FORT WAYNE – After all the accolades, the plaques on the office wall, the pats on the back, Kevin Donley boils his past 31 years of doing what he does – the last 12 as the face of Saint Francis football – down to one, precious commodity: “I love to coach,” he’s often said.
Then he’ll absolutely adore this season, because he’s going to be doing a ton of it. Including special teams players, eight of 26 starters from last year’s team that suffered a disappointing 7-3 season are gone.
Two starters return on defense.
The offensive line was shredded.
And the university’s most decorated, if not electric, player – tailback Daniel Carter – not only graduated but left with nearly every Saint Francis rushing record.
“Danny’s great ability was to make you miss – turn on a dime,” Donley said.
“So what do you do? Change your tactic a little bit.”
There was a time when Donley’s teams would throw the ball all over the joint, so maybe the old will become new again.
“We’re going back to more of our old shoot attack,” Donley said. “We’re doing it from the shotgun. … It’s the ‘shred’ – part shoot, part spread.”
As the Cougars begin camp this week, here’s an overview of what 2010 could bring:
Quarterback
Senior Shaine Tierney, last year’s starter who threw for 2,142 yards and 11 touchdowns, is the No. 1 guy going into camp.
Junior Justin Boser and sophomores Alex Beierwalter and Josh Miller all saw time in the spring game, and all have impressed Donley.
Running back
Frank Wolfe III, who claims to possess 4.37 speed in the 40-yard dash, hopes to recover from his past fumble troubles to secure the No. 1 job. If not, Elijah Flowers is a solid stand-by.
Wide receiver
Jared Clodfelter with 316 yards and Kyle Peabody with 283 are the top returning receivers. Both caught a touchdown each.
If there could be a player on the brink of a breakout season, it could be junior Armando Bustamante. The Concordia product caught only seven balls in six games last season, but three catches were for touchdowns, and he averaged 23 yards per reception.
Offensive line and tight ends
The big news is that junior Wyatt Tuggle will switch from guard to center.
The bigger news is that 6-foot-1, 325-pound Corey Cronk returns at guard for his third season as a starter.
At 6-1, 210, Ben Clifford is an undersized and little-used tight end.
Defensive line
After years of playing with four down linemen, the Cougars are going with two defensive ends (Anthony Moore and Rex Drabenstot) and a defensive tackle (Bryan Hardister) for a three-man front.
Lance Carey will step in for Hardister, while 6-4 Jon Lehman and 6-5 Derrick Shire add height and quickness as backups.
Linebackers
Of the returning linebackers, junior Ross Bauman has the most tackles from last season with 36, but he was listed at safety. Senior Devron Robinson comes in at No. 2 in hits back with 19.
Then it becomes a youth movement of sophomores, juniors and freshman Garrett Harvey thrown into the mix.
Secondary
Jordan Wise, who switched from quarterback to safety earlier in his career, led Saint Francis in tackles last season with 69 plus had an interception and fumble recovery.
With last year defensive backs being this year’s linebackers, Wise should be getting plenty of assistance in the secondary.
Special teams
Flowers will be returning most of the kickoffs and Aaron Knight is getting the job as the punt returner.
The biggest loss could be Rhys Barnhart, who set one NAIA record and two Saint Francis records in extra points and field goals.
Barnhart, who hit 48 of 49 extra-point tries, could be replaced by senior Kevin Smith, who could also take over the kickoff duties.
Aaron Lee handled most of the punting in the spring game.
