McKINNEY, Texas -- Midwestern State begins its second season under head coach Rich Renner, and the Mustangs are picked to finish seventh in the LSC Football Preseason Poll, which was announced on Thursday at LSC Football Media Day at McKinney ISD Stadium's Community Event Center.

The preseason poll is voted on by LSC head coaches, sports information directors and media members.

Midwestern State finished last season with a 4-7 record overall and finished seventh in the Lone Star Conference, but Renner believes he learned some valuable lessons in his first season as the head coach.

"You're going to make a lot of mistakes in your first year," Renner said. "You got to be disciplined. I probably laxed on that too much."

Renner begins the season with a new offensive coordinator. Kirk Bryant joins the staff after three seasons as a senior offensive analyst on the Texas Tech football staff.

Blake Frazier, who led highly ranked defenses at junior colleges in Mississippi, begins his second season as the defensive coordinator for the Mustangs.

"I've got a great staff. I'm very blessed to have who I have." Renner said. "I've been surrounded by a lot of people that have been very influential in my life to be able to guide me and prepare me for this."

Sixth-year senior tight end Kelby Hickerson from Austin, Texas, was unable to play last season due to a season-ending injury suffered in preseason but returns this season, and he is willing to take on any assignment to help the Mustangs win.

"There's no 'I' in team for me. I'm willing to do anything for the team. Whatever we got to do to go out and get a win, that's what I'll do." Hickerson said.

Midwestern State hopes to do an even better job of slowing down some of the explosive offenses in the LSC, and senior defensive end Kam'rin Devault has one thing on his mind entering this season.

"Getting to the quarterback more. That's been my main focus all off-season." Devault said.

Midwestern State recorded 14 sacks as a team last season. Devault had one sack and 3.5 tackles for loss in his junior campaign.

Defending champion Angelo State totaled 292 points and collected 23 of the 30 first-place votes. Head coach Jeff Girsch's Rams were 9-3 overall last season, including going a perfect 9-0 in league play. ASU, which advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs, has won two of the last three LSC titles.

Central Washington is picked as the conference runner-up with 257 points and four first-place votes. The Wildcats finished 8-4 overall last season and 7-2 in league play. CWU has advanced to the NCAA postseason two straight years.

UT Permian Basin, which won the league in 2023, is the third-place selection with 229 points and two first-place votes. The Falcons went 7-5 last season and 6-3 in LSC play. They played in the postseason Heritage Bowl.

Texas A&M-Kingsville is predicted to finish fourth with 211 points and picked up the final first-place vote. The Javelinas went 7-4 overall and 6-3 in conference play last year.

Western Oregon (173 points) is the fifth-place selection, followed by West Texas A&M (157 points), Midwestern State (139 points), Eastern New Mexico (88 points), Western New Mexico (53 points) and Sul Ross State (51 points).

Midwestern State kicks off the season on the road at Missouri Southern for a non-conference battle on Aug. 30 in Joplin, Missouri, at 7 p.m.