BUIES CREEK, N.C.-After posting the program's first winning season since its restart four years ago, Campbell heads into the 2012 season with high hopes.
2011 marked a breakthrough year for the Fighting Camels on the gridiron, finishing 6-5 overall and 5-3 in Pioneer Football League play, marking the team's highest win total since restarting the program in 2008. The Camels led the PFL in rushing for the third straight year, gaining 210.45 yards per game, ranking 18th in the nation, while five individuals ranked in the league's top 20 in rushing in Carl Smith, C.J. Oates, Jordan Cramer, Braden Smith and Kurt Odom.
Three Camels earned national recognition for outstanding performances in the classroom with Kurt Odom, Michael Rudisill and Colten Burris being CoSIDA First Team District 3 selections.
Senior fullback Jordan Cramer and senior offensive lineman Sam Issermoyer were selected to the All-PFL First Team for the first time in their careers. The Camels also placed two players on the second team in senior offensive guard Branden Burt and junior safety Brandon Chandler. The Camels had seven players earn Honorable Mention All-PFL recognition last season in senior wide receiver Paul Constantine, senior running back Carl Smith, senior offensive lineman Jeremy Hill, senior defensive lineman Jeremiah Robinson, senior defensive lineman Randel Herring, sophomore defensive back Steth Monroe and senior punter Ted Moore.
Five players earned spots on PFL All-Academic Teams, with Kurt Odom, Jordan Cramer, Colten Burris and Michael Rudisill earning First Team honors, and Sam Eberwein taking Second Team accolades. In addition, 56 players made the PFL's Academic Honor Roll, a program high.
This season, led by nine returning starters between the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, including senior defensive backs Brandon Chandler and Steth Monroe, the Camels will try to carry that momentum forward as the program rises through the PFL and FCS ranks.
Five of those starters come on the defensive side, led by 2012 Preseason All-PFL performers Chandler and Monroe.
"Brandon and Steth are really good football players and are really strong defensively," said Campbell head coach Dale Steele. "They've been steady players for us, and it's exciting to have two young men that other people in the conference think are good enough to be that type of player. We're very proud of for what they've achieved, and we look for big things out of them this fall."
Chandler, a Second Team All-PFL selection in 2011 and two-time All-Conference Honorable Mention honoree, totaled 50 tackles for the season, adding a pair of interceptions and a team-best 814 all purpose yards.
Monroe earned Honorable Mention All-Pioneer Football League honors in 2011, and was named to the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) preseason Defensive Back Award watch list in June. The senior led the league with 15 passes defensed last season, adding four interceptions, good for second in the league. Monroe also recorded 4.5 tackles per game to rank among his position's leaders in the category.
Redshirt junior linebacker Mike Rudisill was a First Team Academic All-PFL and CoSIDA Academic All-District III First Team member last season, collecting 48 tackles, 5.5 for loss and two sacks for the year.
On the offensive side, senior quarterback Braden Smith, a two-time Pioneer Football League Offensive Player of the Week last season and 2012 PFL Academic Honor Roll member, also returns. Smith passed for several school single season records in his first season as a Camels with 1,965 yards, 14 touchdowns, 179 completions, 313 attempts and total offense at 2,254 yards.
Junior running back Kurt Odom collected 534 all purpose yards as a sophomore in 2011, also earning First Team Academic All-PFL, CoSIDA Academic All-District III and PFL Academic Honor Roll honors. The Robbinsville, N.C. native registered 288 yards rushing, 57 receiving and 176 yards returning kicks.
Senior Daniel Ritter, the lone returning starter on the offensive line, is a senior from Ramseur, N.C. with experience in 20 total games in a CU uniform in his career. Ritter started six games as a junior in 2011 before a season-ending injury, helping the Camels to 1,194 yards and nine touchdowns rushing in the Camels' first six contests.
Those returning starters, and 32 returning lettermen in all, will mix with 35 newcomers for the Camels in 2012.
PFL Preseason Coaches Poll
Campbell has been picked fifth in the Pioneer Football League's 2012 Preseason Coaches Poll, as announced by the conference office.
"We're excited that people respect our program enough to place us in the middle of the conference," said Steele. "Every week is a challenge in this conference, as I've said since I came here. On any given week, any team can beat any other team. I think that's also the case going into this year."
San Diego took the top spot in the poll, receiving eight of 10 first place votes for 79 points. Drake, which also took a first place vote, was slotted second with 71 points, while Jacksonville was slated third with 65 tallies.
Dayton was also given a first place vote, and posted 56 points for fourth in the poll. Marist (6th, 42 points), Butler (7th, 34), Morehead State (8th, 27), Davidson (9th, 20) and Valparaiso (10th, 11) rounded out the poll.
"There are a number of good football teams that could be right in the mix with certain breaks and other variables that happen over the course of the season," said Steele. "This could easily change during the year through the week to week conference schedule."
Lights Added at Barker-Lane Stadium
The installation of lights has also been completed at Campbell's Barker-Lane Stadium / Ed Gore Field.
"We are very appreciative to the many Campbell alums and friends who have supported this effort to bring night football to campus," said CU Director of Athletics Bob Roller. "This opens so many doors for selected Thursday night games and later starts on Saturday will enhance weekends such as Homecoming and Family Weekend."
"Night football will be an exciting addition to Campbell University, to Buies Creek, and the greater area," said Steele. "Being able to play at night will allow our fans and our student body an option that will make for an exciting atmosphere week in and week out. It's another first for this program, and I think it's going to be a great experience for our football players and our fans."
The four 110-foot poles, two on each side of the stadium, feature 42 each and 168 total fixtures, providing 100 foot candle on all portions of the playing field.
"This has been a goal of ours for the past year to gain more media exposure for all of Campbell University, and these broadcast-quality lights will allow the possibility of bringing other sporting events to Barker-Lane Stadium," added Roller. "We feel that football in the fall at Barker-Lane Stadium will be a great experience for our students and fans."
The stadium's permanent lights will allow the Camels more options for practice times, as well as greater flexibility for broadcasts and other sporting events.
The Schedule
With the newly installed lights, Campbell will begin its 2012 football schedule with the program's first ever Thursday night game at Barker-Lane Stadium, kicking off an 11-game slate featuring six home contests.
CU's 2012 schedule will feature eight Pioneer Football League games, including four in Buies Creek. Campbell will be opening at home for the third time in five seasons, and for the first time under lights.
Campbell will also host UVA-Wise, Davidson and Drake in night games, while Valparaiso and Marist will be 1 p.m. home kickoffs. In addition to Shorter and UVA-Wise, the Camels will also travel to Old Dominion during its nonconference schedule. CU's 2012 schedule will feature eight PFL games, including four in Buies Creek.
"We feel like our schedule is going to be a challenge," said Steele. "We anticipate the same type of games as we had last year in terms of each game is going to be tough and hard fought with the need to play hard each and every week to come away with wins. That is the reason why spring practice and two-a-days are going to be so important for our football team this year. We need to make sure that we are doing the things necessary to put ourselves in a position to win next fall."
Quarterbacks
At quarterback, Campbell returns 2011 starter Braden Smith, as well as experienced backup Dakota Wolf, who has seen game time both of his seasons with the program. Smith set multiple offensive records for the Camels in his first year with the program, and the senior looks to better those numbers during his final campaign in Buies Creek.
"We're very fortunate to be deep at the quarterback position," said Steele. "We have two experienced quarterbacks. Braden Smith will be in his second year in the offense, which will obviously help him to be more effective in leading the football team, having been through spring practice now and a season last year. It will also allow us to give him more freedom in the offense. We expect big things out of him. Dakota Wolf also comes back. We have no drop off when Dakota comes into the football game. He continues to grow as a decision maker and as a leader."
"Nick Potts has a good grasp of the offense and there are certain things we can do with him and be effective," added Steele. "He understands and knows the offense, and his eyes are very valuable on the sidelines. He gives us a great deal of depth at that position. Then Luke Sirgo and Cory Benedetto will both be in learning situations this year."
Running Backs
Campbell lost its top three rushers from a year ago in Carl Smith, C.J. Oates and Jordan Cramer, but return Kurt Odom, who will carry the load as a junior in 2012. The Camels have led the PFL in rushing three straight years, posting 210.5 yards per game last season, ranking 18th in the nation.
"Running back has been a position in the past where we've been extremely deep," said Steele. "We're in a unique position where we still have some very experienced guys after losing our seniors last year, but we're just not very deep at the moment. Kurt Odom has a tremendous amount of game experience and talent, but after that we have a lot of unknowns. Josh Williams played at times last year at the position, has played a lot of special teams for us, and carried a lot of the load during the spring. But he's still an unknown, and we'll need him to step up."
"At fullback, where we lost Jordan Cramer, we really don't have a returner," said Steele. "We're looking at one of the freshmen, either Dalton Dillon, Logan Rosborough or Dylan Peebles, who redshirted last season, to come through and play at a high level. Also, one of them is going to have to be a solid backup. We have a number of players, and since we run the ball so much, we need depth at the tailback position. We also have Kyle Clark, Vince Mantuo, Ryan Davis, and the freshmen that are coming in, Damien Booe, Akile Jones and Derice Mills. So two-a-days will be very important in what we're going to be doing.
Wide Receivers
Despite losing four year starters Paul Constantine and Harrison Jordan, CU returns a solid group of wide outs that look to reset the program highs from last season. The Camels set modern day program records for receptions (181), yards (1,989), receiving touchdowns (14) and receptions per game (16.5), while the Campbell offense produced its most effective season to date. While toppling the school's reception yards total by well over 300 yards, the CU offense set standards for total offense, touchdowns, offense per game, all purpose yards, as well as scoring.
"Wide receiver is a position that we haven't been really deep in, and even though we lost a couple of guys, I feel like our experience level there is higher than it's been, overall," said Steele. "Chad McMichael, Jonathan Rogers, Jabri Ridenhour and Jordan Hildreth all had really good springs, and we feel very strongly that they can play at the level we need them to play."
"We're still not as deep at the position as we need to be, but AJ Artis certainly showed that he can play in the spring," added Steele. "His progress through two-a-days will determine how much that is. Ben Bolling has shown that he is extremely talented at times. The remainder of these guys, TJ McGee, Darius Carter, Nate Landi, have been a little inconsistent at times. We do have another incoming player, a transfer from South Carolina, Riley Gallaher. We expect him to step up and be able to help us. We will see how our freshmen progress during two-a-days, but we need to add depth there."
Tight Ends
Campbell returns its starter at tight end in redshirt junior Alex Green, who hauled in five passes for 60 yards for the season, including two catches for 10 yards and a touchdown in a win at Marist. Experienced senior Christian Rogers will also add depth at the position.
"We are experienced at tight end and are really deep there with Alex Green and Christian Rogers, who both have played and been effective," said Steele. "We also have Hunter Somerville, who had a really good spring. We also have guys coming in that will compete in Alvin Adebule, Shawn Millsap and Tuck Benefield."
Offensive Line
No position will see the overhaul like that of the offensive line. The CU offensive line returns one starter, senior Daniel Ritter, but loses its other four starters in Troy Horan, Sam Issermoyer, Jeremy Hill and Branden Burt, who combined for over 120 career starts. The Camels do, however, return a talented group of young o-linemen, including Nick Beaver, Dalton Brown, Will Sawyer and Adam Stern, who all saw significant action last season.
"A lot of these guys played at times last season, but a lot of them didn't have to carry a full load besides Daniel Ritter," said Steele. "Nick Beaver played quite a bit for us, and of course Dalton Brown as well. Even though we've lost a lot of experience up front, we think this is a talented group, they just haven't played a lot of snaps yet. Will Sawyer will start at tackle, and we'll back him up with Dylan McSteen. Jacob Brewer will start at guard, and even though he didn't play last year, is a very talented lineman who we feel will be able to contribute a lot."
"Dalton Brown moves into the very important center position after a really good spring," said Steele. "We were able to play him some last year at guard, and that helped us. He was able to learn a lot from Troy Horan, learning how to move the offense and get us in the right schemes. Both Adam Stern and Beaver have traveled and played, with Beaver starting some last year. So, this group is not totally devoid of experience, they just don't have as many snaps under their belts as we had in the past. Daniel Ritter is obviously our most experienced lineman and will start at tackle. Harris Hite, who we feel is a very young and good offensive lineman, will back up Beaver at tackle and add depth for us on either side. We're expecting some of the freshmen to add depth for us. We just don't want to get in a situation where we have to play them a lot early."
Cornerbacks
Steth Monroe will anchor a talented but young group of corners. The senior, who picked off four passes as a junior in 2011, will be joined by redshirt freshmen Aaron Nichols and Jaylan Adlam, both athletic Georgia natives.
"Steth Monroe continues to get better and better," said Steele. "Nichols also had a really good spring for us. Jaylan Adlam will also play corner, giving us three solid players at that position. We'll try to determine who will be the fourth corner out of a really talented young incoming group during two-a-days."
Safeties
One of the deepest groups for the Camels will be at safety with the high caliber Brandon Chandler leading the way. Another senior, Paul Pizzuti, as well as Jeff Swinton give Campbell a plethora of experience to cover the safety position. Redshirt freshman Justice Walker, as well as second year players Luke Hill and Jake Barr will also see time on the field, adding depth.
"Brandon Chandler returns, and he's one of the most talented players on the football field, as well as experienced," said Steele. "He had a really good spring, and he certainly excites us with what he does. We'll back him up with Jake Barr and Luke Hill, who both made progress during the spring with our defense."
"We come in with a new safety in Justice Walker, who we feel like he is going to be a really good football player," said Steele. "Again, not the experience that we'd like to have, but he is very talented. Brandon Stegall will back him up there. Our whip linebacker will be Paul Pizzuti, and we'll back him up with Jeff Swinton. Paul is a very talented football player who's played in a lot of games, and so has Jeff. So we have a lot of good depth at that position."
Linebackers
Campbell will have to replace longtime starters Milton Brown and Chris Price at linebacker, but bring back Mike Rudisill, who ranked ninth on the team in tackles with 48 last season, adding two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Returners Colten Burris, Matt Farris and Hassan Williamson also highlight the position, giving the Camels multiple looks.
"Colten Burris came on and became a starter for us in the spring," said Steele. "We have depth in that position, and all of the players we have at that position have played there. Burris and Hassan Williamson have played a lot, and Chinedo Onuoha will be able to play on special teams and will give us a lot of depth there. Both Mike Rudisill and Matt Farris are really talented and solid players for us with a lot of experience."
Defensive Line
After graduating three of four starters on the defensive line last season in Randall Herring, Freddie Shine and Jeremiah Robinson, the Camels will look returners with minimal experience, as well as newcomers to fill the void. Junior defensive end Taurean Lynch stands as the only returning starter at the position, and will look to expand on his 23 tackles, 3.5 for a loss, with 1.5 sacks from a year ago.
"Where we are hurting right now is the defensive line," said Steele. "Right now, coming into camp we'll start Lucas Smith at the tackle position and Isaac Scott on the end. The nose guard position will be a freshman at this point. We recruited a large number of defensive linemen, Bobby Gazak, Brendon Grants, Dwan Hanshaw, Ryan Bristle, Matt Hogrefe and Dustin Young, and we'll just have to see which one can play that position during two-a-days."
"We came into the spring with a good player in Taurean Lynch, as well as talented young guys in Andrew Yost and Kevin Collins, who don't have a lot of playing time, but they are certainly talented enough to play the position," added Steele.
Special Teams
With familiar faces in kicker Adam Willets, punter Ted Moore and long snapper Austin Tart lost to graduation, the Campbell special teams units will also see changes in 2012. The Camels do return senior placekicker Sam Eberwein, who has extensive experience with 21 career games under his belt.
"I think Adam Lutz made great progress in the spring as a punter," said Steele. "He was able to concentrate on that and I think we will be solid there. He'll be backed up by a freshman, Mike McFerran. Our long snapping duties will be taken over by Danny Dillon. He's picking up where Austin Tart left off, and we're not missing a beat with him there. He certainly has been everything and more of what we thought he was going to be. Sam Eberwein had a very solid spring, and we'll look to either Lutz or McFerran to back him up. Right now, we're solid at those positions, especially with Eberwein having so much experience."
The Camels open preseason camp on Thursday, August 2 in Buies Creek.
