The less things change, the more they stay the same

By Alan Gerould, Senior Writer, BroncoBlitz

KALAMAZOO -- Even though the Bronco coaching staff has changed, the overriding impression or take away that I get after observing a few spring practices and visiting with Bronco players and coaches is that Bronco Football is pretty much business as usual.

"I'd be foolish to come in and make wholesale changes to a program that has had so much recent success," new Bronco Head Coach Tim Lester said. "We are going to tweak some things but by and large we want to continue those things that made this program so successful."

"Elite" is the response I would get from Bronco players the last few years when asking them how they were doing and so it was last week when I sat down with returning running backs Jarvion Franlin and Jamauri Bogan.

"Not much has changed," Franklin said of his upcoming senior season. "We still come in every day and work to change our best."

"Coach Lester had us in individually and talked to us about what we thought worked and what we thought could be improved," Bogan said. "He is not here to shake things up as much as he is to keep the program heading in the right direction. The fact that he, himself was an elite football player in this program not that long ago gives him a lot of instant credibility."

"Early on there will be a lot of teaching as we install the basic offense and defense," Lester said. "While the offense and defense will look similar at times to what you have seen in the past the signaling and language and playbook looks different and must be learned over from the beginning."

The Broncos will no doubt lean heavily on the dynamic duo of Jarvion and Jamauri to tote the ball this fall. The roommates combined for 2,314 yards on 427 carries in 2016 and expect to have plenty of cracks at it this fall.

"It all starts with the offensive line," Bogan said "We will miss Taylor (Moton) and Jackson (Day) but we have a lot of quality talent that is ready to take advantage of their opportunity this season."

The Bronco passing game is shrouded in a little more uncertainty with the graduation of quarterback Zach Terrell and its top three receivers, Corey Davis, Carrington Thompson and Michael Henry. The top two returning quarterbacks Tom Flacco and Jon Wassink, had a combined one attempt between them all of last season. Flacco did see action in six games last year, but mostly at mop up time or in Wildcat situations where he did net 80 yards rushing on 10 attempts. It is interesting to note that last season at Purdue University, where Lester was quarterback coach and Indiana, where Kevin Johns was the offensive coordinator, the programs were number one and two in the B1G in passing offense. In fact Indiana was ranked third in total offense in the B1G.

"I expect that they will battle into fall camp to see who opens up as the starter this season," Lester said. "Today Wassink had the better day but on Tuesday it was Flacco. They both have a great deal of talent and are capable with particular skill sets. What it boils down to is behavior and decision making. Which one consistently plays the best when the pressure is on."

The receiving corp will have a lot of fresh faces. Expect that Keishawn Watson, who like Lester and Davis before him, hails from Wheaton Warrenville South. D'Wayne Eskridge and Anton Curtis will be in the mix along with perhaps an unknown like incoming freshman Luke Sanders from Cathedral High School in Indianapolis.

The defense has many returning starters as well, with the notable exceptions of the graduated Keion Adams and the transferring linebacker Robert Spillane. But many players that had a huge impact last season including down lineman Andre Turner, Nathan Braster and Eric Assoua, linebackers Caleb Bailey and Asantay Brown, safety Justin Tranquill and corners Darrius Phillips and Sam Beal are all back and healthy.

The punting and kickoff team are in good hands with the return of Paw Paw native Derrick Mitchell and the return teams will be fine with MAC special team Player of the Year Darrius Phillips.

We are approximately half the way through spring ball that culminates with the spring game on April 15 and while there are a lot of decisions to be made before the Broncos head west next September to take on the Trojans, you can rest assured that this team will not look that much different from the team you loved last season.