By SEAN KERNAN, Dayton Beach News-Journal
DAYTONA BEACH -- A $9 tool could make all the difference for Bethune-Cookman's football team.
That tool is a shovel bought by senior linebacker Rodney Hughes, the only returning team captain for the Wildcats, and put to use when camp opened.
Each of the Wildcats was invited to write something negative that could hold back the 2007 squad, crumple the paper and throw it in a hole dug in B-CU's practice field with the shovel.
Some players used the opportunity to put last year's disappointing seventh-place finish in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference behind them. Others used it to take a would-be excuse heading into this season and put it under ground.
When the Wildcats gathered for their 2007 team photo Sunday in an informal media day setting, co-captains Hughes and Bobbie Williams each knelt down clinging to that shovel. Head coach Alvin Wyatt crouched in front, close enough to grab that shovel if he wanted to, but the truth is the top 'Cat did his burying of the 5-6 2006 campaign -- his first losing season in nine years -- months ago.
MINI-SHAKEUP
Wyatt never is one to stand pat, even after a successful season. So you can imagine how the wheels were turning following the season finale, a 35-21 loss to rival Florida A&M before more than 71,000 in the Florida Classic at Orlando's Citrus Bowl. It was Bethune-Cookman's third straight conference loss and fifth in its final six MEAC games.
The fastest coach to 50 wins in Bethune-Cookman history had to act fast to get the program going back in the direction he wanted. He booted nine or 10 players from the program and restructured the team's coaching staff. C. Ray Gregory, a triple-option coaching whiz and yet another assistant with Georgia Southern ties, was hired and teamed up with offensive coordinator Brad Bernard. The two are familiar with each other because Gregory actually coached Bernard when he was a lineman with the Eagles.
The next coaching move for Wyatt was to become more involved with the defense. Marc Lippens remains the defensive coordinator and will do all the preparations, but on game day Wyatt will wear a headset -- something he hasn't done in years -- so he can communicate directly with Lippens and at times call the defense himself.
BACK TO BASICS
Where do these changes lead B-CU? We'll soon start to find out, but don't get too optimistic even if the Wildcats blow out non-scholarship Jacksonville in the season-opener Sept. 1 at Municipal Stadium. Wait until after the second game of the year, a home contest against MEAC opponent South Carolina State on Sept. 8.
Senior quarterback Jimmie Russell doesn't need any more time to be convinced things are better than they've ever been on offense, in large part due to a re-commitment to the
"Wyattbone" version of the triple-option attack.
"I said to co-captain Rodney Hughes the other day, 'Can you feel it?' " Russell said. "He said, 'Yeah!' Things are different. The offense is going to be better and that's going to help our defense."
The Wildcats were second in the conference in passing last year and had Eric Weems, an All-MEAC First Team receiver. But that doesn't fit the
"Wyattbone."
"We don't recruit that," Wyatt said. "Our game is not passing. If we lead the conference like we did (most of the season) last year in throwing the football like we did, with Eric Weems being tops in the conference, then you are almost always going to see a losing record from us because that's not what we are. That's not who we are."
Right now, the Wildcats are a team that has focus and determination heading into the season.
"A $9 shovel has brought us together," defensive end Dennis King said. "That shovel has brought us to a point where we understand what it's about to be a team. That was $9 well spent."
Right now the Wildcats are digging, both figuratively and literally, the 2007 football season.
That tool is a shovel bought by senior linebacker Rodney Hughes, the only returning team captain for the Wildcats, and put to use when camp opened.
Each of the Wildcats was invited to write something negative that could hold back the 2007 squad, crumple the paper and throw it in a hole dug in B-CU's practice field with the shovel.
Some players used the opportunity to put last year's disappointing seventh-place finish in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference behind them. Others used it to take a would-be excuse heading into this season and put it under ground.
When the Wildcats gathered for their 2007 team photo Sunday in an informal media day setting, co-captains Hughes and Bobbie Williams each knelt down clinging to that shovel. Head coach Alvin Wyatt crouched in front, close enough to grab that shovel if he wanted to, but the truth is the top 'Cat did his burying of the 5-6 2006 campaign -- his first losing season in nine years -- months ago.
MINI-SHAKEUP
Wyatt never is one to stand pat, even after a successful season. So you can imagine how the wheels were turning following the season finale, a 35-21 loss to rival Florida A&M before more than 71,000 in the Florida Classic at Orlando's Citrus Bowl. It was Bethune-Cookman's third straight conference loss and fifth in its final six MEAC games.
The fastest coach to 50 wins in Bethune-Cookman history had to act fast to get the program going back in the direction he wanted. He booted nine or 10 players from the program and restructured the team's coaching staff. C. Ray Gregory, a triple-option coaching whiz and yet another assistant with Georgia Southern ties, was hired and teamed up with offensive coordinator Brad Bernard. The two are familiar with each other because Gregory actually coached Bernard when he was a lineman with the Eagles.
The next coaching move for Wyatt was to become more involved with the defense. Marc Lippens remains the defensive coordinator and will do all the preparations, but on game day Wyatt will wear a headset -- something he hasn't done in years -- so he can communicate directly with Lippens and at times call the defense himself.
BACK TO BASICS
Where do these changes lead B-CU? We'll soon start to find out, but don't get too optimistic even if the Wildcats blow out non-scholarship Jacksonville in the season-opener Sept. 1 at Municipal Stadium. Wait until after the second game of the year, a home contest against MEAC opponent South Carolina State on Sept. 8.
Senior quarterback Jimmie Russell doesn't need any more time to be convinced things are better than they've ever been on offense, in large part due to a re-commitment to the
"Wyattbone" version of the triple-option attack.
"I said to co-captain Rodney Hughes the other day, 'Can you feel it?' " Russell said. "He said, 'Yeah!' Things are different. The offense is going to be better and that's going to help our defense."
The Wildcats were second in the conference in passing last year and had Eric Weems, an All-MEAC First Team receiver. But that doesn't fit the
"Wyattbone."
"We don't recruit that," Wyatt said. "Our game is not passing. If we lead the conference like we did (most of the season) last year in throwing the football like we did, with Eric Weems being tops in the conference, then you are almost always going to see a losing record from us because that's not what we are. That's not who we are."
Right now, the Wildcats are a team that has focus and determination heading into the season.
"A $9 shovel has brought us together," defensive end Dennis King said. "That shovel has brought us to a point where we understand what it's about to be a team. That was $9 well spent."
Right now the Wildcats are digging, both figuratively and literally, the 2007 football season.
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