football.

"I had no idea going in ... how important, crucial, culture is in a transition," he said.

That culture is thriving.

The Tommies, who open their season Thursday night at Southern Utah, finished 7-3 last year, didn't lose a home game and return 20 starters to a roster that is experienced and amped to get back on the field. They go from unknown curiosity in 2021 to being picked third in the conference preseason coaches poll in 2022.

They also have to grapple with the 12-month swing from trying to do something unprecedented to succeeding wildly, and the expectations that come with it.

"We can't control what the outsiders say or where they rank us in the polls or who they think is going to win or that sort of stuff," fifth-year senior safety Luke Glenna said. "We control how hard we work in practice, how much film we watch, how we build that brotherhood in the locker room."

It is not every year that a football team is trying to maintain control in a vortex of change and Glenna is a nice example.

The Edina native is a soulful leader on defense, a ballhawk who led the team in tackles last season with 65 while grabbing four interceptions and two fumble recoveries. He was recently named to the preseason all-Pioneer Football League team.

The Tommies don't make the transition to Division I as easily without veteran leaders like him, but if he were a high school senior this year, he may not be recruited by the team.

"I think about some of the guys that played for us last year, they were recruited in the Division III days and they were able to work themselves to a position where because they were a fourth- or fifth-year senior, they were able to hold onto a very high level of play," Caruso said. "Luke Glenna, case in point, was one of those.

"Would I necessarily go back and recruit Luke Glenna today out of high school? ... I don't want to say I wouldn't, but maybe not."

Joining Glenna on the preseason all-PFL team were senior offensive lineman Matt Weimann, sophomore running back Hope Adebayo, sophomore linebacker Luke Herzog and junior punter Kolby Gartner.

Adebayo, of Inver Grove Heights, would seem to embody the new guard of Tommies athletes. He was the PFL's Freshman Offensive Player of the Year last season after rushing for 693 yards and 12 touchdowns in 10 games.

But he is entering his third season with the program and said he notices a difference in the journey it took him to acclimate to this level of play and the speed with which younger players are grasping concepts.

"Things that it took me probably a year and a half to pick up on, guys are picking up in a week," Adebayo said. "It's hard not to wonder, 'What's the difference here?' "

How the influx of young talent to a veteran roster plays out will take shape over the course of a season where the Tommies get to showcase the best their new league has to offer at O'Shaughnessy Stadium.

The two teams that finished ahead of them in the PFL standings last season — Davidson and San Diego — will travel to St. Paul for marquee conference matchups.

For Caruso and his players, there's energy that comes from building the rivalries, gathering the data of their new conference, and showing themselves and their fans what the team is capable of.

"There have been fans that asked me, 'What's San Diego like? What's Davidson like?' I say they're really good, really good, tremendously talented, really well coached and they've been doing this Division I thing for like 40 years," Caruso said. "They're a little ahead of us right now, but you'll get a chance to see them this year and that's amazing."

A little ahead feels about right. In one year, the unknown underdogs of Division I football are in the more familiar role of preseason contender. Everyone in the locker room is ready to see if their culture can handle another transition.

"Whether we're a good team or not, I don't know, time will tell," Caruso said. "But I am certain that we're not going to sneak up on anyone this year."