Mount Union coach Geoff Dartt holds high expectations

With 18 of 22 starters returning from last year’s national semifinal squad, Mount Union’s football team should once again be a big player on the national stage in 2022.

The Purple Raiders won a 32nd Ohio Athletic Conference crown last year and finished 13-1 overall under head coach Jeff Dartt.

Dartt, who returns one of the most talented D3 teams in the country, was the guest speaker at the Alliance Kiwanis Club luncheon Thursday at the Alliance YWCA. His hopes are to see Mount Union win a 14th D3 national title this autumn.

“We did have a good season (in 2021) — we were 13-1 and made it to the (national) semifinals, but at Mount Union our standard and expectation is to be a national champion,” said Dartt, who was a player on three of the Purple Raiders’ 13 previous national title teams (2002, 2005 and 2006).

Dartt knows the pressure to win national championships at Mount Union comes with the territory of leading the greatest program in the history of D3 college football.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I didn’t want to play anywhere else and I sure as heck don’t want to be the head coach anywhere else without having that (national title) pressure on,” said Dartt. “But even on top of that, when you follow coaches like Larry and Vince Kehres, the pressure is even greater on a daily basis.”

Dartt, a 2008 Mount Union graduate, is in his third year as the Purple Raiders’ head coach. He was a UMU assistant for seven years prior to that, including five as the team's offensive coordinator. After graduating from Mount Union, Dartt was an assistant coach at Wheaton College and Western Kentucky before returning to coach at his alma mater.

His 2022 Purple Raiders are extremely talented and should be right in the mix with fellow national powers such as defending D3 national champion Mary Hardin-Baylor, as well as Wisconsin-Whitewater and North Central (Ill.), which eliminated the Purple Raiders 26-13 in a national semifinal last season.

Turning to this season, Dartt, a native of Port Clinton, explained the team did all the right things to prepare in the offseason, led by their 2022 team captains.

“At the end of spring, we voted for our five captains and I thought the guys did a great job of deciding who the captains were,” he remarked.

The captains include junior quarterback Braxton Plunk (Plant City, Fla.), junior running back DeAndre Parker (Crystal River, Fla.), senior wide receiver Wayne Ruby (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), junior linebacker Mason McMillen (Wadsworth, Ohio) and senior defensive lineman Matt Lilja (Ashtabula, Ohio).

“Wayne Ruby may be the best wide receiver in the country,” said Dartt. “They (the returning starters) are very, very talented — we have a great recruiting class coming in and the guys really worked hard this offseason.’

The Mount Union mentor stated this was the first full offseason he’s had for the team since he became head coach.

“This was the first true offseason (due to COVID-19) that we’ve had since 2019,” he stated. “It started back on Jan. 10, we were in the weight room for the first eight weeks, went on Spring Break, came back in two weeks and then had 16 practice opportunities for spring ball. They truly attacked the offseason.”

Dartt loves the fact that a large percentage of Mount Union’s assistant coaches were former Purple Raiders players who understand the high expectations that exist every year.

“We have a great staff,” he said. “The unique thing about our staff, based on the experiences they’ve had as well, is that every one of them but one played football at Mount Union, so that helps honestly from a teaching and coaching standpoint. They are coaching the positions they played at a high level.”

Dartt explained exactly what Mount Union is looking for when they recruit players from throughout the nation.

“When we bring somebody into our football program, they obviously love football, they are serious about their academics and have good character, but ultimately we want them to choose Mount Union to become a part of something bigger than themselves,” he explained. “We want them to allow themselves to be coached, allow themselves to be developed, and then they can become the best version of themselves in the classroom, on the football field, but most importantly, prepared for life after Mount Union.”

That philosophy has worked to perfection as the school has produced 123 consensus All-Americans and sent several players on to the National Football League.

The Purple Raiders open the 2022 season Saturday, Sept. 3 at 1:30 p.m., against a new opponent, the Defiance Yellow Jackets, at newly-named Kehres Stadium.

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Mount Union football coach Geoff Dartt holds high expectations