Tag Archives: spring football

Football tailgate needs more restrooms

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I just wanted to make mention of yet another CMU football tailgate that has failed to impress.

Setting aside the rules that were put in place prior to last season, as well as the rather cold temperatures for mid-April, my real complaint here is the lack of restrooms on Saturday.

While I found it funny that the police were making students turn their music down in the middle of a parking lot with maybe 30 cars, there was nothing funny about four port-a-potties and huge lines in front of each one.

I thought that, perhaps, I had stumbled upon the construction site outside of Rose Arena.

Four port-a-potties? Four?

I mean, I know the new regulations put a cap on the amount of alcohol allowed into tailgate, but that doesn’t mean intoxicated (and non-intoxicated) students aren’t going to have to use the restrooms.

I waited in line for almost 30 minutes to use one of the four restrooms available to me, and heard the majority of the students complaining.

The tailgate was already lame with continuation of the new rules, as well as the bitter weather; however, I feel those in charge of the tailgate could have at least planned a bit better, in terms of available restrooms for tailgaters.

Maybe they’ll get it right by fall. Then again, I’ll be graduated by then, and have this ”failgate” as a lasting memory of my final student tailgate at CMU.

Matthew DeVries

Saginaw senior


When opportunity arises: Radcliff, quarterbacks compete to replace Dan LeFevour

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CMU has a question mark at the quarterback position for the first time in four years.

After setting school, Mid-American Conference and NCAA records, four-year starter Dan LeFevour exhausted his eligibility from CMU to enter the NFL Draft and pursue a professional football career.

Jake May/Staff Photographer

Waiting in the wings are sophomore Ryan Radcliff, junior Derek Rifenbury and redshirt freshman A.J. Westendorp, all of whom were on the roster last season.

“(Dan)’s stretched the standard very high,” said coach Dan Enos. “He’s been a tremendous role model for these guys to watch in how he’s handled his pressure and himself.”

While not officially naming a starter, Enos said Radcliff’s experience has put him ahead of the other two at the position right now.

“They’re all in the mix — it’s really too early to tell,” said Enos. “They’ve all done some good things. If I had to say anything, Ryan’s probably a little ahead of the other two just in terms of poise and his ability to function within the offense.”

RADCLIFF

Radcliff, a 6-foot-2 sophomore from Sherwood, Ohio, is in his second year of eligibility. He redshirted in 2008 and served as LeFevour’s backup in 2009.

As a sophomore, Radcliff went 10-of-21 for 115 yards and two interceptions in seven games. Most of his action came at the end of CMU’s 48-0 win against Alcorn State on Sept. 19 and 31-10 loss at Boston College on Oct. 31.

“It’s definitely a plus,” said quarterbacks coach Jay Johnson. “Anytime you’re in that type of environment and you have to go out and take snaps, that enough is going to help you.”

Thus far, Radcliff has taken snaps with the first team and took more snaps than Rifenbury and Westendorp at the three CMU spring practices.

“I’m doing all right,” Radcliff said. “Right now, it’s just a big learning process of trying to get
used to all the terms and match them up with concepts. It’s nice to have other people in the
same boat as you.”

RIFENBURY

Rifenbury, a 6-foot-3 junior from Deerfield Beach, Fla., is CMU’s longest tenured quarterback on the roster. Now in his fourth year with the team — he also redshirted his freshman year — he has not taken a single snap in a game.

Despite the inexperience, Johnson considers Rifenbury the most mobile quarterback of the group.

“It’s what I’ve been waiting for the entire time. I don’t want to get cocky or anything, I just want to control what I can control and do what I can do,” Rifenbury said. “It’s a lot of new stuff and I think I’m doing pretty well. I just have to continue learning it and carrying out what I got to do to make plays.”

WESTENDORP

A.J. Westendorp, a 6-foot-1 freshman from Holland Christian High School, redshirted last season after committing to CMU as a late signee to former coach Butch Jones’ 2009 recruiting class.

“This system has a lot more versatility, but it’s going to be a lot more complicated,” Westendorp said. “Instead of learning one drop from shotgun, you got to learn every play with two different drops. You have to be ready for either one, which keeps the defense on its heels, but it forces the quarterback to thing a little bit more.”

Enos said whoever wins the position should focus on what they do best rather than trying to match LeFevour’s productivity.

“These guys can’t try to be him — they’re not him — and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Enos said. “Everybody’s got to be their own personality. Ryan may have to make plays differently than Dan did, and that’s OK. As coaches, we have put them in a position to be successful.”

PRO DAY

Aside from LeFevour and wide receiver Antonio Brown, other seniors will take part in CMU’s Pro Day event Wednesday at the Indoor Athletic Complex.

Scouts from almost every NFL team are expected to be in attendance, along with several members of the local media.

LeFevour will throw to receivers for the first time since competing in the College All-Star Challenge on Feb. 6. He was named Most Outstanding Player for the North in the Senior Bowl on Jan. 30 in Mobile, Ala., the same location where CMU defeated Troy 44-41 in the GMAC Bowl earlier in the month.

Several scouting Web sites have LeFevour listed as a possible third-round draft pick, while Brown a fourth- or fifth-round pick. Brown has said he hopes to get drafted early, possibly as soon as the third round.

Players feel out new regime as spring football begins

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The CMU football team began spring practice on the heels of a bowl appearance and Mid-American Conference championship — like it has in several previous seasons.

But unlike recent years, where the players and coaching staff had little catching up to do, both sides had adjustments to make at the first two practices last week under new coach Dan Enos.

“It’s tough for even me and the seniors — you’ve got a completely new practice format and you kind of lead with the punches,” said senior linebacker Nick Bellore. “You want to ask
questions of the coaches and it’s tough, because you’re in a practice format and you have to
kind of keep moving. Obviously, there’s some growing pains just learning new systems, but it’s going as well as it can go.”

Not only were players making adjustments to the new regime, but Enos and the rest of his staff were still trying to get familiar with their current roster.

“We have a lot of guys eager to learn our new systems,” Enos said. “There was a lot of anxiety from our players — they wanted to get out and see what we were going to do offensively and defensively — but I think, now, people are starting to settle in.

“Players want to know that the guys that coach them can help them get better, and these guys have established right away that they are able to make our players better and achieve all of their goals.”

Enos, serving as an offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and running backs coach before coming to CMU, spent most of his first time directing practice on the offensive side of the ball.

“I’ve been preparing for this job my entire career,” Enos said. “And just like I tell the players, everybody’s going to get an opportunity someday to play and you have to prepare yourself.
All those days, all those meetings and all those practices so that, when you do get your chance, you’re prepared and successful.”

Mild weather on Thursday allowed CMU to spend the first day of practice outside at
Kelly/Shorts Stadium while rainy and cold conditions Saturday forced the team to move into the Indoor Athletic Complex for the second day. A lot of team, passing and one-on-one drills were used to get players ready for full-contact practices this week.

“We’ve actually installed quite a bit of offense and quite (a bit) of defense in two days,” Enos said. “We’ve been treating it like a normal practice — you just don’t get to take anybody to the ground.”

Prior to Thursday’s practice, the players were treated to a speech from legendary coach and former CMU Athletics Director Herb Deromedi that stressed the importance of spring practice. Deromedi said each player should use the 15 practices to improve and finish a better player than he came in as.

“Obviously, there’s going to be a lot of improvement because you’re starting from square one ,learning a new offense and defense,” Bellore said. “We have no choice but to improve significantly practice-to-practice to have a chance to compete next year because this is the learning time of the year.”

NOTES

Former CMU players and NFL Draft hopefuls Dan LeFevour, Antonio Brown and Bryan Anderson were in attendance for the team’s postseason awards banquet Sunday. All three are scheduled to take part in CMU Pro Day on Wednesday.

The team begins practicing in full pads Tuesday, leading into the spring game April 17.