2025 ODU Season Preview - Defense

By David Asbury

Tackle Machines
The Old Dominion Monarchs will play football this month and the defense will have a tough task in stopping the Indiana Hoosier's offense.  The defense is working hard in the Summer heat to prepare and sixth-year defensive coordinator Blake Seiler will have this unit ready.  There is a reason why Seiler is still at ODU after so many years.  His defenses have been pretty good overall in a bend-but-don't-break kind of way.  They have generally allowed yards but not points.  

By the numbers, Seiler has sported a good Sun Belt defense.  In points per Sun Belt Conference game, his defenses have ranked 8th in 2024 (28.6), 4th in 2023 (25.6), and 7th in 2022 (26.1) in the conference.   These numbers are pretty average for the conference.  But this year, Seiler may have the best defensive roster in his tenure.  The corner position looks improved, while the linebacker position is the best it may have ever been.  This should be a year where the defense produces.

Defensive line
The defensive line will have turnover from last year's unit with three top guys transferring out.  Defensive end Amorie Morrison transferred to UAB, defensive tackle Denzel Lowry transferred to Louisville and Jaylon White-McClain transferred to Cincinnati.  But do not panic.  The staff felt that these departures are not a huge deal because a lot of talent is also returning.  The star of the bunch should be defensive end Kris Trinidad, who started all twelve games and led the team in sacks last year with 5.5.  In fact, he had a game-winning strip-sack against Georgia State last season.  There's a reason Rahne picked him to represent ODU at Sun Belt media days. 

Kris Trinidad celebrates a good defensive play with a teammate against Virginia Tech. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

But he's not the only talent returning.  DeAndre Lynch, Chris Spencer, Ricardo Williams and Cole Daniels join Kris as experienced guys ready to take on bigger roles in 2025.  Lynch played in nine games last season and did a great job plugging up the middle.  Meanwhile, Spencer has a lot less experience, playing in only seven games in the last three years, but this could be his breakout season and the staff believe he will. Williams played in all twelve games last season and will likely split reps with Lynch to ensure the interior is fresh and unmovable. Cole Daniels has played in 20 games in his 2 years at ODU and has shown to be a steadying force up the middle especially against the run.

JuCo products Javen "Gus" Gibson and Fred Giles have been making noise in fall camp and bring a lot of athleticism to the edge role. Ahmaad Foster, Lorenzo McFadden-Pessley, Idrissa Kamara and Chris Forbes are a handful that represent the returning underclassmen who should continue to develop behind these talented starters. As for freshman, we were left impressed by Hunter Malecki and LeDarrion Menter. Both could push for playing time as true freshman, adding more depth to a talented group.

Lynch (90, now 9) had limited time last year, but his potential is very very high. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

Linebackers
All of the 2024 starters are back! Those returning include defensive captain Koa Naotala, as well as veterans Mario Thompson, and Jahleel Culbreath.  These three starters were three of ODU's top-four tacklers in 2024.  Koa's brother Seth also returns to add depth which is needed for this unit because the system allows them to make a lot of tackles.   This linebacker corps would be considered the best in the Sun Belt by just having the 2024 returners back.

This is the best linebacker group ODU has ever had. Expect them to make every tackle. Photos courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

But the craziest part is that a 2023 starter is returning from injury.  That's right.  The 2023 Preseason SBC Defensive Player of the Year and ODU's all-time leading tackler is returning.  Jason Henderson.  He suffered an injury against Georgia State in 2023 and redshirted 2024, after playing in the season opener.  If he is back to form then this is not just the best Sun Belt linebacker group, but one of the best in all of college football.  Since 2021, Henderson has 427 tackles, which is 150 shy of Troy's Carlton Martial's record of 577.  Henderson has made more than 150 tackles in a season twice before in '22 and '23.  Watch to see if gets close or takes the record late in the season.  But frankly, with so many other tacklers, it actually may be difficult to do.  Part of the reason he had so many tackles was because the defense was on the field for a long time giving him more opportunities to make tackles.  He could miss the record just because the defense is better than it was and is on the field less than before due to Old Dominion (likely) having a more effective offense.

If you're looking for some new names to keep an eye on at linebacker, look out for Keshawn Thomas, Jed Olotu-Judah, Justin Kalitsnik and Jackson Forrest. Keshawn is an extremely athletic product who joins the Monarchs from the JuCo ranks. Jed is making the move from safety to LB this season and has impressed in camp. The latter two are freshman that have continued to impress as camp has progressed.

And before we move on, we'd be remiss to not mention Jeremy Mack Jr. His teammates all gassed him up in fall camp. He is an effective special teamer (he was 2nd in special teams tackles in 2024) with good athleticism and versatility. Coach Rahne credited him for his spatial awareness, which allows him to take full use of that versatility and leads to him being able to play both safety and linebacker. He was recently voted team captain as well.

Cornerbacks
Starting cornerback Angelo Rankin ran out of eligibility while the other starting cornerback Rasheed Reason transferred to East Carolina.  This means both outside corner positions will be new.  One of the spots is locked up by Purdue-transfer Botros "Boat" Alisandro. Boat played in eleven games for the Boilermakers making 32 tackles and three pass breakups.  Early reports are this is one of the best transfer players the Monarchs have ever had. There is a competition for the other corner position.  Rising underclassmen Jorian “JoJo” Haynes, Brandon Crutchfield and Zion Frink are all competing for the spot.  After spring ball, it seemed like Crutchfield had the edge to win the job.  But Haynes and Frink have continued to push to win it for themselves. It'll be interesting to see who gets the nod in game 1 and track how long they can hold off the others as the season progresses. 

Crutchfield (25, now 5) played a lot on special teams last season. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

Safeties
Star safety Jahron Manning transferred to Miss. State to get a big NIL paycheck.  Manning did the right thing last year and played the season out when he didn't have to.  Meanwhile, the other two safeties Will Jones and Patrick Smith-Young both transferred to North Texas.  For the second season year in a row, ODU is forced to reload the entire secondary.  But they did it well last season, so they can do it again this year. Thus far, safeties with the first unit were rising underclassmen Mario Easterly and Jerome Carter, along with Nickendre Stiger (K-State transfer).  During fall camp, Easterly discussed his move from the “free” safety to the more mobile “king” safety this season.  He appeared in all twelve games last year, making seven starts and registered 43 tackles, two pass breakups and a blocked punt.  Expect him to be a leader and do even more this season.
Easterly made his career-best eight tackles in the win over Texas State. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

JuCo All-American Lucas Struck and underclassmen Daevon Iles, Jordan Saunders and Ryan Ramey all should see the field either as reserves or on special teams. Lucas Struck is a tackle machine, Iles and Saunders both had significant playing time last year and Ramey played a ton as a true freshman in 2023. All 4 add depth to this position group.  Now, it would be a big ask for any of these players to match Jahron Mannings' production from last year by themselves but as a group they are capable of making a bigger impact than last year's safeties and can lead to this defense becoming one of Sun Belt Championship quality.

Defense Overall
Last season, the defense played very well early in the season.  Then struggled with injuries, leading to some porous play against the top quarterbacks of the conference including JMU's Alonza Barnett and Marshall's Braylon Braxton.  Specifically, the ODU defense has routinely struggled against running quarterbacks.  Overall, the Monarchs allowed 28.6 points per conference game (8th in SBC), and allowed 413 yards per conference game (10th in SBC).  The D was better against the rush (6th in SBC) than against the pass (13th in SBC).  We need the defense to improve as a whole against the pass to reach their Sun Belt Title expectations. With Henderson and so much of the linebackers back, the team should improve these numbers significantly.  Expect a much better Seiler-led defense in 2025.