Outlook for NU football is Rocky-solid
"Rebuilding" wasn't the right word.
Northeastern has a 3,000-yard crater where its all-time leading rusher used to be, and coach Rocky Hager will have to draw up a new blueprint for a completely different offense.
But after the Huskies' first day of practice yesterday at Parsons Field, he didn't feel as if he was doing reconstruction.
He felt like he was moving forward.
"This is the year of rededication," he said. "We had some things going on last year through the season that were significantly distracting and we battled through that. We've endured some of the tests that you don't ever want to have to go through."
His players won't have to worry about playing this year, and at the same time trying not to wonder about next year.
They won't have to block out the rumors and hearsay of last fall that the football program was in jeopardy.
Athletic director Peter Roby reassured players, coaches, and alumni earlier this year that football had a future at the university as long as the school could raise funds.
"The program's in great shape," Hager said. "We've regenerated some great interest and enthusiasm about our alumni group, significant efforts in trying to put together fund-raising programs and packages and enthusiasm. I think we're in a good place."
Northeastern, a 3-8 team last year, was picked fifth out of the six North Division teams in the Colonial Athletic Association preseason poll, largely because of question marks in the backfield. Senior running back Alex Broomfield will replace record-setting running back Maurice Murray, and junior quarterback Anthony Orio will become the focal point of the offense. The Huskies also have a defense that gave up 26.5 points per game, usually on account of the 198.0 passing yards it allowed.
Hager is 15-29 in four seasons with NU, but at least part of that can be blamed on scheduling; the Huskies traveled to Virginia Tech two seasons ago, and they went cross-country to play UC-Davis last season.
They'll have to travel for four of their first five games this year, and Hager knows he's taking it on the chin with the season opener at Ball State and the Sept. 30 meeting at Syracuse, but the money Northeastern gets from those games is crucial.
"Let's face reality," Hager said. "If we don't have enough to cover the costs, we have to find a way to make the money so we can cover the cost. That's part of the deal. The Syracuse-Ball State combination is an essential part for us to be able to make sure that we can take care of things."
Scheduling those teams, Hager said, also means the Huskies can fly out of Logan Airport at 10 a.m. instead of 6 a.m.
"A 6 a.m. flight, we're at the airport at 4," he said. "That's ugly."
Regardless of the hardships, he's still wide-eyed about the program he came to five years ago.
"The one thing we've got to understand is that it can't be a flash-in-the-pan kind of deal," he said. "It's got to be a steady and ongoing effort and one that sustains the program, and then let's grow it. I think our potential is limitless."
With the return of All-America senior quarterback Steve Armstrong and 1,900-yard junior back Jarom Freeman, Southern Connecticut received all but one first-place vote from the Northeast-10 coaches as the pick to capture the conference's regular-season title. 