It's 9:34 p.m. on Tuesday night. The offensive and defensive linemen are practicing footwork in the north and south end zones, respectively. The backs and receivers are squaring off against linebackers and defensive backs on seven-on-seven drills. New head coach Pat Cerroni's intensity is at mid-season form.
By 10:06, the lights of Titan Stadium have been turned off, practice is over and the players have begun filing off the field. Spring football practice is upon the Titans, and one issue on almost all of the players' minds is change.
Gone is seven-year head coach Phil Meyer to the University of Minnesota and senior standouts Joe Zander, Ryan Neff and Shawn Dahlke. In are Cerroni and a new way of thinking for the Titans.
"Developing structure and how we are going to practice next August, those are our two main goals (for spring practice)," Cerroni said. "We built some things into practice that we are going to learn how to compete and lead. That is what we are looking for."
Cerroni's intensity and style of coaching have created a buzz among Titan players.
"I think everyone is pretty excited, pretty jacked up about it," said Eric Stenbroten, 2006 second team All-WIAC linebacker. "I think everyone is kind of upbeat, kind of up-tempo, and I think it is going to be a real good year."
As the Titans try to improve on their 2006 record of 5-5 (3-4 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference), they will have a new offensive structure. Meyer's sometimes-maligned style of play calling has been replaced by new offensive coordinator Tom Rethman's more balanced and spread-out attack.
"We are going to open up the field a little more, more passes a game," said Kyle Kubasa, 2006 second team All-WIAC senior tight end. "It is going to help out (senior running back Andy Moriarty) in the long run. People are going to get a lot more catches and it is going to be a lot more diverse."
It is imperative for the Titans to keep Moriarty healthy as senior starting quarterback Joe Patek recovers from knee surgery, which kept him out of the last two games of 2006. Last season, Moriarty shouldered a majority of the Titans' offensive load as he ran for 972 yards on 216 carries, scoring 11 rushing touchdowns.
Cerroni thinks it is Rethman's time to take over the Oshkosh offense and show what he can do with it.
"Now it's his chance to shine, and I tell him that all of the time," Cerroni said. "This is his show now. It's going to be a lot of fun."
Getting back to practices and playing football has been a welcome change of pace for the Titans. For the past couple months, the team has spent three days a week conditioning early in the morning and four days a week lifting in the weight room. Many players agree it is nice to get away from the grind of the weight room and gym almost daily.
"It is awesome," Stenbroten said. "Going into the weight room every day is cool and all, but actually getting out here playing and throwing the football around a little bit is really nice."
Although the Titans lost a few key players last season, they return a solid offensive nucleus of Moriarty, Patek, Kubasa, senior wide receiver Steve Stoltz and senior offensive tackle Andy Versnik. One of the players impressing Cerroni the most during the early days of spring practice has been Stenbroten on the defensive side.
"Eric Stenbroten has kind of elevated himself into being a leader of this team," Cerroni said. "We finally are seeing guys elevate themselves into a leadership role. I think the (team's) attitude has been great."
Although he has gotten a taste of football early on in spring, Cerroni is in no rush to get the season started.
"Let's get through the next 13 (practices), then I'll be happy," he said. "Right now this is fine. Right now this is perfect, actually."
Because of the changes to the offense, attitude and coaching staff, not everybody wants to wait for the 2007 season to get started.
As Kubasa left, he said, "August can't come fast enough.
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