ST. PAUL, Minn. – While new faces highlighted the Golden Bear offense in the second part of a four part season preview, the defensive starting lineup features eight upperclassmen with six projected senior starters. All 11 players listed as first string players on the preseason two deep are returners in the program heading into Saturday evening's 6 p.m. kickoff against U-Mary at Sea Foam Stadium.
T-SHIRT GIVEAWAY IN WEEK ONE
The t-shirt giveaway is presented by Concordia University Alumni Association and CSP Athletics. The first 500 fans will receive a FREE white t-shirt featuring the new CSP monogram. The t-shirts and new CSP logo will match the style worn by the team in the opener, as the football team is debuting its new white uniform combination and white CSP helmet.
CURRIER ANNOUNCES TEAM CAPTAINS
Fifth year head coach
Shannon Currier brought a new process of selecting team captains into the program in his return to the CSP sidelines after being away from Concordia for 12 years and out of football for the previous seven.
"Our process to become a team captain starts with a formal application where each candidate who applies must read three books, complete community service and obtain letters of recommendation along with the completed application," explained Currier. "By going through this rigorous process, I wanted to ensure that we had men who were truly committed to the role."
After the process is complete, the team votes on the applicants who completed all of the steps in the process. The first three captains were named during the spring, seniors
Dominic Nabak and
Sam Johnson on defense and senior
Darius Chapes on offense.
"These first three selections received the majority of the votes. Sam, Dom and Darius have demonstrated excellent leadership skills since the day I arrived. They are very well respected by our players and coaches. They model the behavior, attitude, mental toughness, commitment and practice habits that we want all of our players to exude."
But their traits extend beyond their individual leadership attributes, Currier noted, "Furthermore this team and their teammates mean a lot to them."
The final team captain was selected after fall camp, including an important week-long team building trip to Camp Ripley in Little Falls, Minnesota.
"
Matt Bjork was selected after the full fall camp was complete and we entered game week preperation. Like our first three captains, Matt handles his business like we want all of our players to. He is one of our top students, has a phenomenal work ethic, attitude and pays attention to the finest details."
In addition to the four team captains, Currier has created a leadership hierarchy with 14 competition teams within the roster. The three initial captains were joined by position leaders and three freshmen leaders. Those 14 designated leaders then drafted the rest of the roster for competitions throughout fall camp that will extend into the season.
"It's not just a football thing, these 14 teams within our roster will be able to earn points for academics such as A's on tests, in community service and campus life along with completing important tasks like cleaning the bathrooms at Ripley, just to name a few. It's another exciting way for our team to come together and produce well-rounded individuals, which is going to be the backbone of our program."
GLANCE AT THE TWO DEEP: Golden Bear defense features volume of in-game experience
While many of the offensive contributors will be playing at Northern Sun game speeds for the first time, the defense will not need to experience such a steep learning curve to start the year.
Running a 4-3 style base defense under first year defensive coordinator
Mike McElroy, three of the four Golden Bears penciled in up front,
Re'Shon Howard,
Ryan McKee and
Chazz Roberts have combined to play in 62 games as a tandem and all three played at least eight games last year with McKee and Roberts seeing action in all 11 contests. Their joined by redshirt freshman
Kelly Pierce.
The linebackers are painted with a similar brush as junior
Billy Brown (16 GP) and senior
Sam Johnson (32 GP) are joined by redshirt freshman
Antonio Zepeda.
The secondary has perhaps the most experience on the defense as the two cornerbacks are seniors,
Jonathan Johnson and
Jamie Fore who played eight and nine games in their first year as transfers into the program last year. The safeties are led by senior
Dominic Nabak (29 GP) at strong safety and
Brandon Russell at the free safety. Nabak started three of the 10 games he played last year, missing one contest but still finished as the team's third leading tackler with his 64 stops leading all returners while Russell played in nine games with five starts as a true freshman.
DEFENSIVE OVERVIEW: McElroy brings in new culture to lead the defense
"Mac (McElroy) has done a great job of establishing the culture on the defense, he treats the players well and with respect and in turn they have understood that he cares for them and buys into them as people first," said head coach
Shannon Currier, entering his fifth season with the program but his first year back since leaving after 2003.
Currier is the offensive play caller and has a reputation in his prior run at Concordia as leading squads with high powered and dynamic offenses. But during those years, he led a program with a productive and complete defense comprised of strong pass rushers and run stoppers on the front line, a mix of stout and disciplined linebackers, shutdown cover cornerbacks and instinctive safeties.
Currier continued on McElroy, "But what has impressed me as much as anything he's done is finding that line between being demanding of them and caring for them. It's a really hard line to walk, and he does it with ease which allows him to push them on the field while still looking after them as people in all aspects of being student-athletes."
"Coach Mac does what's best for their minds and bodies and the players play hard for him because he's so well-respected by them."
When going through each position unit, a consistent theme developed as Currier discussed the defense and what he expects from that side of the ball: "First and foremost, we want our players on defense to play the scheme and their responsibilities, to be disciplined in their assignments and to prevent big plays. Our defensive players should focus on playing their role, and not worrying about someone else's responsibilities."
While McElroy is a first-time defensive coordinator coming from his previous position as a defensive assistant at the University of Minnesota, he's joined by experienced full time assistant
Joe Lardinois who handles the defensive line and special teams.
"It's a great team, they really work well together and having Munk (
Jake Munkwitz) in a bigger role is also helpful. With
Trevor Warner,
Dennis Lee and
Russell Gary also on the defensive side we think our staff will help the group continue to develop and improve."
"The big thing we learned in camp is that we won't do a lot of things defensively, but the things that we do we are going to be good at."
Fun fact: the defensive two deep features two in-state players, redshirt freshman
Antonio Zepeda (Blaine) with the starting linebackers and freshman
Dylan Wood (Lindstrom) on the reserve defensive line.
SECONDARY: Returners highlight starters, newcomers push in backup roles
While all four starting secondary spots will be manned by returners who gained significant experience last year, the second string spots are all held going into the year by newcomers or redshirt freshmen.
The mix provides the back end of the defense with players who've experienced the highest levels of Division II football along with an injection of new players hungry to increase the productivity of the defensive backfield.
"We're looking for defensive backs to commit to the scheme and focus on their responsibilities," said Currier. "They must be disciplined in their assignments but above all they are our last line of defense and preventing big plays is the top outcome we demand of them."
The secondary is led by senior
Dominic Nabak who amassed an impressive 64 tackles in 10 games while registering just three starts in the process.
"Dom is a rock solid leader and one of our team captains who brings nice production to the group."
He finished the year strong, with 10-plus tackles in four of the last six games, missing a full game and most of another due to injury. He topped out at a career-high 16 tackles in the finale at Augustana.
He's joined by sophomore
Brandon Russell who carved out a key role immediately as a true freshman before earning five starts on the year. He finished with 31 tackles and had an interception against Southwest Minnesota State in week 10.
"We are looking for our safeties to embody an identity of playing smart and physical football," said Currier.
"We're excited about the depth behind Dom and Brandon.
Brian Lanier is phenomenal and has really stood out in camp, while
Isaiah Walker brings experience as a transfer from Augsburg where he earned significant playing time and
Brian Szutkowski is in the mix after redshirting last year."
The cornerbacks are a pair of returning junior college transfers
Jamie Fore and
Jonathan Johnson who enter their second year each in the program.
Fore's 44 tackles made last season rank fourth among active returners on the roster this season, which he amassed in nine games and seven starts. He also made a pair of plays in the backfield with two tackles for loss.
Johnson played in eight games primarily as a reserve, but also earned one start.
"We want our corners to be athletic and we value experience in that position," said Currier. "Big play prevention is the key to success at the position and in this conference the corners will have their hands full."
"Behind Jamie and Jonathan are
Corey Taylor who we feel is a talented player and junior transfer
Andrew Capirchio who helps with the experience at the position."
LINEBACKERS: Johnson's experience stands tall
"Our linebacker core is led by
Sam Johnson. It's a group without a lot of experience, but he's our senior at the position and one of the top leaders on the team as one of our team captains."
Johnson is the team's second leading returner in tackles from a year ago when he made 51 stops while starting all 11 games – one of just three players to achieve the distinction. He also made 5.5 tackles for loss, second among returners along with 1.5 sacks, an interception and the second most hurries (5) on the defense and the most among returners.
While Johnson is listed as an inside linebacker on the depth chart, Currier points out that many of the linebackers are interchangeable in how they'll line up.
"We like versatile players at the linebacker position. More importantly, they need to execute their assignment, be disciplined in their technique and focus on doing their own job and not someone else's. We're looking for them to play within their own role and prevent big plays."
Entering the year, the starting outside linebacker positions are headed towards junior
Billy Brown and redshirt freshman
Antonio Zepeda to provide the defense with its only unit comprised of returners although Brown and Zepeda will be looking to make their first career starts.
"Brown is an athletic force – he's one of our biggest and most athletic players and Zepeda has put on a solid 25 pounds, has had a phenomenal camp and has been recognized as one of our top demonstrators of RED. It shows up on video and he's earned his way to playing time."
Currier has reinforced the RED concept throughout the offseason and especially fall camp, an acronym for playing Relentless, with Enthusiasm and Desire.
"Physically, we want our linebackers to be around the ball, be physical and sure tacklers while proving difficult to block," said Currier.
Listed as the reserve to Johnson in the middle is junior
JJ Przybylka who made 14 tackles including one for loss last year while playing in 10 games with one start.
"JJ is a physical kid, a unit leader of the position and is a guy who will certainly be in the mix along with
David Reed who is a dynamic player,
Mitch Zillman who played as a true freshman, junior college transfer
Frantz Polimice and redshirt freshman
Riley Edling."
DEFENSIVE LINE: Mix of strong experience and physical size
While the team lists four players on the starters and reserves of the two deep, Currier notes that 10 players will be in the mix for the defensive line rotation.
The group is anchored by
Ryan McKee and
Chazz Roberts in the middle. Roberts is one of the top returning defensive players on the team, leading all players with 10.5 tackles for loss and leading all returners with 2.5 sacks which was second on the team. He also forced a pair of fumbles and blocked a pair of kicks. He's also one of two returners and three players on the defense to play and start all 11 games.
He'll line up next to McKee who returned from a year out of the program to play in all 11 games including one start. He registered 30 tackles and his 5.0 tackles for loss rank third among returners, adding 2.0 sacks.
On the ends, senior
Re'Shon Howard is ticketed for a starting role after playing in eight games last year as a transfer in which he recorded 17 tackles while redshirt freshman
Kelly Pierce mans the opposite end.
"Our two seniors will have to do well for us up front," Currier explained. "Behind them, we have
Gerardo Figueroa and
Damon George entering their senior years as well. It's important in this league to have depth and the size and strength that comes along with experience up front. We'll be looking to our seniors to have big seasons. Gerardo is coming off injury and we're looking forward to him adding time up front while Damon had a big offseason for us."
Depth on the inside will also come from
DeAnthony McKinley and
Adam Miller. "DeAnthony has proven that he has the relentless portion of RED and is a hard working player. Adam is another quality player who is very strong inside.
Cole Riemer and
Dylan Wood are freshman who are in the two deep and guys we will look to play right away while redshirt freshman
Caleb Mulvin should help us on the end."
"On the defensive line, we're looking for all of our players in the mix to be destructive and get off the ball. We want them to play with relentless effort, to be in the backfield and making or disrupting plays. We want pressure from them in passing downs and be able to hold their ground and not get moved. The bottom line is to be destructive and stay in their gaps."
