Eastern Michigan Athletics
Football Ready to "Embrace the Process"
7/27/2009 5:00:00 PM | Football, E-Gridiron Group
For first-year Head Football Coach Ron English, it is all about the process.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — For first-year Head Football Coach Ron English, it is all about the process.
English, who was named EMU's head football coach Dec. 23, 2008, has been on a fast track since taking over the reins.
From selecting a staff, to recruiting his first class of football players, to developing his blueprint for success at EMU, English has been plenty busy during his first six months on the job.
And through all of the hustle and bustle of his day-to-day activities, English knows that without a plan, all of the hard work will not pay off.
"For me, the entire situation is all about the process," English explained. "You can have great ideas and hopes for success, but you have to have a process in place to reach your goals. Everything must be done with one goal in mind, to make sure that everyone understands their role in how we do things here at Eastern Michigan University."
The coaching staff, with the exception of one holdover from last season, is entirely new and English has worked tirelessly with every coach to ensure that they all share the same goals and ideals of how to make the program a success.
Those goals were presented to the returning players during the 2009 spring drills.
"One of our major goals is to build a team that understands what physical toughness is, and more importantly, what mental toughness is," English explained. "Obviously, we will install both our offense and defense so that our players have an understanding of the concepts involved in both.
"We want to teach our players how to win in terms of situations, and also the importance of field position and turnovers," English added. "We want to be able to run the ball and also be accomplished in defending the run."
English and his staff also understand the importance of the evaluation process when new coaches work with a team for the first time on the field.
"We wanted to evaluate every returning player in spring practice," English said. "That was the right thing and the fair thing to do. We evaluated each player and then made the decisions on who will be the first guys to run out on the field and so forth.
"What we ultimately want to do is build a program where we feel good about playing a lot of football players," English explained. " For example, we don't want to have starters and not worry about the rest of the guys. We would like to create a program with a lot of depth.
"We're really not going into the season with any preconceived notions, but we are going in with the thought that we want to develop a team through tough, hard practices, build fundamentals, and install our philosophies on offense and defense."
That initial learning process began in spring ball and continues into the fall with a core group of 47 returning lettermen, 23 on offense and 24 on defense.
The 2008 Eagles rolled up record-breaking efforts in three games last year and the top two quarterbacks from that offensive machine return in senior Andy Schmitt (6-4, 238, Sr.-Sr.) and junior Kyle McMahon (6-3, 208, Jr.-Jr.).
Both signal callers turned in strong performances in 2008 and will provide solid depth at that position.
Schmitt started 10 of 11 games in which he played last year and completed 261-of-417 passes for 2,644 yards and 15 touchdowns. Schmitt also finished third on the team in rushing with 171 yards on 57 carries with five touchdowns on the ground.
In addition, Schmitt was named the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week for the Central Michigan (Nov. 28) game after setting a national record for pass completions with 58. He also established a national record against Temple (Nov. 22) when he attempted 76 passes without an interception.
In the CMU game, Schmitt completed 58-of-80 passes for 516 yards and five touchdowns and in the Temple battle he completed 50-of76 passes for 484 yards and three touchdowns.
McMahon played in five games, starting twice, before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. He completed 45-of-73 passes for 574 yards and two touchdowns in his limited time at the throttle.
The top four rushers from 2008 return in 2009, led by senior Terrence Blevins (6-1, 225, Sr.-Sr.), junior Dwayne Priest (5-9, 186, Jr.-Jr.), Schmitt, and sophomore Corey Welch (5-9, 182, Jr.-So.).
Blevins carried 133 times for 575 yards and a team-leading 12 touchdowns while Priest rushed 99 times for 474 yards and five scores with Welch rushing 25 times for 154 yards.
The receiving corps returns almost intact from 2008, with only senior Tyler Jones, who had 75 catches for 760 yards and six touchdowns, lost through graduation.
Jones tied a national record for single-game pass receptions in the CMU contest when he hauled in 23 aerials for 170 yards.
The top receiver from last year, senior Jacory Stone (6-0 1/2, 201, Sr.-Sr.), is back after recording an outstanding junior season with 88 catches for 943 yards and three scores.
Tight end Josh LeDuc (6-3, 230, Sr.-Jr.) returns after recording 32 catches for 446 yards and four touchdowns while sophomore Marvon Sanders (5-9, 160, So.-So.), 28 catches 253 yards, senior Dontayo Gage (5-10, 184, Sr.-Sr.), 22 receptions for 211 yards, senior DeAnthony White (5-8, 170, Sr.-Sr.), 15 catches for 156 yards, senior John Bonner (6-2, 240, Sr.-Sr.), junior Ben Thayer (6-4, 230, Sr.-Jr.), junior Tyrone Burke (6-0, 197, Sr.-Jr.), junior Sonny Paluch (6-4, 246, Sr.-Jr.) and sophomore Trey Hunter (5-11, 207, Jr.-So.) are all returning.
The offensive line lost its anchor from 2008 in tackle T.J. Lang, who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packes.
Despite Lang's absence, several returning lettermen make the offensive trenches a strength.
Center Eric Davis (6-2, 280, Sr.-Jr.) returns in the middle after starting for the past two seasons. Also returning to the offensive front are guards Andy Fretz (6-2, 290, Sr.-Sr.), and Stephen Johnson (6-4, 280, Sr.-Sr.), along with tackles Bridger Buche (6-3, 294, Jr.-Jr.), Dan DeMaster (6-5, 290, Sr.-Jr.), and converted defensive lineman Drew Serruto (6-4, 275, So.-So.).
The defensive side of the ball has 22 lettermen back, but the big task will be finding replacements for the top two tacklers last season, middle linebacker Daniel Holtzclaw, and safety Jacob Wyatt.
Holtzclaw was a four-year starter who graduated as the second-leading tackler in school history with 437 career stops.
Wyatt was also a four-year letterman who had 88 tackles in 2008 and 254 career stops.
Returning on the defensive front line are Brad Ohrman (6-4, 244, Jr.-So.), Brandon Downs (6-1, 246, Sr.-Sr.), Brandon Slater (6-3, 273, Jr.-So.), Tyler Palsrok (6-4, 265, Jr.-Jr.), Ryan Kuhlman (6-4, 265, So.-So.), and Javon Reese (6-2, 230, So.-So.).
Orhman gained national acclaim in 2008 after recording 11 tackles-for-loss of 60 yards and six sacks for 19 yards. His sack total ranked 62nd in the country while his TFL's total was good for a tie for 100th.
Returning letterwinners in the linebacking corps include Jermaine Jenkins (6-2, 207, Sr.-Sr.), Andre Hatchett (5-11, 221, Sr.-Sr.), Marcus English (6-1, 216, Jr.-So.), Herb Waits (5-10, 184, So.-So.), Tim Fort (6-0, 214, Sr.-Jr.), Steve Brown (6-0, 220, So.-So.), Lorenzo Seaberry (5-8, 216, Sr.-Sr.), and Neal Howey (6-1, 215, Jr.-Jr.). Directing the secondary will be a group of eight veterans, led by junior safety Ryan Downard (6-1, 201, Sr.-Jr.) and senior safety Chris May (5-10, 200, Sr.-Sr.).
Other safeties in the mix are Kevin Long (6-1, 196, Jr.-Jr.), and Brandon Pratt (6-2, 197, Sr.-Jr.).
Lettermen battling for playing time at the corner back spots will be juniors Arrington Hicks (5-10, 170, Jr.-Jr.), Derrick Hunter (5-11, 182, Sr.-Jr.), and Mark Mitchell (5-11, 179, Sr.-Jr.) along with sophomore Nate Wilson (5-11, 180, Jr.-So.). The special teams unit returns virtually intact, led by junior place-kicker Joe Carithers (6-0, 200, Jr.-Jr.) who made 10-of-14 field goal attempts last year.
Punter Zach Johnson (6-0, 195, Sr.-Sr.), a Ray Guy Award nominee as the nation's best punter his first two seasons, suffered through leg injuries most of 2008 and is hoping to return to his earlier form in 2009. Backing him up will be junior Patrick Treppa (5-10, 157, Sr.-Jr.).
Long snapper Tyler Cochran (6-3, 240, So.-So.) returns after handling those duties in 2008.
Returning lettermen that handled all of the kick-return duties last year, Welch, Sanders, White and Gage, are all back to keep the Eagles solid in that area.
Gage returned 30 kickoffs for 538 yards while Welch was right behind with 26 returns for 562 yards last year.
The Eagles returned just 10 punts in 2008 with White notching six and Sanders four.
English and his staff are counting on a host of newcomers to provide much-needed depth to the program in 2009, including the presence of three top junior-college prospects, all on the defensive side of the ball.
The junior college players expected to offer immediate help are defensive lineman Ryan Leonard (6-0, 290, Jr.) along with linebacker Nate Paopao (6-1, 220, Jr.) and safety Jonte Lewis (6-0, 210, Jr.).
A total of seven freshman recruits will bolster the offense while eight are defensive players.
On offense, the freshmen making the transtion to college include tight ends Garrett Hoskins (6-3, 235, Fr.) and Aaron Tanguma (6-4, 265, Fr.), quarterbacks Alex Gillett (6-1, 185, Fr.) and Devontae Payne (6-6, 235, Fr.), wide receivers Nick Olds (6-3, 190, Fr.) and Kinsman Thomas (6-3, 202, Fr.) and offensive lineman Andrew Sorgatz (6-5, 252, Fr.).
The defensive freshmen include linemen Devon Davis (6-2, 235, Fr.), Bronley Kashama (6-4, 245, Fr.) and Orlando McCord (6-4, 260, Fr.) along with linebackers Matt Boyd (6-1, 225, Fr.) and Andy Mulumba (6-3, 235, Fr.) and defensive backs Jaron Gillespie (6-0, 180, Fr.), Garrett Gronowski (6-3, 202, Fr.) and Willie Hickman (5-9, 160, Fr.).
The Eagles will need to be ready for a tough schedule in 2009, highlighted by matchups with Big Ten foes Michigan, Sept. 19 in the Big House, and Northwestern, Sept. 12 in Evanston, Ill. along with an Oct. 31 trip to face Southeastern Conference power Arkansas.
The remaining non-conference game will see the Green and White host Army, Sept. 5, in their first appearance in Rynearson Stadium.
Eastern will have eight Mid-American Conference games split evenly between home and away venues.
The Eagles will host league foes Temple, Oct. 3, Kent State, Oct. 17, Ball State, Oct. 24, and Western Michigan, Nov. 14.
MAC road games will see the Eagles play at Central Michigan, Oct. 10, Northern Illinois, Nov. 5, Toledo, Nov. 20, and Akron, Nov. 27.
