It's obvious from the barrage of various advertisements and local media coverage that the Ball State University football team and its success the past two seasons has most Cardinals sports fans eagerly awaiting the kickoff of the 2009 season more than just about any other athletic team in recent school history. The preseason story of this year's fighting football Cardinals has already been much documented.
Out is head coach Brady Hoke, who took over the San Diego State University football program just before Ball State's appearance in January's GMAC Bowl. In is Stan Parrish - the former Ball State offensive coordinator who has seen much success as an assistant wherever he goes, and seemingly opposite results in his head coaching gigs.
Out is Nate Davis, the would-be senior quarterback who carved his name atop the Ball State and Mid-American Conference record books in just about every passing category. Davis decided to enter the NFL Draft in April and was a fifth-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers, where he is currently fighting for a spot as the third-string quarterback and has impressed fans and coaches alike as the possible quarterback of the future. In steps redshirt freshman quarterback Kelly Page, the highly touted high school quarterback out of Texas who uncommitted from the University of Oregon to be Davis's successor at Ball State.
Out are current NFL offensive linemen Dan Gerberry, Robert Brewster and Andre Ramsey, among others, who led the nation's fourth-best offensive protection last season at one sack allowed per game and the 31st-best rushing attack at 184.5 yards per game. Returning to the line is veteran left guard Michael Switzer, but the rest of the crew is still undetermined. Kreg Hunter, Travis Arnold, Cameron Lowry and Austin Holtz are all vying for playing time this season, and freshmen Kitt O'Brien and Matthew Page are expected to possibly get some clock as well.
The list goes on and on. But as hyped-up as this season has been locally, Parrish and his staff this season can rest easy. Unlike those who follow the Notre Dames, Southern Cals and Floridas of the college football world, Ball State fans do not yet realistically expect double-digit win seasons each year. The Cardinals were recently picked to finish fifth out of six MAC West Division teams this season in July's MAC Media Day.
Believe it or not, even after a 12-2 season with several nationally televised games on ESPN and a top-15 national ranking, the 2009 Cardinals have the chance to slip under the radar - again.
The glass is half-full for Parrish and his staff, but for other Ball State fall sports programs, the glass is emptying - and quickly.
Women's volleyball head coach Dave Boos was hired prior to the 2007-08 season and inherited a collegiate program stuck right in the middle of Delaware County - known by many as the "volleyball capital of the world."
It's fair to say that Boos' first season was a great opportunity to lay the building blocks of his own system, and with a depleted lineup that featured just three players with more than one year of playing experience, the Cardinals struggled to a 5-25 (4-12 MAC) overall record.
Ball State showed improvement last season with a mixture of a more experienced and a freshman-dominated lineup at times, going 12-21 (6-10 MAC) and posting a 7-4 away record.
Boos often says that he doesn't like to think about his first season at Ball State, but the numbers don't lie. A 17-46 career record at Ball State leaves a bad taste in the mouth of area volleyball fans who saw the Cardinals dominate the MAC in the 1990s with MAC Tournament championships in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1999, as well as five NCAA tournament appearances in that same span.
The Cardinals were recently picked to finish second in the MAC West preseason polls, but some feel that anything less this season will be the breaking point of Boos and his system.
On the same hot seat sits seventh-year field hockey head coach Annette Payne. The Ball State field hockey team boasts 16 MAC championships, four NCAA Tournament appearances and 18 All-American selections in its 34-year history. But in Payne's six seasons as head coach, the Cardinals are yet to achieve a .500 winning percentage.
In the past two seasons, the program has stumbled significantly. Despite possessing an obviously hard-working group of student-athletes, the Cardinals were 5-13 (3-7 MAC) in 2007 and 2-17 (1-9 MAC) in 2008. Payne's career Ball State record of 31-82 (22-38 MAC) has to be growing thin for athletics director Tom Collins when deciding year-by-year whether to bring her back for another season.
So while some fall coaches comfortably await the opening of their 2009 seasons with unknown expectations and realistic team goals in mind, others could be buying a one-way ticket out of campus almost as soon as the season has begun.
Write to Andrew at adwalker@bsu.edu
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