After winning the final five games of the 2023 season, the football program now enters a new era under new leadership.

 At the end of last season, former head coach Keith Otterbein retired after 22 seasons with the program, making room for offensive coordinator Nate Shreffler ’93 to take the reins as head coach. Shreffler worked as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator for 13 years.

“I felt like I was ready for the promotion, because I got to learn from one of the best to ever do it,” Shreffler said. “Coach Otterbein ran this program as well as anyone could, and to have a front row seat to that was a huge blessing. It feels like I got a graduate degree in coaching football from my experience with him.”

After a disappointing 1-5 start to the 2023 season, Hillsdale bounced back, finishing their season at 6-5. Star running back Michael Herzog was then drafted by the Montreal Alouettes in the 2024 Canadian Football League draft.

Despite the changes to the team roster and coaching staff, the Chargers start this season the same as they did in 2023, with a fourth place ranking in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference coaches poll. Additionally, fifth year senior and recently-named captain Logan VanEnkevort returns to the team. He tallied 585 all-purpose yards last year. 

“It’s been a really exciting start to the year so far,” VanEnkevort said. “Having Coach Shreffler in here brings a bit of new energy and it’s just exciting.”

Hillsdale also returns four of their five starting linemen, including senior twins Ben and Nick Affholter at center and right guard. Quarterbacks coach Brad Otterbein ’10  is faced with choosing between four different quarterbacks for the starting lineup, including sophomore Cole Canter, who transferred from Wayne State University at the start of the spring semester. 

“I think the quarterback situation is going to be tough,” VanEnkevort said. “Coach Bo [Otterbein] is going to have a hard decision to make come gameday, and I think that’s a great problem to have when you have a quarterback room that can sling it.”

Wide receivers for the Chargers will be VanEnkevort, sophomore Shea Ruddy, and sophomore Jonathan Metzger, both of whom played in 10 games as freshmen, while junior running back Kyle Riffel will fill the place of Herzog. 

Defensively, Hillsdale returns many strong starters from last season, including sophomore linebacker Jacob Vance, who led the team in tackles last season with 54, along with two sacks. Defensive tackles Zachary Tokie and Hunter Sperling are expected to anchor the defensive line, as they combined for 55 total tackles last year.

“We gave up way too many points in the beginning of the year last season,” Tokie said. “We are much more experienced this year since pretty much everybody is coming back on the defensive side. But we simply can’t give up as many points as we did early on.”

The Chargers will have a tough start to their schedule this year, starting their season at home against #16 Indianapolis on Sept. 7 at 6 p.m. They then head up north to face the Michigan Technological University Huskies in Houghton, Michigan, the following week. 

“The players have bought in from the beginning of camp and have responded to their coaches as well as I could have asked,” Shreffler said. “At the end of the day it’s all about getting better each and every day.”