The 2026 Valley City State Vikings football team represents Valley City State University in the Frontier Conference during the 2026 NAIA football season. The team is led by 30th-year head coach Dennis McCulloch and plays its home games at Dacotah Bank Field at Lokken Stadium in Valley City, North Dakota.
Offseason
Incoming transfers Over the off-season, Valley City State added 10 players from the transfer portal and junior college levels.
NamePos.HeightWeightHometownYearPrev. school Kenneth Thompson OL 6'3" 280 Milwaukee, WI Junior Concordia University Wisconsin Barrett Luce OL 6'4" 310 Omaha, NE Junior Wayne State College Ryan French TE 6'3" 220 Lansing, KS Junior William Jewell College Michael Cardonita WR 6'3" 190 Melrose, NM Sophomore New Mexico Military Institute CJ Merritt Jr DB 6'3" 175 Minneapolis, MN Sophomore Mesabi Range College Christopher Rapozo K 6'1" 225 Kapaa, HI Junior Feather River College Gunner Cortez QB 6'0" 210 Mesquite, NV Sophomore Utah Tech University Jonathan Hunter RB 6'1" 180 Bargersville, IN Sophomore University of Indianapolis Michael Douglas Jr RB 5'11" 190 Blaine, MN Junior North Dakota State College of Science Jeremiah Truitt DB 6'0" 180 Omaha, NE Junior Winona State University
Incoming freshman Over the offseason, Valley City State added 37 players from the high school levelhttps://vcsuvikings.com/news/2026/2/2/viking-football-announces-32-signees-on-national-signing-day.aspxhttps://vcsuvikings.com/news/2026/3/30/football-viking-football-announces-an-additional-24-signees.aspx
Name Pos. Height Weight Hometown Year Previous school Landon Ralph OL 6'2" 230 Wahpeton, ND Freshman Wahpeton High School Tanon Johnson LB 6'0" 200 Kindred, ND Freshman Kindred High School Tucker Jones DL 6'0" 200 Verona, ND Freshman LaMoure High School Naz Fisher RB 5'9" 200 Grand Forks, ND Freshman Grand Forks Central High School Sawyer Hope-Audet WR 6'3" 200 Caldwell, ID Freshman Caldwell High School Berkley Frantz WR 6'0" 170 Wishek, ND Freshman Wishek Public School Nixon Buchmiller WR 5'11" 180 Harvey, ND Freshman Harvey High School Micah Tostenson DL 6'1" 195 Twin Brooks, SD Freshman Milbank High School Wyatt Sugg LB 5'10" 185 Glasgow, MT Freshman Glasgow High School Oliver Melin DL 6'4" 240 Trail, MN Freshman Red Lake County Central High School Andres Good OL 5'11" 225 Minot, ND Freshman Minot North High School Tayveon Russell DB 6'0" 170 El Paso, TX Freshman Chapin High School Gabe Whipple QB 6'1" 170 Kindred, ND Freshman Kindred High School Phillip Pogue DL 6'0" 205 Colorado Springs, CO Freshman Harrison High School Charlie Yon LB 5'11" 190 Thompson, ND Freshman Thompson Public School Brayden Medeiros QB 6'0" 210 Kapolei, HI Freshman James Campbell High School Champ Colburn WR 5'8" 150 Aiea, HI Freshman Aiea High School Tevis Vogl OL 6'1" 260 Fromberg, MT Freshman Laurel High School Zyree Shannon-Terrell DB 6'1" 260 Minneapolis, MN Freshman Robbinsdale Armstrong High School Pono Momoe OL 6'2" 290 Ewa Beach, HI Freshman James Campbell High School Canon Betts WR 5'9" 170 Rochester, WA Freshman Olympia High School Jeffrey Yoder TE 6'2" 190 Lewiston, ID Freshman Lewiston High School Mason Jordan OL 6'1" 240 Liberty, TX Freshman Liberty High School Wyatt Campbell LB 5'10" 160 Bottineau, ND Freshman Bottineau High School Landen Solberg WR 6'3" 175 Bottineau, ND Freshman Bottineau High School Landen Miotke DL 6'2" 225 Whitehall, MT Freshman Whitehall High School Michael Putnam WR 6'1" 170 North Pole, AK Freshman North Pole High School Sean Ucciardi LB 6'1" 215 Kailua, HI Freshman Kalaheo High School Conner Guss WR 6'3" 180 Bottineau, ND Freshman Bottineau High School PJ Levao LB 5'11" 220 Anchorage, AK Freshman Robert Service High School Cort Larsen OL 6'2" 245 Olympia, WA Freshman Capital High School Brayden Nayes LS 5'7" 160 West Fargo, ND Freshman Horace High School Anton Perales RB 5'6" 180 Manvel, ND Freshman Grand Forks Red River High School Cassidy Phillip DB 5'11" 170 Anchorage, AK Freshman Robert Service High School Noah Ault DB 5'8" 170 Juneau, AK Freshman Juneau-Douglas High School Tootooalii Malaesilia DL 6'2" 310 Anchorage, AK Freshman Robert Service High School Victor Brown DB 5'11" 175 Kent, OH Freshman Field High School Chidubem Ozoagu OL 6'2" 265 Cerritos, CA Freshman Cerritos High School Titan Figueroa WR 5'8" 145 Aiea, HI Freshman Waipahu High School Thomas Sumers K 5'10" 175 Northville, SD Freshman Faulkton High School Solomon Harris DB 5'11" 155 Bakersfield, CA Freshman West High School Brooklan Bruce DB 5'11" 175 Grand Forks, ND Freshman Grand Forks Central High School Coaching staff changes
Departures Jahidi West Graduate assistant (Defensive backs) / Special teams coordinator Southern Oregon Linebackers coach
Additions Trent Finney Graduate assistant (Defensive backs) Valley City State Student assistant / former tight end
Preseason Victory Sports Network preview On July 21, 2026, Victory Sports Network released its preseason preview of the Frontier Conference East Division, projecting Valley City State to finish third behind Montana Tech and Dakota State.
+ 2026 Victory Sports Network East Division preseason prediction 1 2 Dakota State 3 Valley City State 4 5 6 7
Frontier Conference coaches poll The Frontier Conference released its 2026 East Division football coaches' preseason poll on August 18, 2026. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams.https://fcsports.org/news/2026/8/18/montana-tech-tops-2026-frontier-conference-east-division-football-coaches-preseason-poll.aspx
+ 2026 Frontier Conference East Division preseason coaches poll 1 36 6 2 Dakota State 31 1 3 23 — 4 22 — 5 Valley City State 17 — 6 12 — 7 6 —
Schedule
Personnel Coaching staff Dennis McCulloch – Head Coach / Defensive Backs (33rd season) Gregg Horner – Defensive Coordinator / Linebackers (33rd season) Dustin Yorek – Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks and Wide Receivers (8th season) Brandon Bouma – Recruiting Coordinator / Running Backs / Tight Ends / Kickers (10th season) Raynor Beierle – Offensive Line (2nd season) Leon Smith – Offensive Graduate Assistant / Tight Ends (2nd season) Trent Finney – Defensive Graduate Assistant / Defensive Backs (1st season) Nate Pecoraro – Defensive Line (6th season) Trent Kosel – Offensive Assistant (5th season) Dave Rausch – Defensive Assistant (40th season)
Roster
Postseason awards
References