The Saint Mary football team had to get new lockers installed earlier this month, a symbol of the growth of a program that now has more players than they previously had space for.
The roster has swollen from 73 to 89 over the last year, and a staggering 53 of them were signed in this year’s recruiting class, the largest in the six-year tenure of head coach Lance Hinson. Nineteen of those players are from the football hotbed of Texas, and Hinson said he accounts for the huge class by saying they simply found the right kids to recruit.
“Our school scholarships very well for academic kids,” said Hinson, who is 19-30 for his career and 16-29 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. “So we went out and we found and we recruited a bunch of them.”
The question with a majority of newcomers is, can they play well together?
“We’re just figuring each other out right now as a team,” senior receiver Derick Schulte said during the first week of practice. “It’s still pretty early ... but we’ve got a lot of talent in here mixed in with experience, and we’re pretty excited about it.”
The Spires, who tied for sixth in the KCAC last year and are No. 7 in the preseason coaches’ poll, will look to mix and match youth and experience to improve on that standing. They only return five offensive starters, and Hinson said they may even start freshmen at wideout and on the line, but they return eight starters on defense. That newfound depth will allow them to mix their sets and even go with four down-linemen at times, whereas their base defense calls for three.
“Depthwise, I think we’re as good as we’ve ever been...” Hinson said.
USM also regains a starter from the previous year in linebacker Gideon Anderson, who didn’t play last year after leading them with 103 tackles in 2008. They’ll also get one back on offense as Schulte, who was fourth in the KCAC in ’08 with 51 catches, returns after tearing the ACL, MCL, and meniscus in his left knee.
USM does lose 141 catches for 1,366 yards from their trio of senior receivers last year — Glen Wallin, Willie Harris, and Tim Brooks — in addition to leading rusher Kyle Jones and starting quarterback Daniel Robles, who along with first-team All-KCAC tackle Nate Helvey elected to graduate early.
That leaves some interesting position battles for the offense, where USM will continue to run the spread. Junior Chris Joly, last year’s backup, completed 34 of 57 passes for 338 yards, but he’s being pushed by sophomore Mike Keese, who was all-state at Olathe South and transferred from Mid-America Nazarene.
“We’ve got a decent battle going on at quarterback right now,” Hinson said.
All of it will have to shake out by Sept. 4, when USM opens at Southern Nazarene. KCAC play starts the following week at home against Bethany.
Another date the Spires have circled is Sept. 18 at Kansas Wesleyan. That rivalry has intensified in recent years, climaxing last year when USM held KWU to 231 yards but gave up 49 on the final drive and lost 10-7 on a field goal with no time on the clock.
“It’s a little frustrating...” Hinson said. “So we will definitely take a good group there to Salina this year and battle them.”
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The Saint Mary football team had to get new lockers installed earlier this month, a symbol of the growth of a program that now has more players than they previously had space for.
The roster has swollen from 73 to 89 over the last year, and a staggering 53 of them were signed in this year’s recruiting class, the largest in the six-year tenure of head coach Lance Hinson. Nineteen of those players are from the football hotbed of Texas, and Hinson said he accounts for the huge class by saying they simply found the right kids to recruit.
“Our school scholarships very well for academic kids,” said Hinson, who is 19-30 for his career and 16-29 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. “So we went out and we found and we recruited a bunch of them.”
The question with a majority of newcomers is, can they play well together?
“We’re just figuring each other out right now as a team,” senior receiver Derick Schulte said during the first week of practice. “It’s still pretty early ... but we’ve got a lot of talent in here mixed in with experience, and we’re pretty excited about it.”
The Spires, who tied for sixth in the KCAC last year and are No. 7 in the preseason coaches’ poll, will look to mix and match youth and experience to improve on that standing. They only return five offensive starters, and Hinson said they may even start freshmen at wideout and on the line, but they return eight starters on defense. That newfound depth will allow them to mix their sets and even go with four down-linemen at times, whereas their base defense calls for three.
“Depthwise, I think we’re as good as we’ve ever been...” Hinson said.
USM also regains a starter from the previous year in linebacker Gideon Anderson, who didn’t play last year after leading them with 103 tackles in 2008. They’ll also get one back on offense as Schulte, who was fourth in the KCAC in ’08 with 51 catches, returns after tearing the ACL, MCL, and meniscus in his left knee.
USM does lose 141 catches for 1,366 yards from their trio of senior receivers last year — Glen Wallin, Willie Harris, and Tim Brooks — in addition to leading rusher Kyle Jones and starting quarterback Daniel Robles, who along with first-team All-KCAC tackle Nate Helvey elected to graduate early.
That leaves some interesting position battles for the offense, where USM will continue to run the spread. Junior Chris Joly, last year’s backup, completed 34 of 57 passes for 338 yards, but he’s being pushed by sophomore Mike Keese, who was all-state at Olathe South and transferred from Mid-America Nazarene.
“We’ve got a decent battle going on at quarterback right now,” Hinson said.
All of it will have to shake out by Sept. 4, when USM opens at Southern Nazarene. KCAC play starts the following week at home against Bethany.
Another date the Spires have circled is Sept. 18 at Kansas Wesleyan. That rivalry has intensified in recent years, climaxing last year when USM held KWU to 231 yards but gave up 49 on the final drive and lost 10-7 on a field goal with no time on the clock.
“It’s a little frustrating...” Hinson said. “So we will definitely take a good group there to Salina this year and battle them.”
