Excitement. Anticipation. Expectations. Concerns. Hope. All words that refer to the first season of football at Campbell University in 58 years. As the date for Campbell's first football game on August 30 approaches against Birmingham-Southern College, Head Coach Dale Steele is excited about what is happening and anxious to see what lies ahead for his fledging football program.

"It's exciting," Steele said. "I feel like this has been a long journey and I'm ready for the season to start. It's very exciting to see things like the stadium, the fieldhouse and the goal posts going up and after a year of just practicing I'm ready to get on the field and compete."

The journey has not always been smooth and the challenges have been many to reach this point of putting the team on the field. Not only did Steele have to put together a coaching staff and a schedule, he had to really build a team from the ground up. The coaching staff had to put together a few recruiting classes and then keep them properly motivated without the benefit of games to break up the mundane weekly practice grind, many of which needed to occur around campus while the facility was under construction. But it is all part of the learning process that has really benefited both the coaches and the players.

"It is a challenge to have so many young players, but it also a blessing," commented Steele. "As challenging as it is teach them everything, you also don't have to break old habits. We are establishing new habits here from the start. It is a blessing because a year from now they will be sophomores and juniors that have been through an entire college football season without many bad habits and tendencies. They'll know how we do things and what we expect from them."

"This football program will continue to grow, he continued. "What we want to do is continue to move forward each and every week and game. We want to compete for championships in the Pioneer Football League and play in the post-season regularly. What we want for this program is for people to say that we are competitive year-to-year and that the players are a class act. I want people to say that Campbell football is a class program with players that compete and achieve in the classroom and on the field."

With that in mind, let's look at the three primary phases of Campbell's 2008 football squad.

Offense

The offense showed some signs of life in the first Orange-Black game, scoring 31 points in the controlled scrimmage. As encouraging as it was, Steele and his offensive coordinators Oscar Olejniczak and Landon Mariani know that things will change when the team begins preparing for this season's opponents.

"We've been pleased with the offense and the progress they have made through out the fall and spring," Steele explained. "We have run the football effectively both last fall and this spring. Most of our base offense is now in, so now all we need to do is polish and work on execution."

The key component to the ground attack will be the Campbell running backs and Coach Steele feels strong about what he has seen from the group.

"While we are not overly deep at the running back position, starters Carl Smith and Jordan Cramer have done a good job of running the football and learning the offense," Steele paused. "They are both mature beyond their years. The hardest thing to teach a young running back is pass protection and both of them understand pass protection and for redshirt freshman that is really beneficial. Smith is a hard-nose player that is going to get his yardage. Cramer catches the ball out of the backfield extremely well, so we need to find a way to keep him involved in the offense this season. I'm really pleased with the way our running game has progressed through the fall and the spring."

The other vital part of a potent offensive attack is a strong passing game and that is an area that is looked upon for improvement in the fall. Looking at the quarterbacks it appears to be a wide-open race heading into the fall with Wesley Snow, Mike Stryffeler and Harrison Jordan being joined on the depth chart by transfer Matt Vollono and true freshman Alex Munro.

"I feel like we are little behind in the passing game," Steele commented. "Part of the reason for that is we haven't yet named a starting quarterback and that has prevented our offense from getting into rhythm. That is something that will work itself out once we start two-a-days, name the starter and let them get the majority of the snaps."

"Coming out of the fall the quarterback depth chart went Wesley Snow, Harrison Jordan and Mike Stryffeler, but then it changed in the spring because of Jordan's broken finger to Snow, Stryffeler and Jordan," Steele explained. "We are still going to take a long hard look at all of them once two-a-days begin. We also added Matt Vollono, a transfer from Connecticut, into the mix. He brings a lot of experience that others just don't have yet. We are just going to put them all together, let them compete and see which one can handle the football team the best."

The Campbell receiving group, after many position changes throughout the fall, finally began to settle down in the spring.

"We had so many different combinations of receivers, due to injuries and academics, that we've spent most of the spring moving players attempting to find the right fit," Steele stated. "The only consistent we've had at the position is Kelvin Murphy. The rest of the receivers are all new to the position, but are learning quickly. C.J. Oates started out as a tailback and now he is a receiver and Phillip Thompson began as a tight end and then was moved to receiver. I think the movement within the position and the lack of stability in the quarterbacks has prevented the passing game from developing as fast as we would like."

The key to the multiple formation offense and the backbone of the offense will be the offensive line. There are several players including Bobby Trimble, Tyler Dean and Brandon Priebe that have been with the team since the beginning and will looked upon to steady the vital unit.

"Bobby Trimble has been a solid player for us from the start," Steele commented. "He's played every snap at left tackle, which is a very difficult position to play. He has also been a team leader and provides steady presence on a daily basis. Tyler Dean is also someone has progress well and does a nice job. Brandon Priebe at right tackle has also played well and has been consistent. Our tackle play in general has been very good. They all have improved and gotten better throughout the fall and the spring. There are still some lingering questions about our center and the left guard position. We've used several different combinations at both positions. Andy Johnson started out as a center and then he became a left guard. Troy Horan started off as a left guard and became a center. We haven't quite settled yet, but those guys have performed well at their current positions."

Defense

The Campbell defense is expected to be the strongest of their units and in a league that boasts some of the better offenses at the Football Championship Subdivision level the unit will certainly be tested throughout the season. The defense, a base 4-3 unit under the direction of defensive coordinator Art Link, will utilize an aggressive attack style to create chaos and turnovers.

"What we have strived to do since the start of the program is to make the defense the strongest part of our football team, so we attempted to put the right players on that side of the ball from the beginning," Steele said. "We feel fairly confident that the defensive side of the football is pretty solid."

The secondary in particular is a unit that performed well in the spring with five pass breakups, two forced fumbles and an interception in the scrimmage. The unit often acts as the last line of defense in today's pass-happy college football world of pro-style and spread offenses and will be counted on heavily this season.

"We are lacking depth at some positions but I feel like when you look at the secondary, they performed exceptionally well in the spring, Steele stated. "Secondary coach Greg Williams did a great job of getting them in the right places and improving their techniques and overall play. Brad Brower and Jared Hart are really good football players. They are the types of athletes and players that we are going to need to be successful. Christian Dixon has a chance to be a really good football player. He has a chance, if he can stay healthy, of being an All-Pioneer League type of safety. Stephen Goldsmith is a steady player that you don't notice but always seems to be making plays."

The linebackers need to be active in order for the 4-3 defensive scheme to be a success. The coaches worked hard in the spring to develop the current group of Milton Brown, Raheim Ellison, Chris Price and Jon Fleury. The unit will need to continue their improvement for the defensive to reach their high expectations.

"At linebacker, Milton Brown had a good spring and played very solid," Steele said. "Raheim Ellison, as a strong side linebacker, got much better as the spring went along. He came out of the spring with a legitimate chance to earn a starting spot. Chris Price is one of those guys that you don't notice because he is not spectacular, but he always is around the football. Jon Fleury is a situation-type player that excels in pass coverage."

The strength of the defense and the entire team continues to be the defensive line. The team has a deep rotation of five returning players that will only get stronger with the addition of the freshman class.

"With Chad McDuffie, Randel Herring, Jason Hill and then getting back Jeremiah Robinson back ready to play this is clearly the deepest part of our football team," Steele beamed. "There is no other positions on the team where we have so many guys that we think can play at as high of a level as the defensive line. We also have strong depth behind them in Taylor Reed and Charles Fiore. They all had good springs where they worked hard, played with passion and really improved. I think defensively we have a solid nucleus coming back. They'll have to improve and we need to add depth, which will come with the additional freshman players, but overall we are pleased with the entire group."

Special Teams

The special teams are often the difference in a football game and Coach Steele knows the importance of them. However as with many other positions on the field, things will need to be settled during fall practices and scrimmages.

"We never really established solidly at the kicking game and long snapping positions during the fall and spring," Steele stated. "It is probably the least stable part of our football team right now and it needs to be the most stable. We feel confident about the people we are bringing in. Shane Rudd is an excellent long snapper. Brennan Burt showed signs of being a really good punter. In the kicking game we'll see what Zeb Barnette can do. We feel like have a couple of guys that can add excitement in the return game with Brad Brower, Jared Hart, C.J. Oates, Doug Huddleston and Harrison Jordan."

Schedule

Every Campbell player, coach and fan has had August 30, 2008 against Birmingham-Southern circled on their calendar since it was announced that football was coming back to Buies Creek. The Camels will also take on challenging conference and non-conference schedule highlighted by Pioneer Football League games against San Diego, Jacksonville, Dayton and Morehead State and non-conference contest's against Methodist and Carthage.

"This is going to be a very difficult schedule for a first-year program," Steele concluded. "The Birmingham-Southern game is going to be a definite challenge for us. Even though they are also a new program (in their second season of competition), they have already played 11 games. Methodist is a program that has been around for a long time and we need to play well against them. It will also be the first road game and our guys are going to have adjust quickly to the unfamiliar surroundings. Then we jump right into the conference season and head to Jacksonville before hosting San Diego. There is never an easy week in this league. Everyone can beat you on any given week and that happened quite a bit last season. It is a competitive league and we don't get a break once conference play begins with Dayton, Butler, Drake, Davidson, Valparaiso and Morehead State on the schedule. We are really going to need to work hard every week. Our third non-conference game against Carthage College is going to be difficult as we are heading to their place and playing a traditionally strong Division III opponent."