Seiji Wood
Sports Editor
With the upcoming season right around the corner, the ISU football team has a positive mindset and foresees a season unlike what we’ve seen in the past.
It went 2-9 in 2016 and 2015, but went 4-7 in 2017, under first-year head coach Rob Phenicie, the best season since 2014 when the team went 8-4.
“We have everything to prove,” Phenicie said. “I love it. We’re not ranked, we’re not considered anywhere, it’s good. That’s the best thing. We’ll come out and play hard.”
Phenicie is returning for his second year as head coach and has already witnessed a change in culture.
“What this group of players has done is established a culture,” Phenicie said. “The norm used to be only 10-to-12 guys here for the summer. This year we have 74 guys sticking around…they’ve taken it far this year.”
Not only is this his second year with the players, but also with his coaching staff.
“It’s a fun environment in the office,” Phenicie said. “We all get along well…there’s a good dynamic.”
One key addition to the coaching staff is offensive coordinator, Mike Ferriter, who accepted the job after former offensive coordinator Matt Troxel accepted a job at Oregon State.
Ferriter will have a lot to work with, with many players on the offensive side of the ball returning. Key players returning include quarterback Tanner Gueller, running backs James Madison and Ty Flannigan, wide receivers Mitch Gueller and Michael Dean, and most of the offensive line.
“I thought we did what we needed to get accomplished this spring,” Ferriter said. “I thought we got a ton of reps and created a lot of depth at certain positions that we needed to see. It was really helpful for me.”
That may prove to be important considering in 2016 the offense ranked last in almost every statistical category. However, the offense this year will look to have a lot more productivity than previous seasons.
“Everyone seems to want to be here, everyone has bought in,” Tanner Gueller said. “We’re all just having fun together and working hard.”
Team chemistry was a common theme among coaches and players and one of the reasons why the team is confident for the 2018 season.
“The guys we have here…we’re all just similar,” Tanner Gueller continued. “There’s no egos, no one is trying to one up the other guy. We’re always proud of each other when we have success.”
Success. That’s the mindset. But to have success, the team acknowledged, it needs to eliminate mistakes. One of the biggest struggles in the 2017 season came from the defensive secondary.
“I think we’ve made strides to make sure they’re on top of the play, so they can make a lot more of those plays effectively, so we don’t give up as many explosive plays,” said Roger Cooper, defensive coordinator.
Cooper did mention he’s confident the secondary will be ready to go by the time the season kicks off.
The defense, unlike the offense, doesn’t have as much depth. Defensive lineman Rasheed Williams and linebacker Paea Moala don’t see that as a setback for the team.
“We’re counting on anybody coming to join this team, we’re counting on you,” Williams said.
“You’ve got to be someone that’s going to come in and be ready to contribute,” Moala added. “Everybody is accountable on this team…if I go down, my backup needs to be ready. We have to all trust each other.”
The Bengals have showed excitement during this offseason and will continue to work until they report to fall camp on July 31. The season opener will be August 31 when the Bengals take on Western State Colorado University at Holt Arena.
