Small-School Superstar, Big-Time Stay: Monroe Delays Sundays for Final Season at GU

Lamoni, Iowa — Gerald Monroe spent the winter staring down every football player's dream: an NFL draft grade glowing with Day-Two potential after a season in which he led the NAIA in receiving yards per game (156.2) and touchdowns (22). But the first-team AFCA/NAIA All-American, the reigning NAIA National Offensive Player of the Year, and the Week One National Offensive Player of the Week—an honor he earned by erupting for a record-shattering 387 yards and five touchdowns at Doane on Aug. 31—stunned scouts when he made a different call: he's coming back for one more autumn at Huntsman Field.

"A lot of people asked why I'd stay," Monroe told GUjackets.com this summer from his home in the greater Dallas area. "But Coach Ross has built a locker room where everybody's chasing wins, not exits. That's the kind of place I want to finish what I started."

Betting on himself — and on GU

In the era of the ever-spinning transfer portal, Graceland head coach Pat Ross knows what an outlier Monroe's loyalty is.

"In today's college game you see talented kids jump ship for what they think is a better opportunity," Ross said. "Gerald had plenty of offers to do the same. Instead, he's betting on himself and on Graceland," continued Ross. "I've coached 17 guys who signed NFL contracts, and none were better than Gerald."

Ross's faith is backed by history. When Monroe torched Doane last August, he eclipsed the NAIA single-game receiving mark of 384 yards that had stood since 1990. The haul came on 16 catches—none bigger than the 28-yard strike from backup quarterback Brett Hamilton after Ross had already pulled his starters in the rout.

That final snap nearly never happened. Matt Shelton, Graceland's Sports Information Director, was watching the live-stream from his home, preparing to cover the early-season win, when he realized the record was within reach. He phoned head athletic trainer Erin Lundy, who sprinted the message to Ross. Helmets went back on, and three plays later Monroe's post route rewrote the book.

"It was my first Saturday back as SID in a decade," Shelton laughs. "Watching Coach Ross wave Gerald in for that last play felt like college-football magic."

The Comeback After the Scare

Monroe's monster opener masked the grind that followed. In Week 10 he suffered a complex fracture to his ankle that ended his year and left scouts debating whether he would risk another college season.

"From the moment it happened I knew rehab would hurt," Monroe said. "Staying positive was the only option. That injury showed me I'm capable of more than I thought—I can push past anything."

A Coordinator who Knows Greatness

Offensive coordinator Phil Staback—the Hall-of-Fame quarterback who led Ross's Lindenwood squad to the 2009 NAIA title game—calls Monroe "the best receiver I've ever been around."

"His ball skills and field awareness are unique," Staback said. "He led the nation in yards even though he hasn't played a full season in two years. Whoever drafts him next spring will be lucky. But first? We're going to try to break every record out there."

Goals bigger than yardage totals

The numbers are eye-catching—1,562 yards on just 84 receptions (18.6 per catch)—but Monroe says the only stats he cares about now are team numbers.

"Conference title. Plain and simple," he said. "We win the Heart of America, people will have to say Graceland's name a lot more."

Ross and Staback believe the 2025 Yellowjackets are their most balanced group yet, thanks to an offensive line that returns four starters and a defense that finished top-three in the league against the run.

Why staying matters

Scouts will still flock to Lamoni this fall; Monroe will still run a verified 4.38-second forty at pro day. But his choice to stay has already altered the narrative around small-college football, where the portal often drains breakout stars to bigger budgets.

"Knowing the guy next to you wants to win as badly as you do—that's what kept me here," Monroe said. "I want future recruits to see you can chase your dreams right here and still be loyal to the people who believed in you first."

One last ride

Graceland opens the 2025 slate at home on September 6, at home, against William Woods in what will be the Owls inaugural football game. William Woods joins the Heart for the 2025-2026 school year and added football to the institution. Monroe will jog out wearing the same No. 2 jersey that lit up a sleepy Nebraska afternoon last fall. NFL front offices will be on hand again, pens ready.

Ross won't let the moment get bigger than the mantra he's preached since Monroe arrived on campus in 2022.

"Gerald elevates everyone—on the field, in the weight room, in life," the coach said. "When your best player is also your best teammate, you've got a chance to do something special."

Monroe nods at that idea—special. It's the same word Staback used, the same one scouts whisper. But for the next five months, special to Gerald Monroe means something simpler: Saturday home games on Huntsman Field overlooking Big G and chasing that banner with the guys who've chased him in practice for three seasons. And if the ball finds him on one more deep post with history on the line?

The record book already knows how the story ends.