Just over two months had passed since the disappointing ending to the 2022 season when the members of the University of New Haven football team gathered together to get back to work.

While there are some familiar names and faces among the Chargers taking part in the lifting sessions, there are some talented newcomers who will give the 2023 Chargers a different look.

Once again, graduate transfers have found their way to the New Haven campus with the hopes of leading the Chargers to their first national title.

"I think the goal right now is to win a national championship," said former UMass linebacker Tanner Davis. "I've only been here a week and a half and we are already building the culture."

In recent seasons, New Haven has been among the Division leaders in the number of graduate students on its football roster and this year it will be no different.

"Right now we are at 27 [grad students] and we could be at 30-35 when we hit the fall," New Haven coach Chris Pincince said. "We can show that we have had success and those kids have had success when they come here, all-league, kids getting Master's Degrees. I think that part has been good and us winning football games has helped as well.

"Walking through the new building [the state-of-the-art Peterson Performance Center], seeing the commitment and seeing what we have done up to this point. A lot of these guys are helping us continue to take the next step, continue to win a championship in our league, push forward in the playoffs and ultimately our goal is to win a national championship. These kids understand that, they see the building and it is hard to say no."

Quarterback Connor Degenhardt (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy), receivers Terrell Ford (Tonawanda, N.Y./Kenmore West) and Dev Holmes (Troy, N.Y./Troy), linebackers Damon Burton Jr. (Rochester, N.Y./Aquinas Institute) and David Onyemem (Dracut, Mass./Central Catholic), defensive end Jack Quander (Gainsville, Va./Patriot), as well as offensive linemen Xavier Bryson (Mechanicsville, Va./Hanover / Fork Union Military Acad.) and John Thomas (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar), were among the graduate students who played elsewhere during their undergraduate days. They were among the key players in the three-point loss to Shepherd in the first round of the Division II playoffs.

Seeing Shepherd follow that win with two more victories to reach the national semifinals only increased the motivation of the returning players and the new arrivals.

"It is motivation or it gets you upset depending on how you look at it," Pincince said. "The bottom line is that every year is a new year, new faces, a new roster. We did a good thing the last couple of years getting to the first round, the second round, and we played against some quality teams. You watch them [Shepherd] play in the next round, you watch them play in the Final Four and is on ESPN and you know that we weren't that far away but we have to start over again."

The Chargers added key players on defense, offense and on special teams.

Burton and Quander return to lead the defense that has some holes to fill. Davis and former Stony Brook linebacker Chris Campbell will join Burton at the second level of the defense.

Burton has been happy to be a sounding board for the new arrivals.

"He told me that everybody on the team is cool people and whatever I can bring to the table is what I want to do," Campbell said. "I want to affect a game, to be able to change a program. We want rings so that is what I want to bring here."

Fellow linebacker Matt Moss comes in from SUNY Brockport while the secondary will be aided by the arrivals of Nazaiah Paul from Monroe Junior College and Jahkeel Reef, who has made stops at Buffalo and Alabama A&M.

"Everybody tells me that the defense is dominant here and in a lot of the games, the defense pulled a lot of the weight and that is so much fun to be a part of," Reef said.

Reef is friends with former New Haven defensive back Shawn Tafe and also had conversations with New Haven coaches when he was in the transfer portal after deciding to leave Buffalo.

This time around, he made the decision to become a member of the Chargers.

Having the Peterson Performance Center to walk through on his visit didn't hurt.

"That is a big thing that got me here. I am not big on facilities, but when you add a facility like that, you really can envision that there is no limit to the things that you can accomplish. Coming from FBS, honestly at Buffalo, we don't have a facility like this. They might have some of the same equipment, but to actually have a facility like that right here on campus, not everybody has it and that is definitely at the Division I level. Anything you need, you can achieve here.

There is no reason why we can't all grow as athletes and have a chance to play at the next level."

Receivers Isaiah Allen, Troy Holland and Hassan Smith come in from West Chester, Sacred Heart and Lock Haven. Quarterback Josh Zamot transferred in from Stony Brook and lineman Pearson Hayes-Woodruff arrives from Stonehill. The deep group of returning running backs will be helped by the addition of Robert Moreland from East Coast Prep.

New Haven attempted just one field goal in the last nine games and that could change with Josh Hamel coming in from American International College. Hamel, who hails from New Hartford, had seven field goals last season with two of them coming against the Chargers.

Davis might not be a Connecticut native. However, his dad Joe was a receiver for the Chargers' teams in the early 1990s which played in back-to-back NCAA tournaments.

"He always said that coming here for his four years, it changed his life and everything he has built from his life came from here," Davis said. I have been coming to games here since I was 4-5 years old."

While his father has been coming to games over the last few years. It has been harder for the younger Davis to make it to games when he was playing on Saturdays in college.

Davis let in some of his father's former UNH teammates about his decision to finish his collegiate career at his dad's alma mater before letting his father in on the good news.

"When I told him, the smile on his face was priceless," Davis said.

Davis played in some big-time environments during his time at UMass.

In a conference where a crowd of 1,500 is a big deal, the Chargers topped 4,000 in attendance twice last season.

"Being at UMass I played at some of the biggest stadiums in the country," Davis said. "I played at Texas A&M, I played at Florida State so I have been in those big-time games so being in those environments, I feel like coming here, they have one of the best game-day environments in the country. You see the tailgating, the band, you have a lot of people who come to these game, the culture here, the alumni base I feel like it is one of the best and they care about football here."

Getting Passing Grades

Some of the key departures from the 2022 season are still hoping to play some football.

Degenhardt, Onyemem, Ford and defensive back Khyon Fitzpatrick (Union, N.J./Paramus Catholic) are hoping to get a chance to play professionally.

The 6-foot-6 Degenhardt has had some strong showings. He threw for nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns in the Tropical Bowl.