BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University coaches and players took part in the annual football media day Sunday afternoon at Provost Umphrey Stadium. The day began with the 2026 team photo taken in the stadium followed by head coach Pete Rossomando's beginning of the year press conference. Following the press conference, the media interviewed request players.
 
The Cardinals are coming off a single-season, school-record tying win total last year (as a four-year institution) as Lamar advanced to the NCAA FCS Playoffs for the second time in program history and the first since 2018. Last year also marked the second consecutive season that Lamar landed in the national rankings and the first time in program history that it ended a season ranked in the STATS Perform FCS Top 25 Poll (24^th).
 
The Cardinals will enter 2026 ranked 20^th in the same preseason poll and return 11 starters and 32 letterwinners from last year's team. While that may not seem like a large number, in this new day and age of the transfer portal it has become the rule and not the exception.
 
The Cardinals do return a starter at quarterback – Aiden McCown (6-2, 205, Jr.) – to go along with Andrew Huff (6-2, 230, Sr.) who has been named to several preseason All-America teams and is a member of the 2026 Buck Buchanan Award watch list – an award given annually to the FCS defensive player of the year.
 
Lamar has one more week of preseason camp before entering official game-week preparation for the 2026 season opener against Abilene Christian. LU's season opener will kick off Saturday, Aug. 29^th at Provost Umphrey Stadium at 6 p.m.
 
"This is a really good schedule," said head coach Pete Rossomando. "When you start out with Abilene Christian, the team you played at the end of last year, that game certainly didn't go well for us but this is a great opportunity for us to have them down here at our place and maybe have an opportunity to even the score. They are well coached and they have great players and I think we do too so it will be a case of who can play the best and who can manage the conditions the best."
 
Season and single-game tickets are still available through the LU Ticket Office, (409) 880-8329 or by logging on to www.LamarCardinals.com/BuyTickets.