LEBANON, Ill. – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) announced Truman State voted to finish second during the league's 13th annual Kickoff Event.
 
The Bulldogs were selected second with one first-place vote and 57 points behind No. 1 pick Indianapolis, which took eight of the nine votes for first. Truman State was named on the Greyhounds ballot as league rules prohibit coaches voting for their university. After the top two dogs, Upper Iowa was selected third, Quincy (Ill.) fourth, and McKendree (Ill.) rounding out the top five. Six through nine were, respectively, Missouri S&T, William Jewell (Mo.), Southwest Baptist (Mo.), and Lincoln (Mo.).
 
The 2025 season marks the second for Truman State Football Head Coach Kellen Nesbitt following a rookie campaign where the Purple and White finished 8-4 overall, placed second in the GLVC at 6-2, and defeated Tiffin (Ohio), 29-10, in the America's Crossroads Bowl. 
 
"We are tremendously excited for the 2025 season to get started," said Nesbitt. "I am very pleased with the off-season commitment level of our coaching staff and players. Each season and each team is unique, and I'm excited to watch this group come together."
 
The Bulldogs return seven starters on offense with junior Dylan Hair at quarterback following 2nd-Team All-Conference debut season. Hair rushed for 529 yards on 116 attempts with four touchdowns and going 178-290 through the air for 2,360 yards and 25 touchdowns against six picks. Wide Receiver Jackson Overton, the reigning GLVC Freshman of the Year, returns after hauling in ten touchdowns in 40 receptions for 640 yards. Senior running back Denim Cook rushed for 1,122 yards, his first-career, thousand-yard campaign, scoring 12 touchdowns.
 
Trailing only Indianapolis, the Bulldogs finished second in both scoring offense (32.8 points per game) and scoring defense (20.1 points per game). The 'Dogs averaged 387.4 yards per game (3rd GLVC) limiting opponents to 305.8 yards per game (2nd GLVC). 
 
Defensively Truman State will look to replace six of 11 starters. Familiar faces on the line include Thomas Spaulding, Jacob Carmack, and Mason Crim, with Spaulding and Carmack accounting for 36 and 29 tackles in '24, respectively, and Crim bringing 14 career tackles into his senior season. Jack Weltha, a medial-redshirt in 2024 and 2nd-Team All-Conference with 32 tackles in 2023, starts at linebacker, with Connor Baxley and 26 tackles at defensive back as the fifth returning Bulldog defender.
 
Training camp for Truman State begins next week with two games on the road to open the season. The 'Dogs travel to Topeka, Kan., to square off against old MIAA foe Washburn Aug. 30 then head to Indianapolis for a Sept. 6 date at Butler. A Sept. 13 tilt against Davenport (Mich.) sees the Bulldogs open Stokes Stadium with the GLVC season opener set at Missouri S&T Sept. 20 in Rolla