ABILENE – ACU head football coach Chris Thomsen and his staff welcomed more than 130 players to campus Wednesday as the Wildcats began preparations for the 2010 season and a possible fifth straight trip to the NCAA Division II playoffs.
The Wildcats will be on the field at the Wally Bullington Practice Facility early Thursday morning for a conditioning test, and then they'll return fat 4 p.m. or the practice of the summer.
ACU finished 9-4 last season and reached the NCAA playoffs for the fourth straight season. The Wildcats pulled out a 24-21 win in the first round at Midwestern State before falling in the second round against eventual national champion Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, Mo.
The Wildcats have been picked to finish second to West Texas A&M in the Lone Star Conference South Division, but has been tabbed as high as No. 7 in the country (American Football Coaches' Association). ACU is also No. 14 in The Sporting News and No. 17 by Lindy's magazine.
One of the biggest storylines of the 2009 season for the Wildcats was the quarterback position where Mitchell Gale, Zach Stewart and Clark Harrell all saw action with Stewart starting the first five games of the year and Gale starting each of the final eight games.
The competition for the starting job this season was supposed to involve that threesome once again this summer, but that competition is down to just two players – Gale and Harrell – after Stewart told Thomsen and offensive coordinator Ken Collums last Friday that he was leaving the team.
"We had obviously anticipated going with three quarterbacks, but Zach decided that football wasn't something he wanted to continue pursuing," Thomsen said. "That decision helps clear things up for us. Mitchell will go in with the No. 1s and Clark will work in there with those guys some as well. We'll probably need both of those guys during the course of the season."
But even with just two quarterbacks on the roster who have ever played in a college football game, Thomsen said he's not actively pursuing another quarterback.
"A lot of things will shake out at the (NCAA) Division I level over the next couple of weeks," Thomsen said, "but you've always got to be careful with doing stuff like that because of the chemistry issues within your team."
Offensively, the Wildcats return three starters on the offensive line (pre-season all-America selections Trevis Turner at tackle and Royland Tubbs at guard and center Matt Webber), and also returning starting running backs Daryl Richardson and Reggie Brown and receivers Edmund Gates and Kendrick Johnson. Tight end Ben Gibbs is expected to start after missing the last couple of games of the season with a broken leg.
New additions expected to contribute to the offense are offensive linemen Richard Cagle (transfer from Vanderbilt), Dylan Blount (transfer from Kilgore College) and redshirt freshman Josh Perez, as well as running back Josh Morgan and redshirt freshman receiver Darian Hogg.
On the defensive side of the ball, junior defensive end Aston Whiteside – a pre-season all-America selection and the LSC South Division Pre-Season Defensive Player of the Year – leads a group that returns the front seven virtually intact. Defensive tackles Mike and Marvin Jones (no relation) also return, and the Wildcats have added transfer tackle Donald Moore from Tyler Junior College. All-conference outside linebacker Fred Thompson will move down to the other defensive end spot after Nick Jones gave up football to concentrate on track and field
The linebacking corps is led by pre-season all-America Kevin Washington and returning starters Courtney Lane and Eric Edwards.
ACU's coaching staff spent most of their summer trying to re-tool a secondary that lost a pair of starters. Returning to start at cornerback is Drew Cuffee, while part-time starter Richard Havins will start at one safety spot. New additions in the secondary are safety Darien Williams (transfer from North Texas); cornerback Kamaron Riely (transfer from Independence Community College after signing with Georgia Tech); cornerback Nate Bailey (transfer from Santa Barbara City College); cornerback David Lamour (transfer from Chaffey College); and safety Korneil Howard (transfer from Harper College).
"We really had to rebuild the secondary, and we think we got some good players back there," Thomsen said. "But we'll see how it all shakes out. Kamaron is a really big (6-2, 200 pounds), physical cornerback that we think can match up with some of the bigger receivers that we'll play throughout the season."
ACU NOTES
* Former ACU standouts Sam Collins and Kendrick Holloway have been added to the coaching staff in a full-time capacity. Collins – the 2008 Gene Upshaw Award and Dave Rimington Award winner as the top lineman and center in NCAA Division II football – will coach the defensive line, while Holloway will coach the running backs. Collins replaces Clayton Farrell, who left the staff after the 2009 season for a high school coaching job in the Metroplex, while Holloway replaces Keith Wagner.
* Some number changes have already taken place for the 2010 season as running back Daryl Richardson will wear No. 1 in 2010 after wearing No. 22 as a freshman last year. Linebacker Courtney Lane wore No. 58 last year, but will wear No. 9 this year. And quarterback Clark Harrell will wear No. 12 this year after wearing No. 17 last season.
* The Wildcats will practice just once a day Thursday-Monday (4 p.m. each day) before practicing twice on Tuesday, Aug. 17. ACU has just one day of true two-a-days (Aug. 17), but will practice at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 19, and then go through a scrimmage that night at Shotwell Stadium. ACU's first practice in full pads will be Monday, Aug. 16. The Wildcats will have two scrimmages at Shotwell Stadium during summer practice, the first of which is at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 19. The second scrimmage will be at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 28.
* The Wildcats will open the season at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4, when the Wildcats travel to Topeka, Kan., to take on Washburn. Each Wildcat football game will be broadcast on Mix 92.5 FM. Grant Boone returns for his third season as the play-by-play voice of the Wildcats.
