Graduate student Isaac Schaffer-Neitz, senior CJ Newman, graduate student Aidan Mack, and senior Mick O'Malley are serving as captains of the 2026 Muhlenberg football team.

Schaffer-Neitz, also a medal-winning sprinter on the Mule track and field team, is in his fourth season as a running back. He has averaged 5.3 yards on 113 carries during his career, scoring eight touchdowns. Schaffer-Neitz had his best season in 2025, finishing third on the team in rushing yards (443) and second in rushing touchdowns (7). He also caught a two-point conversion pass and made 10 tackles on special teams.

Newman started at linebacker for the entire 2025 season and finished third on the Mules with 57 total tackles, including 34 solos. He recorded 7 tackles, among them a sack and half tackle for loss, in Muhlenberg's NCAA Tournament win vs. Union, and intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter of the regular-season finale against Dickinson. Newman enters his senior season with 82 career tackles, including 7 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks, to go along with 3 pass breakups and a pair of forced fumbles.

Mack is in his third season with the Mules after transferring from Bucknell. He transferred from tight end to wide receiver last fall and wound up finishing third on the team in receptions (26) and receiving yards (327). Mack tied for second on Muhlenberg with 5 receiving touchdowns, including a pair in the NCAA Tournament win vs. Union. He recorded his first career 100-yard game with four catches for 101 yards at Gettysburg.

O'Malley saw minimal varsity playing time in his first two seasons but emerged as a team leader after a 2025 campaign in which he played in all 12 games as a regular member of the defensive line rotation. He recorded 11 tackles, including 6 solos, and recorded tackles for loss in wins against Moravian and McDaniel. O'Malley also served as a shield blocker on Muhlenberg's punt team.

Muhlenberg is coming off a season in which it went 9-3, earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, and received votes in the final 2025 poll. The Mules' three losses were to two teams who were ranked in the top five all season (Johns Hopkins and Mount Union) and by one point on the road to Centennial Conference champion Franklin & Marshall.

The Mules, who are slated to open their season on Saturday, September 5, with a non-conference game at Moravian, have posted 15 straight seasons with at least seven wins, compiling a tremendous 133-39 (.773) record during that span, and received votes in the Division III preason poll.