Central Michigan University Athletics
Talkin' Chippewa Football At MAC Media Day
7/26/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
CANTON, Ohio - John Bonamego will take his time, thank you, in answering the question that is front and center as the Central Michigan football team looks ahead to the 2017 season.
Who will play quarterback?
"We'll extend (the competition) as long as we have to," Bonamego said Wednesday at the annual Mid-American Conference Media Day at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "I think we're in a great situation."
It's a three-horse race between graduate student Shane Morris, who came to CMU from Michigan; Tony Poljan, a 6-foot-7, 225-pound redshirt freshman; and junior Tony Lazzaro, who waited in the wings a year ago behind standout Cooper Rush (now with the Dallas Cowboys) after transferring from Dodge City (Kan.) Community College.
Whoever gets the start when the Chippewas open on Aug. 31 at home against Rhode Island will be pulling the levers on a brand-new spread offense.
"(Poljan) had an excellent spring," Bonamego said. "Having Shane come in just gives us another quality player at that position. I frankly wish we had that same dynamic at every position on both sides of the ball. Competition is great for a football team. It breeds success.
"The third guy that no one talks about is Tommy Lazzaro. Tommy had a very good spring. Each of those guys has a little bit different skill set. They all bring a little bit something different to the table. Whoever's in there, we'll be able to cater the offense to their strength."
Bonamego is entering his third year in charge of his alma mater, and the Chippewas are 13-13 with two bowl appearances under the former CMU walk-on.
The Chippewas return eight starters on both offense and defense, including three on defense who earned All-MAC honors a year ago: linebacker Malik Fountain, cornerback Amari Coleman, and end Joe Ostman. Fountain and Coleman were first-teamers in 2016, while Ostman was second team.
"That's one of the hallmarks of CMU football," Bonamego said. "That's one of the things that we've always been known for, great defense. We're not far away from it, we've just got to get back to playing our style of defense."
And while most outside the program, or any college program, for that matter, focus on the offense, it's the defense that likely will determine how the Chippewas fare in 2017. It's on that side of the ball that CMU has long hung its hat, producing one of the MAC's storied programs.
"As long as the I'm the head coach here, I feel like our tradition in football sets the expectation," Bonamego said. "Our expectation is to compete for and win a MAC title and that won't ever change.
"The bar is set high, it stays high. It's a big responsibility to live up to that standard. It's been that way since (former coaches) Bill Kelly, Roy Kramer and Herb Deromedi and everyone else who has followed."
As is the custom on media day, Bonamego touched on a wide range of subjects. He was joined in representing CMU by senior tight end Tyler Conklin and Ostman.
Looking to rebound
The Chippewas ended the 2016 season with a 55-10 loss to an explosive Tulsa team in the Miami Beach Bowl. After a 5-2 start, the Chippewas lost five of their final six starts.
"When we came back off of winter break, that was the first thing I did with the team, challenged them," Bonamego said. "Not just about what happened in the game, but what happened in spring practice to all the way through the offseason and into the season."
Ostman said the loss in Miami stung, and the determination in looking ahead to '17 was immediate.
"Ever since we walked off that field in Miami against Tulsa we've been motivated," he said. "We got so hot early (in the season) and things kind of went in the wrong direction for us and we didn't finish the season the way we wanted to."
Ostman, who ranked second in the MAC with nine sacks a year ago, is in his fifth year in the program. Since his arrival on campus, the Chippewas are a combined 26-25.
"We've got to get over the hump," he said. "Since I've been here, we've been a six-, seven-win team and that's not good enough. That's not what we're working for. We're working to win the MAC.
"We've all got to have that desperation, to know that these opportunities -- you've got to take advantage of them."
Preseason poll
The Chippewas were picked to finish fifth in the six-team West Division in a poll of media who cover the league. The poll was released Wednesday morning.
"I'll give you the same answer every year; I don't really care," Bonamego said. "We've got to play the games, everybody has to play the games. They've got the poll, but I don't see anybody going home with a trophy today. That's going to be given out in Ford Field in December, and we hope to be there."
Taking the next step
Conklin enjoyed a breakout year in 2016, catching 42 passes for 560 yards and six touchdowns.
The senior from Chesterfield Township is in his fourth season with the program after transferring from Division II Northwood, where he played basketball. The 2016 season was his first as a starter, and this year he is on the 2017 Mackey Award Preseason Watch List. The award goes to the top tight end in college football.
"I feel like last year I was pretty raw," he said, adding that there is no single part of his game he focused on improving in the offseason, but rather he worked on "everything."
With the Chippewas' new spread offense, Conklin in particular and the tight end position in general will take on a more prominent pass-catching role.
"Route running's been key, especially in this new offense and with me being out there by myself as basically a big wide receiver," he said, adding that he fully recognizes that run-blocking is still a major part of the makeup of any good tight end.
Conklin figures to be a key piece in the receiving corps that includes the likes of Corey Willis, Mark Chapman and Brandon Childress, among others.
While there is plenty of experiencing in the receiving corps, the man delivering the ball is new. Rush was a four-year starter and left Mount Pleasant as one of the very best quarterbacks in program and league history.
There will be a transition to whomever calls the signals, Conklin said, and it is one that he and his fellow receivers have embraced.
"Coop had been there so long and we were just used to and comfortable with Coop and he was a familiar face in the locker room and back there behind center," Conklin said. "Tony's a young talented kid and Shane's got a little more experience and he's extremely talented. That's something that's going to be fought out in training camp. Whoever wins that battle they'll have a lot of weapons around them."
Don't forget the run game
The Chippewas will also return a load of experience at the running back position, led by senior Devon Spalding, who led CMU with 785 rushing yards and scored six touchdowns a year ago.
Among the others who will compete for touches out of the backfield are sophomore Romello Ross, who missed the 2016 season with an injury, and speedy sophomore Jonathan Ward.
"We'll run the ball," Bonamego said. "To think that we're just going to sling the ball around - we'll be a lot more balanced than people are giving us credit for."
Taking hold
With Bonamego emarking on his third year at CMU, his program now has a solid foundation, and the roster features 40 upperclassmen, 23 of whom are seniors.
"I really feel like the culture is changing, it has changed," Bonamego said. "it's really starting to take root. It's a large senior class, and there's strong leadership across the wide range.
"When you have leadership in your locker room, that's very, very impactful because it comes from your peers. With the example that the seniors are setting, and with how they've embraced that role, they've kind of dug their heels in, it gives me a lot of encouragement and makes me excited about the season."
As the program has evolved under Bonamego, the vibe has changed as well.
"Every team every year is going to be different," he said. "I think that the messages that they're getting from me and our coaching staff on a daily basis, sometimes it takes awhile for that to sink in, and sometimes you've got to learn some hard lessons."
Rivalry
As always, the the biggest game on the schedule is arch-rival Western Michigan. The Chippewas and Broncos are slated to square off on Nov. 1 in Kalamazoo.
Western Michigan is under new leadership with former Bronco quarterback Tim Lester succeeding P.J. Fleck, who left in the offseason for Minnesota. The Broncos finished 13-1 last season and won the MAC, with their only loss coming to Wisconsin in the Cotton Bowl.
Bonamego said the rivalry will not skip a beat with Lester in charge in Kalamazoo.
"I don't know that the rivalry can be more heated," Bonamego said when asked if the game takes on even greater weight what with former players leading their respective teams. "I think Tim coming in as a new coach, having played at Western, has a much better understanding of (the rivalry). … That's what it did for me. I know what the expectation is, I know what the rivalry means to our alumni, to our student body, to our fans, and to our players. I think he gets it."
Dinner with greatness
The league media day was moved to Canton this year from Ford Field in Detroit, where it had been held for several years. Construction at Ford Field necessitated the move.
That gave Ostman and Conklin an opportunity to tour the Hall of Fame, and they had a personal touch with greatness when they dined on Tuesday night in the Hall's Gold Jacket Room with NFL great and Akron alum Jason Taylor.
Taylor, who spent 15 years in the NFL primarily with the Miami Dolphins, is to be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Aug. 5.
"It was awesome to talk to him," said Ostman, who pumped Taylor for tips on playing defensive end. "He was just a great guy, really down to earth. I was able to ask him some advice on play style and what he liked to do to get ready for games.
"Talking to a Hall of Famer, one of the best to ever play this game, is an opportunity unlike any other. I was open and listening to everything he had to say, no doubt about it."
MAC success
MAC commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher pointed up several football successes during his speech to the media, coaches, league officials and players in attendance.
• In two of the last five years, a MAC team has earned an invitation to a New Year's Day bowl.
• In three of the last five NFL drafts, a player from a MAC school has been among the top five picks in the draft, including CMU tackle Eric Fisher, who went first overall to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013. Buffalo's Khalil Mack was taken with the fifth pick by the Oakland Raiders in 2014, while Western Michigan's Corey Davis was selected by the Tennessee Titans with the fifth pick in April.
• Eleven MAC players were selected in the 2017 draft, tying the record for the most in league history.
• Two of the top five players in ESPN's annual ranking of the NFL's top 100 players are from MAC schools, led by No. 4 Antonio Brown, a wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers who starred at CMU from 2007-09. Mack is fifth on the list. No other conference has more than one player in the top five.
