Central Michigan University Athletics
Head Coach Brian Kelly Answers Fans' Questions
8/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 17, 2005
Central Michigan University head football coach Brian Kelly will field your questions regarding the Chippewa program throughout the course of the season right here on cmuchippewas.com. To submit a question to Coach Kelly, access the on-line form here. During the regular season, Ask Coach Kelly will be a weekly feature at www.cmuchippewas.com.
Compared to last year, what has been Kent Smith's greatest improvement? What are your expectations for him this season?
James
Clinton Township, MI
Coach Kelly: Kent's biggest improvements have come in the mental aspects of the game, including preparation, studying our offense and studying the opponent's defense. He also has a higher level of confidence in himself. My expectation of him is to compete as one of the best quarterbacks in the MAC. There are great quarterbacks in this league, and I believe Kent can have a breakout year and establish himself as one of those elite quarterbacks.
What kind of season do you expect from the offensive line after two starters were drafted into the NFL?
Steve
Chicago, IL
Coach Kelly: In Coach Quinn I trust! Seriously, great coaching and returning starters in Joseph Staley, Drew Mormino and Jeff Jenerou should provide us with the kind of offensive line play CMU followers have grown to expect.
What have we done to improve the outreach of the Chippewa Radio Network? It seems fewer and fewer stations are carrying CMU Football, especially in Southwest Michigan.
George
Plainwell, MI
Coach Kelly: We are constantly striving to provide more exposure to our football program. One of the ways in which we attempt to do that is by having our games broadcast on television and radio. The total number of radio networks carrying CMU football is smaller than it has been in the past, but the stations that are distributing our broadcast have a stronger signal that covers a greater area of the state. In other words, while fewer stations are part of the network, the stations currently in the network have the ability to reach a greater number of people.
Coach Kelly, in your opinion, what is your greatest attribute to this program? And what characteristics, and/or talents do you look for when recruiting players to come to CMU?
James
Detroit, MI
Coach Kelly: I have a clear plan of what I want to do here and where this program should go. I think one of my strongest attributes is the ability to communicate that plan to everyone involved in our program. And, I obviously take on an important role from the leadership end of things. We have three things that we look for in potential recruits: character, character and athleticism. Character gets more emphasis there because we want quality people involved in this program.
Coach, do you see any of the true freshmen having an impact this season? Looking forward to an exciting season - I think you have the ship headed in the right direction.
Al
Hale, MI
Coach Kelly: We're actually going to try our best not to play any true freshmen this season. Quite honestly, these kids will be more valuable as fifth-year seniors than they are as freshmen. Now, with that being said, beating Toledo and winning the West Division is the bar that we have set as a staff. Anybody that can help us reach that goal is going to play.
