2026 Football Preview: Next man up mentality looking to power Bloomington to fourth straight playoff berth

BLOOMINGTON — For the last couple of seasons, Bloomington football has a different feel to it heading into the year.

After a nine-year stretch where the Purple Raiders only made the playoffs once, they’ve qualified for the postseason each of the past three years. And not only that, they’ve won a playoff game in each of the last two.

Niall Mulcahy, Bloomington’s head coach for its two most recent postseason trips, is welcoming the heightened expectations.

“These [seniors] have been in the playoffs their entire time at Bloomington so we want to keep that rolling,” Mulcahy said. “But similar to last year, we are going to have a lot of new faces and graduated a bunch of guys so this is kind of an opportunity for a bunch of guys in the program to step up and make their impact on Bloomington football.”

And whether they were on the varsity squad for any of those playoff berths or not, Bloomington’s burgeoning legacy and recent history isn’t lost on its seniors.