After two record setting seasons with Omar Haugabook at quarterback and Tony Franklin running the offense, the Troy Trojans will go back to the drawing board for 2008.
But, Trojan fans can rest easy because new offensive coordinator Neal Brown, the youngest coordinator in the entire Football Bowl Subdivision at 27, says nothing is going to change.
“We are going to do the same types of things,” Brown said. “What we have done here for the last two years has been successful. If something isn’t broke, it doesn’t need to be fixed.”
There will be differences in the 2008 Trojan attack, but that was going to happen regardless of who the coordinator is. Haugabook, the two-time Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year at quarterback, is gone. In his place are a trio of young gunslingers. All of them have experience, but none has had to carry a team.
All three players – sophomores Tanner Jones and Jamie Hampton, along with junior Levi Brown – gave strong performances during spring ball in the battle to replace Haugabook. Hampton came away with a slight advantage, but can no get comfortable with the other two breathing down his neck.
Hampton gained the advantage due in great part to his ability to run with the football. He showed off that running ability in his first collegiate game last year when he broke off a 56-yard scramble against Arkansas.
“The thing with Jamie is that he can move around the pocket,” Brown said. “As the spring progressed, he got better and better throwing the football. I think he can do some really good things. He is a winner and I am excited about him. He has worked hard, is a smart kid and I feel good about where he is.”
But the retooling of the Troy offense does not start and end at quarterback. Also gone from 2007 are the teams’ top two rushers (including Haugabook), and top three receivers. The offense must also replace a multi-purpose back to was a key in the running games’ improvement from the previous year.
In place of those players will be a group of youngsters, all of whom have played, but none of who has been in the spotlight like they will be this fall.
“Obviously, losing Omar is a great loss, but we have a guy coming in who is similar,” Brown said. “Losing Kenny Cattouse at running back, we have a guy who is similar. Losing Gary Banks at receiver, we have guys who can take up for that loss.”
In the backfield, the job falls to sophomore DuJuan Harris. As a true freshman in 2007, Harris showed that he can be a more than adequate backup by rushing 82 times for 372 yards. Now, he will be asked to shoulder more of the load, but he won’t have to do it alone. Speedy senior Xavier Moreland (eight carries, 35 yards) returns and they will be joined by a junior college runner and a pair of high school signees.
Junior Maurice Greer, who comes to Troy from Garden City Community College, is the most likely candidate to make an immediate impact in the backfield with Harris.
At receiver, the loss of Banks was about more than the numbers he produced on the field. Being just one year younger than the Trojans’ new coordinator, Banks was like having an additional coach on the field.
“We are going to miss Gary Banks, no question about it,” Brown said. “His production, we’ll be able to replace that, but what will be hard for us will be to replace his leadership. We have guys who can do all of the things that Gary did except we don’t have the big, strong, physical guy right now.”
Despite losing the top three players in terms of receptions from last year, the Troy receiving corps returns 15 players who recorded at least one reception last year. Ten of those 15 players found their way into the end zone at the end of pass plays last year. But, like at running back, none has ever been asked to be ”The Man”.
The most likely candidate to fill that role will be sophomore Jerrel Jernigan. As a true freshman last year, Jernigan started to come into his own toward the end of the season and he finished the year fourth in receptions (30) and third in receiving yards (337).
Senior Mykeal Terry is the most experienced of the returning receivers, but he had a down year in 2007 after finished second in receiving the previous year. Kennard Burton and Gerald Tate are two other seniors who will try to build on what they did last year after arriving at Troy from junior college. Juniors Cornelius Williams and Andrew Davis also have two years in the offense, and, along with sophomore Austin Silvoy, will be expected to increase their production in 2008.
The only skill area on offense where there is no ready replacement is at the H-Back, or fullback, spot. Last year, Sean Dawkins manned that position and was able to run, block, split outside and run pass routes and catch passes. That role will be divided this year with junior Travis Boyd taking more of the tight end/pass catching duties, while junior Nathan Nolin takes over more of the fullback duties.
Entering 2007, the biggest question marks were up front where only one starter returned. Those questions were answered and now, entering the 2008 season, Troy has six players back with significant starting experience up front.
“Those guys were the unknown last year,” Brown said. “We had a couple of guys we knew were pretty good, but those guys played a lot better than we thought. A lot of the credit for that goes to John Schlarman, but they played higher than expectations. This year they will be called on to lead the offense.”
The line features anchors at both tackle spots and at center. Tackles Dion Small (right tackle) and Chris Jamison (left tackle), along with junior Danny Franks (center) make up the glue of the offense. All three have All-America ability and tons of experience.
“We are going to lean on those guys a lot to lead this offense, and I expect us to be better than we were last year, and we were pretty good up front last year,” Brown said. “It makes me feel a little better with a young quarterback and young running back, having those guys up front.”
The focus of the Troy defensive staff during spring ball was simple – find replacements for Leodis McKelvin and Elbert Mack at cornerback.
Obviously, that is easier said than done when you are talking about the No. 11 overall pick in the NFL Draft and the top pass thief in all of college football.
Replacing those two players will still be of utmost priority once the Trojans report to camp in late July, but that will be far from the only area of concern. While returning starters dot the depth chart on defense, behind them there is very little actual game experience.
Corner remains the top priority, with senior Trevor Ford, a transfer from Florida State, and sophomore Chris Bowens tentatively penciled in as starters. Both showed flashes of their ability in the spring, but neither was consistent enough to etch their name in stone on the depth chart.
To help ease the burden on the corners, the Trojans will lean heavily on a trio of veteran safeties. Seniors Sherrod Martin, Terence Moore and Tavares Williams have all played a lot of football over the last three years for the Trojans.
“Those guys will be the leaders back there,” Rowell said. “We are going to do some stuff with those guys to protect those corners a little, at least until we see what they can do. Hopefully, two of those corners will step up and we won’t have any worries in the secondary. We feel pretty good about the nickel and the safeties.”
Martin, who Rowell says is the Trojans’ best defender, moves back to free safety this year, switching places with Moore at the nickle. The move will give the Trojans a little bit bigger player in Moore to send on blitzes and help in the run game.
Of course, the key for the success of any secondary is the amount of pressure applied at the line of scrimmage. Up front, the Trojans have six veterans – three at end and three at tackle – to apply that pressure. But, like everywhere on the defense, there isn’t much experience past those first six guys.
“We’ve got good experience coming back up front,” Rowell said. “We have Dion Gales, Steve McLendon and Maurice Coleman back inside, and two of those three have started. We have to have a little help there on the interior.
“At end, we lost Shawn Todd, but we get Brandon Lang back from injury. We have a couple of JC guys coming in and a couple of young guys coming on, for depth. With Lang, Kenny Mainor and Cameron Sheffield, all pretty good guys, back. The biggest deal is depth. We have to add some bodies and build up.”
Junior Boris Lee returns to anchor the linebacking corps after leading the team in tackles last year. Rowell said he has a chance to be better this year because he will enter the season with more size.
“Boris has gained some weight, up into the 220s, which will be 20-25 pounds heavier than last year,” Rowell said. “He has another year of experience. He is a wonderful football player, but he needs to keep getting better.”
Lee will be flanked my another former walk-on at the Will linebacker spot. Junior Bear Woods, who came to troy as a quarterback, came into his own last year and continued to make strides in the spring.
