By: Matthew Cooper, The Hilltop
There is a breath of fresh air and enthusiasm coming from summer practice. The Bison football team has high hopes and great faith to compete for the title in the MEAC this season.
The difference this year is the coaching staff. New Head Coach Carey Bailey is said to have brought discipline and a more hands-on coaching style to the team.
"Coaching is much better this season," senior wide receiver Leonard Moore said. "They break down every position. We have coaches with NFL and Super Bowl experience."
According to Bailey, his goal is to establish more consistency to the offense and to eliminate "dumb mistakes" such as penalties, which have hurt the Bison in many close games over the past years when former Head Coach Ray Petty held the position.
"He focuses a lot on discipline," said Vincent Moorehead, senior safety for the Bison. "He breaks down every position, and practices are real crisp."
The Bison open this season Sept. 8 in Greene Stadium against long-time rival, Hampton University. Hampton has defeated the Bison the past 10 straight seasons. A win against the Pirates is the first order of business for the Bison.
Defensively, the Bison return many integral components that made up one of the stingiest defenses last year. The defense outshined the offense in the first intrasquad scrimmage this summer.
Anchoring the defense is first team All-MEAC defensive end Rudy Hardie, who is coming off a monster season with 54 tackles and 10 sacks.
"Bison defense has always been tough," Moorehead said. "This year it will be more sophisticated."
A great deal of experience is returning to the defense this season. Also returning are pre-season All-MEAC cornerback, Tommy Claiborn and linebackers Endor Cooper and Robert Dowdy.
New offensive strategies have been put in place this season along with the new coaching staff. First order of business for Bailey was to dump the quarterbacks-by-committee approach of last season, where three quarterbacks rotated throughout the game.
Senior Brian Johnson, who came on strong late last season, will hold the starting position this season. He will use his mobile abilities to scramble out the pocket to throw to his receivers.
"He has great elusiveness,'' Bailey said. "He can get out of trouble."
With a summer of long, hard practices behind him, Johnson is greatly anticipating the upcoming season.
"I'm excited. I've been working hard all summer," Johnson said. "We can't have stupid, unnecessary penalties and turnovers this season. We have a strong returning senior class and a lot of team unity."
The Bison are returning four of their top receivers from last season, Moore, Jarahn Williams, Larry Duncan and Arlandus Hood. They hope to make the most feared wide receiver corps in the MEAC this season.
"I think we have the best receivers in the MEAC this year," Moore said. "We have a more spread out offense, with more audibles."
Starting at running back this season are two backs who transferred from Division I-A programs last season. The Bison hope both, Karlos Whittaker, a transfer from the Naval Academy, and Frank Berchie, a transfer from the University of Akron, will shoulder the load carried by running backs Antoine Rutherford and Keon Coleman the past two seasons.
Although the offensive line is returning pre-season All-MEAC center Travis Harmon and guard Randall White, Bailey wanted to see much improvement from the line before the Hampton game.
"Guys have to step up," Bailey said of the offensive line, which has been hurt by injuries during the preseason. "We can't do anything without the o-line. It is like trying to drink water with a fork."
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