Another offseason has come and gone, and the calendar has turned the page for August which means players have reported back to campus for the start of preseason camp. It also means LamarCardinals.com will once again be posting its annual position-by-position breakdown leading up to the team’s season opener Saturday, Aug. 30th at North Texas.
Today LamarCardinals.com will break down the LU quarterbacks.
QB Quick Facts:
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 1/1
Starters Returning/Lost: 1/0
Newcomers: 2
Stats: The Cardinals completed better than 52 percent of their passes (163-of-311) for 2,119 yards and 20 touchdowns last season with nine interceptions. Big Red averaged 176.6 yards passing per game (a number that was reduced in large part to the fact that LU boasted of the Southland’s leading rusher in 2024).
Key Player: Robert Coleman – a returning starter who is back for his third year with the program. During his career, Coleman has made 22 starts completing 288-of-511 (.564) passes for 3,703 yards and 31 touchdowns. He has also carried the ball 180 times for 433 yards and seven touchdowns. Coleman has become a rarity in the sport – in all college sports, really – during this age of the transfer portal. Coleman has become the exception to the rule.
The Storyline
When Lamar University hosted its 2024 Senior Day game it was under the belief that they were saying good-bye to the two-year starter, but thanks to another quarterback in the Southeastern Conference, a rule was handed out by the NCAA giving all junior college transfers another year of eligibility in an attempt to avoid antitrust violation related to a player’s “four-year clock” and their ability to benefit from Name, Image and Likeness. With that being said, Lamar enters fall camp with a third-year starter behind center.
What does Lamar have returning in Coleman? Only one of the school’s all-time top 10 quarterbacks in terms of career completions, passing yards and touchdowns. Even more important that that is the fact that Coleman returned to camp with 22 career starts under his belt. The Cardinals are also the only Southland school who has a third-year starter returning at the position.
In his first season in Beaumont, the California native guided the Cardinals to the nation’s fourth-best FCS single-season turnaround. Last year, Coleman led a charge to LU’s first-ever spot in the FCS Top 25 polls and orchestrated the Cards’ second consecutive winning season – just the first back-to-back winning records for the Red and White since 1966 and 1967.
Behind Coleman, I’m not going to lie, the experience level drops off. The Cardinals enter fall camp with five quarterbacks on roster a senior, a sophomore, a redshirt freshman and two true freshmen.
Of that group, Aiden McCown has the next highest level of experience. He is entering his third year with the program under head coach Rossomando, albeit, with a new position coach. Although McCown has not yet taken a snap in a game, he was a highly regarded prospect coming out of high school and has the football bloodlines to go with it. A three-star prospect coming out of Rusk High School, and the son of NFL veteran, Josh McCown, Aiden has grown up around the game. He has forgotten more about the sport than most will ever know. He knows the game, he knows how to play the game and most importantly he knows what expected of him from Rossomando.
Lumberton native Lucas Powell is entering his second season after redshirting 2024 while newcomer Julian Salazar is a true freshman on the roster. Salazar comes to Beaumont from Clear Springs High School where he was a three-star prospect. He threw for nearly 3,500 yards and 25 touchdowns during his prep career and also has the ability to do damage with his feet rushing for 559 yards and 12 touchdowns. Local product, Ty Bryson (Hamshire-Fannett HS) also brings his talents to LU after leading the Longhorns to a district title in 2024. A 6-1, 180-pound freshman, Bryson was also a candidate for the Willie Ray Smith Award.
Another newcomer to look at for the 2025 season is Lamar’s new quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, Ryan McCarthy. A former NCAA Division I head coach and conference coach of the year, McCarthy has made a name for himself in producing big-time offensives. McCarthy followed Rossomando as head coach at Central Connecticut State where he continued to build on the program that Rossomando started getting the Blue Devils back in the national rankings and the FCS playoffs.
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