What a refreshing spring and summer. Once the distaste of an average football season and disappointing basketball campaign were washed away it gave us all plenty of time to turn our eyes to the future, and the hope that it brings.
And with football squarely on the horizon it has been deafeningly quiet, especially when compared to the previous three seasons.
What we are about to embark on in Fayetteville is the first glimpse of the true Bobby Petrino era. Unlike last year, when disgruntled seniors and lost freshmen were trying to put a patchwork system together, 2009 promises to be a year where some of the seeds sown will begin to bear fruit.
The youngest two classes that suit up will be Petrino recruited. The juniors and seniors still on the team will have had a year under their belts to prove their mettle. The turbulent upperclassmen are now nowhere to be found. And a strength training system under Jason Veltkamp should now begin to mesh burgeoning athletes with the âFeed The Studâ system.
For the first time since 2005 (arguably earlier) we are neither embarking on a season without an embattled coach nor acclimating to a new one trying to put the pieces back together. We are, in 2009, actually going to look on the football field and watch what we came to see, football.
The fingernails have long since been swept away from the sideline, and the coaches in place arenât concerning themselves with bidet removal from the executive washroom. Coaching is a lot like flying, with the most crashes occurring when the plane is taking off or landingâ¦this plane is now in the air.
The talent level has been seriously upgraded, and most promising to this fan is that the positions which can be quickly learned are now stocked with athleticism. Running backs and defensive backs can come on the college scene and make impacts immediately. Offensive and defensive linemen, not so much.
Our running back situation is so deep that one doesnât shudder at the pre-season injuries like the one to Knile Davis. And the defensive backs new to campus would be welcome additions to the best programs in the country.
The quarterback is cocky. Anyone who doesnât like cocky quarterbacks doesnât understand football. And his backup looks to be more solid than anyone weâve suited up in some time. The offensive line is one year older, and matriculated in a far more diverse blocking scheme than they knew was hitting them when fall practices began in â08.
Wide receivers will be a question mark, but theyâve had a year to work on routes closer in complexity to NFL teams than what we had in place under Coach Nutt.
Major question marks remain for defensive linemen and linebackers, which are still riddled with depth issues. Young talent will press for inclusion as the year goes on, and if there is any area of this team that will improve through the year it will be here.
Special teams, another question mark. But this coaching staff learned last year just how inadequate this aspect of our game was. Any projection of this part of our team is premature at best.
And the coaching staff is working. Recruiting for the 2010 class is already in full swing and we can look forward to competent and organized efforts throughout the year to find the best fits for our system, both inside and outside the state.
Coaches met last week in a retreat to discuss efforts this season. No doubt recruiting was a topic, but more importantly the organization, focus and culture for this yearâs slate was fleshed out. That the coaches met away from campus and likely sans a basketball court is promising hope that they have their arms fully around our strengths and weaknesses.
This is a coaching staff with intentions. Things donât just âhappenâ that have to be dealt with unexpectedly. Last year coach Petrino was thinking about offensive plans two or three plays ahead of what was going on right then. With hodgepodge talent the â08 team weathered storms and came through with a better record than they should have. And those players that simply canât make the cut under a Petrino system are now figured outâ¦destined to run the scout team for the remainder of their careers.
2009 is promising in that the system will now be in place. We wonât win the national championship in this campaign, but we will see marked improvement. We may not win the SEC West, but we will compete and win some games that are pivotal upsets in the chase. Who knows, if the right teams lose at the right places we might just be in the running.
And we will for the first time in years be entertained by the plays instead of the sideline.
