By Duane Cochran
For the Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT —
And so it begins.
Fairmont State’s 2010 football season gets under way this week when the Falcons report for fall camp.
Move in day for FSU’s players is Tuesday. On Wednesday the squad will go through screenings with athletic trainer Bob Cable and NCAA compliance meetings with associate athletic director and compliance coordinator Ray Bonnett before reporting for a team meeting at 7 p.m.
On Thursday morning the team will under go physical testing with strength coach John Marano before taking the field for its first practice Thursday afternoon from 3-5 p.m.
“We’re all pretty excited that we’re finally getting this thing under way,” said FSU fourth-year coach Mike Lopez. “The NCAA pushed us back a week this year. Usually we’re in camp by now, but with us not starting the season until Sept. 2 we had to delay camp a week.
“The nice thing that did, though, was give our staff an extra week to prepare and get ready, but we’ve really only got about 11 days of camp before school starts so we’ve got to be teaching, preparing our kids and taking full advantage of every minute we’re in camp.”
Lopez says he’s pleased for the most part with the work his players put in during the offseason. A large number of upperclassmen and true freshman were in Fairmont for much of the summer working out together at different times.
“We feel like our summer program with the guys committing to lifting and running here on their own was good,” said Lopez. “I think it was the best summer we’ve had since I’ve been the head coach.
“We had a lot of freshmen come in and commit over half of their summers to being here and working out and I think that’s a good sign. I’m really excited about this freshman class. Our upperclassmen welcomed them and worked with a lot of them this summer and I think that’s going to lead to good things for us.”
FSU finished last fall with a disappointing 3-8 overall record and a 3-5 West Virginia Conference mark. The Falcons ended up sixth in the nine-team league in 2009.
Offensive woes have plagued FSU the last several seasons, but with the addition of new offensive coordinator Bryan Fisher this spring and the signing of former Fairmont Senior High School standout quarterback Logan Moore, Lopez feels like this fall the Falcons will be a tougher team to defend.
“I’ve always said the first key to having a successful program is having good leadership and with our upperclassmen I think we have that,” said Lopez. “We have a bunch of seniors and juniors who I honestly believe are tried of not being successful. They want to turn things around and they want to win.
“The biggest offseason change we experienced within our program without question was the addition of Bryan Fisher. We saw in the spring he’s legit. He’s an excellent football coach. He’s demanding, but he knows what’s required for us to be successful on offense and he’s going to demand that from his players.
“I can’t make any big predictions, but I think in 2010 we’re going to be a much different and much better football team on offense.”
On Monday the West Virginia Conference is scheduled to release its annual preseason coaches’ poll.
The Falcons will open the 2010 season Thursday, Sept. 2 on the road against Clarion (Pa.) University in 6 p.m. game at Memorial Stadium.
