On Brave Old Army Team...

Those of you who know me and are familiar with my many passions, know that Army football is one them. There are many reasons for this which I'll blog about in the months to come, but understand that this devotion runs deep. Deep devotion is what is required to be an Army football fan if you are even mildly familiar with their history over the last five years. A very poor AD and coaching choice sent the already marginal program into the crapper bottoming out with a NCAA Div. 1A worst record ever of 0-13. Fortunately, wiser minds finally decided to put an end to everybody's misery, and AD Rick Greenspan and his equally inept head coach Todd Berry were mercifully kicked to the curb. Shortly after this move, Bobby Ross was hired as coach. Hope was restored, but the climb out of the basement has been slow but steady.

I went over to GoArmySports.com to see what was happening and there's a recap of the football team's spring practice activity. Third year Head Coach Bobby Ross is taking his spring look at what he's got to build on before the summer quiet period begins and cadet football players are absent from the field until the fall. Coach Ross seems pretty happy with who he's got returning as starters on both offense and defense. It would seem that the toughest challenge Ross has is filling two key spots being vacated by graduation and those are quarterback and running back.

In my estimation, the loss of Zak Dahman at QB is not as hard as losing Carlton Jones at the running back postion. Zak was one of Todd Berry's recruits and Army fans owe him a great deal of respect for having to deal with the transition of head coaches and their systems, but the guy was a not a strong decision maker in my mind. Ross will have to work his three up & comers, David Pevoto, Pat McDonald and Kevin Dunn pretty hard to come out of the gate swinging when Army takes on Arkansas State on Sept. 2nd. While many of us wish Ross would take the team back to more of a classic wishbone offense, Ross did have some success with the passing game last year. He also had Jones to make up the balance once the passing game broke down. The guy was just explosive out of the backfield last year. Ross didn't cite any real standouts for Jones' replacement, so I'm a little concerned.

College football is the greatest game in the world. The absence of it during the summer months is the only downside to sunny season. I look forward to the fall and what promise it will bring for the Army team. I hope to get up for a couple of games this year and witness the history being made in person.

Expect more college football blathering from me in the future. For now, GO ARMY, BEAT NAVY!!!