RB Ky’Ron Craggette wants to be Seton Hill football's 'No. 1' option after breakthrough season

When Dan Day took over as football coach at Seton Hill in 2019, he inherited a program that had mostly struggled since its inception in 2005. The former Griffins offensive lineman wanted to do everything possible to create a winning culture.

One of the ideas Day and his staff hatched was to make jersey No. 1 special. Rather than let it be chosen by a player, Day held back the jersey and instead awarded it to the player he and his assistants felt best represented the qualities upon which the program would be built: talent, hard work, dedication, leadership.

On and off the field.

“It has become something guys have talked about and really want,” Day said. “They kind of want to separate themselves and do whatever they can to get that No. 1 jersey. So it’s kind of a special thing for our program.”

The past two seasons, the jersey was awarded to linebacker Jaylen McDuffie (2022) and defensive lineman Dioh Desuah (2023). Those turned out to be good choices because both men wound up earning PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Year honors.

Of course, being an offensive guy, Day wouldn’t mind seeing someone from the other side of the ball earn the No. 1 jersey. He just might have that player in rising junior running back Ky’Ron Craggette.

The Connellsville graduate is coming off a breakout season during which he rushed for 810 yards (5.4 per carry) and nine touchdowns. He also caught 17 passes for 119 yards and a score on his way to first-team All-PSAC West honors.

More importantly, he helped the Griffins achieve their first winning season in the PSAC West (4-3) and their first overall winning record (6-5) since 2008. Craggette was at his best down the stretch.

The Griffins finished 2023 with four consecutive wins, the first three against PSAC West competition. Over those four games — IUP, Edinboro, Mercyhurst and Millersville — Craggette carried 52 times for 419 yards and five touchdowns. He also had his lone receiving touchdown during that stretch.

That came against IUP in what could be considered the program’s most important win. Craggette rushed for 143 yards and had three total TDs (two rushing in addition to his receiving score). And on what proved to be the winning drive, he ran 28 yards on a third-and-28.

He gained 7 more yards on the next play and, after a penalty on Seton Hill, quarterback Hayden Teska and receiver Cody Rubrecht, both Greensburg Salem grads, connected for a 35-yard touchdown pass to break a 28-28 tie with just under 2 minutes to play. It was the program’s first win over IUP.

“It was a good season,” said Craggette, 5-foot-10, 200 pounds. “I feel like I showed what I could do, but there was just a lot of missed opportunities I would say. … I feel like I could have had a way better season.”

Craggette and the Griffins got off to equally slow starts. For Craggette’s part, he was hampered by toe and shoulder injuries early in the season. The team at large, meanwhile, was adapting to new offensive coordinator Blaise Holzer’s system.

“I don’t think we were clicking right away in the beginning of the season,” Day said. “I think it kind of took us a little time to kind of settle down on both sides.

“I think for (Craggette), honestly, start to finish, I think he was playing well. … I just don’t think we were playing particularly well in front of him. (The offense) really started clicking and gaining that confidence. You give Ky’Ron a little bit of a crease, and he’s going to take it, let alone some of the opportunities we were able to give him within the blocking game up front.”

Craggette acknowledged the team’s early struggles with picking up the offense. But as the season progressed, he said he could see a big change.

“It was just spending more time with the team, spending more time in the film room and going over all the little stuff,” he said. “And I think everyone at that point was eager to change, eager to want to get better and really just play how we should have been playing all season.”

With 2024 camp just a couple of weeks away, Day said the returning players are ready to get to work. They made the PSAC stand up and take notice last season, and this year’s group wants to prove it was no one-off.

Day said there is no sense of accomplishment among his players. Though they achieved significant benchmarks for the program, the players still seem to carry a chip on their shoulder.

If opponents are expecting to see the “same old Seton Hill,” Craggette said, they are in for a surprise.

“I would say everyone is juiced up and ready to just keep it going,” he said. “We know what we have to play like. We know how we have to play as a team and come together and have everyone really bought in to get where we want to go.

“We’re finding what works for us. … and I don’t think people are going to say this is an easy game. People have to prepare for us.”

And that, in all likelihood, means preparing for large doses of Craggette.

Day anticipates Craggette being an even bigger part of the offense this season, particularly in the passing game. Though Day said he likes to tease Craggette about his hands, the coach saw great strides in that part of the running back’s skill set and won’t be afraid to use more designed passing plays for him.

But Craggette’s bread and butter is running. And doing it old-school. Day noted Craggette’s love for contact, saying he sometimes has to rein him in during practice to save wear and tear on his body, not to mention on his defensive players.

Just don’t get the idea that Day will try to change Craggette’s style. His physical game and willingness to work, Day said, rub off on the other players.

Those traits, combined with his stats, make Craggette a candidate to wear the coveted No. 1 jersey this fall.

Craggette said he would love to wear No. 1, but he hopes he has to fight off a lot of other contenders to get it.

“Everyone should want to have that jersey on their back,” he said, “because that shows how much you’re bought into the program, how much you’re doing on the field and off the field.

“All of that matters. That shows the type of person you are on and off the field.”