Reloading for a new football year

As a senior class leaves, Rocco focuses on future

As the final seconds disappeared off the clock in Liberty University’s conference championship matchup against Stony Brook, the Flames saw their fifth consecutive Big South Championship, the golden ticket to the post season, disappear with them in their 31-41 defeat. To head coach Danny Rocco, the loss has become a stepping stone to the future, not a hindering boulder, in the grand scheme of the Flames’ football program. Already, the team’s new slogan “Earn the right to win” has been posted throughout the football complex.

“The first thing you always have do is put the season in perspective. Though we didn’t accomplish our specific goal of winning the conference championship, we still had a successful season,” Rocco said, citing the team’s recovery from a 1-3 start to put themselves in a position to win the conference in their season finale clash versus Stony Brook.

But already, Rocco and the team’s attention has advanced to next season. Liberty, who looks to continue its string of six consecutive winning seasons and earn back its conference title, will have to replace an outstanding senior class to do so. Those 17 seniors leave the school with quite a legacy, having won the second most games of any senior class with a record of 33-12 and a conference record of 20-3, while also capturing three conference championships.

Some would call it rebuilding. For Rocco, it’s reloading.

“The reality is that every year you are rebuilding your team,” Rocco said.” You have to redefine and remake your team every year, regardless of the amount of seniors and the amount of production you lose.”

“That element of developing chemistry and guys taking on new roles is really one of the more exciting parts of the process really, to see who is going to step and take the shoes of someone who just departed the program,” Rocco said. “We have numerous quality candidates to fill those roles.”

Offensively, the Flames return five starters, with the team’s offensive line and backfield remaining primarily the same. The team’s two leading rushers at tailback, Aldreakis Allen and Sirchauncey Holloway, who averaged a combined 88 rushing yards per game, are returning, as well as the team’s two guards and center. Accordingly, the team’s offense could see a shift to a more run-oriented approach next season.

“We’ll be a little more under center at quarterback, a little more ‘run first, play action’ mentality like we were when I first got here,” Rocco said. “You gotta adjust and tweak your systems to the talent you have in place. We have to make sure we can run behind the senior-laden offensive line with our experienced backs. That’s our starting point offensively.”

With that, Rocco hopes to fix one of the team’s struggles this season, turnovers. In games verses North Carolina State and Stony Brook, the team finished minus five and minus three in the turnover margin, respectively. Rocco hopes that a consistent running approach will stifle turnovers and take the pressure off of a young pass-catch core.

And replacing players such as quarterback Mike Brown (2664 yards, 18 TD’s) and Chris Summers (64 rec., 7 TD’s) won’t be easy, as the duo formed one of the most prolific combinations in school history. On the receiving end, one rising senior, Pat Kelly (40 receptions, 3 TD’s), and redshirt junior Greg Pratt are expected to fill the void left by the departure of Summers and B.J. Hayes (28 rec., 1 TD). At quarterback, Liberty will now hand the reigns of the conference’s second ranked offense to rising senior Tyler Brennan.

“(Brennan) has the most experience. He’s a big, strong physical player (with) a strong arm. I’m really excited about what he can do. We’ve run with a number of different styles of offense with different styles of quarterbacks,” Rocco said. “(Brennan) seems to be next in that line.”

Defensively, the Flames remain mostly intact, retaining seven of the 11 starters of a unit that surrendered the fewest points in the conference and was also second in total yards allowed. Still, the team is faced with finding leaders to replace two team captains, defensive back Brandon Robinson (61 tackles) and linebacker Mike Connolly (40 tackles, 1 interception). Rocco intends on keeping a watchful eye throughout the offseason, anticipating players to become leaders.

“Sometimes, you’re pleasantly surprised by what you see,” Rocco said. “We have a lot of guys that take a lot of pride in what they do and a lot of guys who have enough talent to take on those roles. But (leadership) is something that has to be earned.”

And next February, Rocco and his assistants will be looking to sign the next generation of Flames contributors, with the start of the month marking the beginning of signing recruits.

“We’re gonna try to get some receivers in here,” Rocco said. “Other than that, we’re gonna try to find a little bit of balance in other positions.”

The Flames will need to get their team chemistry flowing quickly in 2012. The team opens its year with a highly anticipated matchup at the ACC’s Wake Forest. Games against Norfolk State and Lehigh, both of whom qualified for this year’s FCS playoffs, will follow soon after. For Rocco, 2012 will be about getting back to the basics and bringing home some hardware that’s missing.

“We’ve had something taken away from us this year that we’ve had here in this building for the past four teams, the conference trophy, and we’ve gotta be able to earn the right to have it back here. The only way to do that is to work hard and put in the commitment it takes to be successful.”