Mike Kramer knew what he needed to do entering this spring. And
he knew how he needed to do it.
Now, at the outset of Kramer's second spring training session as
Montana State's head football coach, Kramer's goals are clear.
"We're looking for results, period," Kramer said of what he wants
to see from his offense this spring. "We go into the spring as
the worst passing team in the Big Sky, and I want to come out as
one of the best. Our passing game has to kick it into gear. I
can't be more emphatic. It has to be effective. Now."
Two major additions to the program bolster Kramer's confidence.
First, he's added offensive coordinator Don Bailey. The former
Portland State quarterback brings to MSU good credentials - he
was offensive coordinator at Cal Poly last year, engineering a
large Mustang offensive improvement and mentoring among the best
quarterbacks (Seth Burford) and receivers (Kassim Osgood) in the
nation - and good pedigree, having played for and coached with
former Portland State and Boise State coach Pokey Allen. Bailey
will install his philosophy of a balanced offense, and most
importantly will allow Kramer to remove himself from the
day-to-day engineering of the Bobcat offense.
"I thought Don would be an outstanding addition to this program,
and I've been impressed," Kramer said. "He brings savvy and
expertise and a demanding attitude. In the area of the passing
game, he brings a fundamental level of confidence that was not
present in our program last year from the quarterbacks,
receivers, or pass blockers. All three of those areas will be
much better because of Don's confidence and expertise."
While Bailey's system and, as Kramer says, his mere presence
provides the infrastructure for MSU's offensive improvement this
year, the engine driving that improvement will be an infusion of
new talent and a ripening of the offense's youthful core of a
year ago. Oregon State transfer Tyler Thomas will step in and
immediately provide quality, experienced competition for
incumbent signal-caller Farhaad Azimi, while the presence of
talented redshirt frosh David Aupiu, Jon Knokey and Bobby Perry
also give the quarterback competition an added dimension. Thomas'
former Beaver teammate Junior Adams also leads a wave of new
receivers into the MSU program.
Adams, redshirt junior Toby Winters, and JC transfer Bryan Molen,
along with a couple of incoming transfers next fall, will add an
explosive, productive element to the MSU receiving corps that it
lacked last year. "We were able to find guys that were proficient
beyond high school," Kramer says. "We'll benefit from the
experience and savvy these players bring."
A year ago, Kramer's top priority was to recommit the Bobcat
program to running the football. With the development of the
offensive line and the emergence of Ryan Johnson as one of the
league's premiere running backs, as well as the ability of Camron
King, Vernon Williams and Ryan Elliott to add depth in the
backfield, MSU's running game is solid. "I think we laid down a
pretty good foundation a year ago in our ability to run the
football," Kramer said, adding that the ability of his tight ends
to run block is the next developmental step.
While the Bobcat offense will receive something close to an
overhaul this spring, the defense needs only a little
fine-tuning. Ends John Taylor, Jon Montoya and Adam Cordeiro join
tackle Nick Morasko as the anchors of the D-line. Linebackers
Kyle Ecker, Mike Woodberry, Bo Espinoza and David Smith return to
form a solid group, with Mike McCafferty, who missed all of last
season, rejoining the group. A slew of talented redshirts also
return. In the secondary, only safety Damon McNeal is missing,
with a stable of talented redshirts and transfers joining All-
America safety Kane Ioane and corners Lamonte Bell, Joey Thomas
and Jay Hackett.
Kramer said this adds up to a situation on both sides of the ball
that is much deeper and more competitive than a year ago. "We
have quality depth, ones, twos and threes, on both sides of the
ball," Kramer said. "We're going to be able to be competitive in
the spring. Last year we wouldn't even let our twos play against
the ones because of the disparity. This year we won't flinch to
put twos against ones, threes against ones, whatever, because
we're good to go. We have 87 guys lifting this winter, and last
year that number was 62."
The Bobcats open spring practice on Monday, April 9, and work out
on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays each week at 4 p.m.
