By Dan Wiederer
Staff Writer
The Fayetteville Observer
Reprinted With Permission

BUIES CREEK - If Campbell football coach Dale Steele needs a motto for future generations of Camels to subscribe to during the summer, he might want to consult offensive lineman Troy Horan, who offers a concise explanation for why he spent much of the past four months on campus dedicated to strength training and conditioning.

"Winning," Horan says, "is more important than a vacation."

That isn't a philosophy the former Pine Forest High School standout necessarily believed in 2009 when he took things somewhat easy over the summer and returned for camp in August carrying about 20 pounds too many.

Horan saw the struggle it took simply to maintain focus throughout entire practices.

His legs would become Jell-O far quicker than he wanted.

He was humbled.

But now, Horan has no such worries, in the best shape of his football career and eager to play a major role in what everyone at Campbell figures will be a breakthrough season.

"Last summer, as a team we didn't have the same urgency we do this time around," Horan says. "The excitement level is definitely up. And the desire to work hard has been contagious."

Despite two seasons filled with losing - 18 defeats in 22 games - the optimism in Buies Creek has been widespread with players dreaming big, then putting in extra work to make their visions a reality.

If losing, as Doc Dizzy suggests in the 1984 classic "The Natural", is a disease as contagious as polio or bubonic plague, then the players in Campbell's locker room have seemingly discovered a tonic to fight the discouragement.

Heightened effort throughout the offseason has been one part of the equation. Equally important has been Steele's insistence that his players keep tabs on the program's progress as much as they track its success.

The Camels talk often about climbing the mountain. And while they are still a long way from the peak - their biggest goal being a Pioneer League championship - the Camels also realize they've ascended a long way since the program's rebirth in 2006.

"We live in a society today that is so instant gratification," Steele said. "You get in the drive-thru at McDonald's and it's, 'Give me my food now.' But with a football program, that just doesn't happen. Changing or creating a culture in a program is a process. And I think we finally convinced our kids that the process is important. We need to take certain steps. And if you miss steps, you're never going to be what you set out to be."

After a 1-10 struggle in 2008, Campbell tripled its win total last fall.

No team celebrates a 3-8 season. But in context, the Camels' 3-8 run proved encouraging.

Of all the lessons learned, Steele believes his players began understanding the investment required at the Division I level.

"Our kids found out how much of a grind college football was," he says. "It takes a different commitment. College football can be fun. And it should be. But it's a grind between Saturdays when you play. Our kids realized that and started to figure out how you walk through that."

The Camels also figured out how to stay competitive late into games. And perhaps, more important than anything else, with defeats of Methodist, Morehead State and Valparaiso, they sampled the taste of winning.

That, Horan acknowledges, is what drove him and so many teammates to root down in Buies Creek for the summer.

"We all want that feeling again," the Fayetteville native said.

Added Steele: "When I was a little boy, my daddy told me I could buy a bicycle. But he started by taking me to the bank and opening up an account. And I put $1 in here, $2 in there. Then that day when I could finally go in and pull out that money to get that bicycle, there was a feeling of euphoria. It was something you worked for. This is the same way."