Head coach Tripp Merritt and the Wildcats open the 2010 season Saturday evening.
Photo by: Sideline Sports
Football Looks to Return to Winning Ways in 2010
8/30/2010 8:42:19 PM | Football
College football coaches know that their job entails handling frustration, sometimes in large doses. Davidson head football coach Tripp Merritt is going through it now. But instead of letting it get him down, he is more fired up than ever to take on the challenges of his sixth Wildcat team.
He's inching closer to his goal, there's no doubt about it. Sometimes the record belies it, but he knows he and his program are on the right track. Setbacks are temporary but inevitable. That's what Merritt believes. Deep down, it's what he knows. Davidson, ravaged by injuries to key players last season, failed to meet expectations in a season that produced three wins and seven losses.
The Pioneer League record was 3-5, which was good for a sixth-place finish in the conference. That's not where Davidson wants to be, not close to the dream that Merritt has for his program. He wants to compete for conference championships and do it on a regular basis. He believes it can be done, so therein is the frustration.
Positive signs pointing to the program's improvement are everywhere. When his first Davidson team reported for practice in the fall of 2005, he welcomed 70 players. This August he greeted a freshman class of 27 players and a roster of 102, which is a tribute to the recruiting job being done by Merritt and his staff.
“Getting the numbers up has helped a lot,” Merritt said. “Maybe the most important thing is that it provides us with some badly-needed depth. The talent on our second units is much better than it used to be.”
And this year's freshman class? “I think it has a chance to be one of our best ones,” Merritt said. “Some of them might make their way into the depth chart early.”
After stumbling to an 0-2 start last season, Davidson corrected its path in the third game by defeating Pioneer League foe Campbell, 24-7. But it came at a steep price. Three offensive linemen were lost in that one game. Merritt and his coaches had to shuffle personnel, which in some cases meant putting players in positions that were new to them. But the players responded with a mental toughness that Merritt believes will help going forward.
Davidson was extremely competitive the rest of the way, the most lopsided defeat coming against Dayton, 17-0. The Wildcats lost on the road to conference champion Butler by one touchdown. A trip to San Diego produced an exciting 34-27 Wildcat win.
So while the overall record was less than anticipated, there were enough bright spots to offer strong encouragement for the 2010 season.
“I think we'll be better offensively this year because we have more weapons,” Merritt predicted. “We were second in league games in rushing last season, and if we are able to stretch the field a little better, it should open things up for our entire offense.”
Merritt believes the offense will be much more capable of attacking deep in the passing game this season, which should provide more room for a more than capable rushing game.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats played well on defense. “Except for those first two games, our defense last year was of championship caliber,” he said.
While he predicts improvement for the offense, Merritt thinks the defense – barring injuries to key players – can have another stellar season. Seven starters are back, including some of the unit's best players and leaders.
Davidson has 11 games scheduled, five at home, six on the road. The three non-conference opponents are Georgetown, Lenoir-Rhyne and Presbyterian. Eight of the 11 are in North or South Carolina. Merritt is excited about his team's chances.
Part of the reason for that optimism is an offense that will feature two quarterbacks battling for playing time, a couple of tailbacks that rank with the best in the Pioneer League, an offensive line that is more athletic than a year ago and some receivers with speed and height that can stretch the opponent's defense.
The Offense
If Ryan Heasley could choose one word to describe his outlook for Davidson's offense, it would be “excited.” This will be Heasley's third season as Davidson's offensive coordinator, and if he can catch a break or two and keep players healthy, he has some weapons that could cause serious problems for Pioneer League defenses. Of course, it starts with the quarterback. Davidson went into the season with two men preparing to compete for playing time. Matt Heavner (6-3, 190), a junior, returns from last season when he backed up Michael Blanchard, who has moved to tight end this season. The other QB candidate is Chris Cochrane (6-4, 215), a sophomore who did not take a snap last season.
Heavner played in nine games in 2009 during which time he completed 34-of-70 pass attempts with five interceptions and one touchdown. Sophomore Dan Redinger (6-0, 170) and freshman Jonathan Carkhuff (6-0, 185) will provide depth.
Heasley believes he has quarterbacks in his system this season that can stretch defenses and keep them from putting eight defenders close to the line of scrimmage, as Davidson often faced a year ago. Davidson's longest pass completion last season was 36 yards – and the pass was thrown by a wide receiver. The outlook is much brighter this year.
It's one thing to be able to throw the ball downfield, but somebody has to be fast and talented enough to get down there and catch it, otherwise the defense will not honor the threat. Davidson's wide receivers are led by senior Mark Hanabury (5-11, 180). He caught 32 passes last season for 309 yards and one touchdown. Davidson's offensive coaches are expecting him to flourish in this year's passing game.
Lining up on the other side of the field at wideout will be Jonathan Adams (6-0, 185), a junior. Heasley calls him a “home run guy that can make big plays.”
Sophomores Lanny Funsten (6-2, 185) and Josh Wiggins (6-3, 195) vie for playing time as well. Wiggins is a big target with good speed down the field who was number two in receptions in the spring, while Funsten is a physical wide receiver who doesn't hesitate to stick his nose into crowded areas in the secondary. Two freshmen, Jeff McDaniels (6-3, 185) and Chris Trinetti (5-11, 185) will add depth.
A difference maker for the Wildcats in the deep passing game could well be sophomore Danny Martinez (5-8, 170), who can absolutely fly. Just his presence on the field would make opposing defensive backs honor his ability to run past them. Martinez is coming back from a knee injury suffered in the second game last year. He missed spring practice, and time will tell how effective he will be this season. A healthy Martinez would give Davidson a lethal weapon.
“Michael is a football player,” Merritt says in complimentary fashion. “We have to have him on the field. He's made a wonderful transition and has a chance to be one of the best tight ends in the PFL. He is big, strong, physical, and he runs well.”
Blanchard can get downfield and catch the ball or operate in close quarters. Makes no difference to him, as long as he's in the action. He's tough, an excellent blocker, and Davidson will move him around and maybe use him in “Wildcat” roles. He was the second-leading rusher on the team last season with 485 yards.
Coach Heasley really gets excited when he talks about his tailbacks. He believes he has four excellent players there. The unquestioned leaders are senior Kenny Mantuo (5-10, 190) and speedy Justin Williams (5-9, 185), a senior. Freshmen Chris Gorman (6-1, 200) and Marcus Johnston (6-1, 195) will compete for the third spot.
Even with defenses crowding the line of scrimmage, Mantuo, a second-team All-PFL selection, rushed 139 times last season for a net of 626 yards and five touchdowns. He's a powerful runner, fearless in his approach to football.
He is complemented by Williams, a different type of runner who is capable of breaking big plays. Williams rushed 80 times last season for 258 yards. Both tailbacks can catch the ball out of the backfield, and Williams is the team's primary punt and kickoff returner. Both Mantuo and Williams have worked hard to improve their pass blocking.
Fullback will be in new hands this season following the graduation of Kirk Benedict, one of the team's best leaders. Junior Chase Culbertson (6-0, 220) is poised to take over the position. Heasley says since Culbertson offers skill sets that are different from Benedict, the fullback's duties in this offense might be tweaked.
Injuries decimated the offensive line last season. “Offensive line is the big question mark for our offense,” Merritt said. “We lost four starters from last year's line and a fifth that played, but we have as much depth there as we've had since I've been here.”
Senior Zenus Wilson (6-3, 295) is the first name Heasley mentions when talking about the line. He's the leader up there, was the best offensive lineman on the team a year ago. “He's strong as an ox, very competitive, and is at home at right guard,” Heasley says.
Junior Alex Fleming (6-2, 265) is the center. He has leadership qualities that good centers must have. He's small but tough. “He's a brawler,” Heasley says, smiling, “has great feet, moves well, and gets off the ball with power and quickness.”
Left guard is junior Joe Newlon (6-3, 285). If he were a basketball player he'd be referred to as a “gym rat.” He studies the game, watches a lot of tape, has an inquisitive mind, and is always peppering coaches with questions. Heasley describes him as a “pit bull, tough, loves to run block.”
The all-important left tackle position will be in the hands of junior Ethan Clark (6-3, 265). He was a defensive lineman last year, but when four tackles were lost in the third game of the season, he moved over to help the offense. “He did well immediately,” Heasley said. “He moved over to the offense and didn't miss a beat.” He's expected to be even better this season after having a year of offensive play under his belt.
The Wildcats will be a multiple pro style offense featuring motion, shifts and personnel groupings designed to cause matchup problems for the defense. Heasley likes to play fast and be as balanced as feasible between run and pass. The bulk of the offense's time in the spring went to improving the passing game. Heasley reduced the scope of the playbook some in an effort to become as proficient as possible with the bread and butter of Davidson's offense.
“The players took to it real well in the spring,” Heasley said.
Now the offensive needs to take it to the field and blend it into a winning formula.
The Defense
Brett Hayford, in his 18th season on the football coaching staff, is associate head coach and in charge of the defensive line in Davidson's 3-4 alignment. Meade Clendaniel is in his 11th season on staff and is defensive coordinator and coaches defensive backs.
Hayford and Clendaniel have worked together so long, watched hundreds of hours of tapes together, co-authored game plans and gone into battle side-by-side on so many occasions that they can almost finish each other's sentences.
They put a good defense on the field last year, recovering eight fumbles and intercepting six passes. How will the defense be this year? Clendaniel is a football coach, not a politician, and he isn't afraid to express an opinion. He breaks things down in terms that everyone can understand.
“If our defensive line plays well this season, we'll be better than we were last year,” Clendaniel says of his defense. “If they don't play well, we won't be as good.”
Hayford hears what Clendaniel says and doesn't disagree. He likes his defensive front players, though. In fact, he likes them a lot.
He begins the defensive line conversation by mentioning junior nose guard Ellis Martin (6-1, 255) from Freedom High School in the foothills of the North Carolina mountains.
“Ellis is country strong,” Hayford says. “He's athletic, has strong hands, moves well, takes great angles and is an excellent leader. He's a hard worker who loves football and the outdoors. He hunts every day.”
Says head coach Merritt: “Ellis is quiet, intense and loves to compete.”
One of the defensive tackles is junior Morgan Popham (6-2, 240), who had a great spring. “He's an undersized kid who plays with tremendous intensity,” Hayford said. “He hasn't been a starter but he's played a lot. He was all over the field in our spring practices. He makes plays and has a knack for always being around the football.” Popham has speed and Merritt says that he is pound for pound one of the more explosive players on the team.
Lewis McAlister is the other starter at defensive tackle. The sophomore (6-3, 240) is quite an interesting young man. When Hayford asked him what he wanted to do in his life, McAlister didn't hesitate. “I want to be president of the United States.”
As usual, Davidson doesn't have great depth on the defensive line, which is why Clendaniel says the group needs to stay healthy. Rick Nye (6-0, 265), one of the backups at nose guard, hasn't played in a college game yet. Torry Treu (6-2, 255), a reserve tackle, got most of his experience on special teams. Brad Johnson (6-2, 235), who played outside linebacker last season, has been moved along with sophomores Kacy Yuhas (5-11, 250) and Brad Davis (6-5, 245) to provide depth at defensive tackle.
Davidson graduated five defensive linemen from last season, which accounts for the lack of depth up front for 2010.
The second level is a different story.
“We have more depth in the secondary than we've ever had,” Clendaniel said. “We have more depth at outside linebacker. Athletically, we can run.”
The two starting outside linebackers are juniors John Behm (6-1, 215) and Patrick Hunt (6-1, 210). Hunt was a starter last season and is a smart, physical player who can defend against the pass and run. Behm started every game last year at strong safety and was moved to linebacker in order to allow Davidson to gets its best players on the field. He was able to bulk up in the offseason without losing his speed.
“Behm should be better at outside linebacker than he was at safety,” Clendaniel said.
Providing depth at outside linebacker will be Elliott Campbell (5-11, 205) and Brandon Yeargan (6-1, 225), who missed last season with an injury. They're both seniors, and Clendaniel says they're “both good football players and will provide quality depth.”
Senior Daniel Astrop (6-1, 215) who calls defensive signals and led the team with 68 tackles last season will start at one of the inside linebacker spots. The other will be decided among junior Richard Lockridge (5-11, 215), sophomore Patrick Moynahan (5-11, 220), junior Gianni Ricci (5-10, 215) and senior Erich Crowson (6-0, 210).
“He has great football knowledge and tremendous ability,” Clendaniel said. Guerrieri is backed up by sophomore Peter Anderson (5-9, 180).
The strong safety will be junior Peter Kidwell (6-0, 210), who led the team with three interceptions last season. “He should have been all-league last year,” Clendaniel said. Junior Malcolm Moses-Hampton (5-10, 190) backs up Kidwell.
The situation at cornerback is a coach's dream. The top three corners are all seniors with talent. Likely starters will be Harvey Kee (5-8, 185) and Brandon Sykes (6-1, 195).
“Kee is probably our most athletic corner,” Clendaniel said. “He's the best tackler among our corners and the best in coverage. We need for him to stay healthy. Sykes is steady and consistent. You know what you're going to get from him. He rarely gets beat.”
Those two corners are backed up by senior Sean Simmons (5-11, 180) and sophomores Adam Dulberger (6-1, 170) and Brody Medford (6-1, 170).
“We have some young kids behind our starters who can play,” Clendaniel said.
Clendaniel and Hayford like to force the issue on defense. Sitting back and waiting for something to happen is not in their cumulative DNA. Their goal is to make the opposing offense as uncomfortable as possible. It's one reason they believe in the 3-4 defensive alignment for Davidson. It gives them the best chance to get their 11 most talented defensive players on the field at the same time. It allows them to change defenses and bring pressure from every spot on the field. And the hardest players to find in college football are the big guys that play on the offensive and defensive lines.
“We have smart kids who can pick up things quickly,” Merritt says. “That allows us to do a lot of different things defensively.”
And those big guys up front? “They are athletic, tough and love to compete,” Hayford says. Without him making any bold predictions, you can read his eyes and know that he feels his group is going to be just fine.
Special Teams
Most college football coaches will tell you that they value special teams and their ability to change a game. After all, special teams are on the field for more than 25 percent of the plays in a normal game, so there are many opportunities to make something good happen. Of course, there's also the danger of making mistakes that would hand the opponent excellent field position and probably some points on the scoreboard.
Few college coaches stress special teams play more than Davidson's Tripp Merritt. He devotes considerable practice time to it, doesn't hesitate to use some of his best players on special units, and does not coach them with caution being the primary objective.
He wants his special teams to attack, be unpredictable and fearless, and play in a manner that makes opponents spend extensive practice time preparing for what the Wildcats might do when those special units are on the field.
“I believe in being creative with our special teams,” Merritt said. “Some coaches prefer a more cautious approach. Neither way is necessarily wrong, but I think it best suits our program to have special teams that play aggressively and are willing to take some well-calculated chances. We want ours to be an offensive weapon.”
Don't expect the Wildcats to fake a punt or try an onsides kick on a whim. Those gambles take place only after Merritt and his coaches have studied hours of film and uncover a clue that that could make taking a risk a high percentage play.
Merritt feels good about his special teams. He has a punter in senior Andrew Wohler (6-3, 200), who has a powerful leg and the athletic ability to make things happen in punt formation. Merritt prefers a punter that is also an athlete, one who could get the team out of bad situations in case of a bad snap or a missed block.
Wohler's an athlete, all right. He came to Davidson as an outside linebacker but suffered a serious shoulder injury his freshman year. He tried to play through it and then fought to get well his sophomore year. The injury would not allow him to be the kind of football player that he was previously.
But because of his love for the game, Wohler approached Merritt with a new proposal. “Let me punt,” he said.
Wohler displayed a powerful leg, won the starting job and earned second-team All-PFL honors last year. He punted 62 times for an average of 40.5 yards, the third highest in Davidson history. His longest punt last season was a whopping 69 yards, and he had nine others that exceeded 50 yards. He had 22 punts that ended up inside the opponent's 20-yard-line. He has big-time talent.
“Consistency is the key with Andrew,” Merritt said. “He has a very strong leg, but he's worked hard to improve his consistency. He is so well thought of by his teammates and coaches that he was elected one of our team captains.”
Field goals, points after touchdowns and some kickoffs will be handled by Ben Behrendt (5-8, 165), a senior. Behrendt was successful on seven of 11 field goal attempts last season and made 13 of his 14 extra points.
Robert Schick (6-0, 190), a sophomore, will handle most of the kickoff duties.
Merritt's goal to have his special teams be an offensive force is certainly enhanced with the men he can put deep to return punts and kickoffs. The primary weapon is tailback Justin Williams. He's fast, elusive and can explode with his speed in the open field. He returned 26 punts last season, averaging nearly nine yards a return and brought back 32 kickoffs for a 20.6-yard average. Williams already owns the Davidson record for career kick return yards and is approaching the school's career punt return and all-purpose yardage marks.
Mark Hanabury, Danny Martinez and Matt Guerrieri are perfect complements to Williams in the return game. The deep snapper on extra points, field goals and punts is outside linebacker John Behm. The holder for extra points and field goals will be decided in the preseason.
Merritt also likes to fit some of his freshmen onto special teams. It's a good way to give them a taste of the speed involved in special teams play on the college level.
The Season
Merritt, his coaching staff and players are excited about the 2010 season. There's no boasting, but the feeling is strong that the Wildcats are doing the right things in order to compete with the best programs in the Pioneer League.
Defensively, the Wildcats are deep at corner and have good talent on the back end. Can the defensive line hold its own against the league's big offensive lines? Depth is a concern on the DL, but coach Brett Hayford likes the attitude, the competitive drive, and the athleticism of his players. If the DL plays well and stays healthy, the prediction of defensive coordinator Meade Clendaniel is that the defense will be better than last year's outstanding unit.
There are some significant “ifs” involved in these questions. It will be up to the players to answer them in a positive manner on the field of play. Easier said than done, absolutely.
Davidson faces eight games against teams from the Pioneer League, three versus outside opponents. Many of Davidson's players stayed in town over the hot summer so they could work out together on their own. Their dedication is apparent. They've paid the price with their sweat and hard work. Like players on every college team in America, they're hoping it all pays off.
It's the magic and pageantry of college football. It's competitive and physical and not at all easy. But on Saturdays in the autumn, it becomes fun. Which team will wear the Pioneer League crown?
It's time to go play and find out.
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