UWW Football

MEET THE ADRIAN BULLDOGS

COACHING STAFF

Last November 14th, Jim Lyall coached the Bulldogs to a season ending 45-20 victory over Olivet to cap off 6-4 season and a 55-25 record over an 8 year span. Shortly after the game, Lyall's 20 year head coaching reign at Adrian ended when he was abruptly fired. There are many close to Adrian College Football that believe Coach Lyall deserved better. Much better.

Jim Deere, a part of Lyall's coaching staff for 17 years was named the new Head Coach. Deere has been Adrian's Defensive Coordinator for the past three seasons.

Deer hired 26 year old Tyler Haines as his Offensive Coordinator. Haines has two years of coaching experience and none of it on the offensive side of the ball. He has coached special teams and linebackers at the school for the past two years.

Deere and Haines obviously have a strong relationship based on this hire. Deere will continue as Defensive Coordinator as well as assuming the Head Coach duties. It's hard to imagine a more difficult opening test for a staff needing to convince much of Bulldog Nation that the administration made a good decision in abruptly changing the direction of the program.

OFFENSE

Haines has scrapped the spread offense for a more balanced approach. According to D3football.com's "Kickoff", The Bulldogs return only 3 offensive starters from last year's team. Senior Mike McGee and Sophomore Justin Hemm vie for playing time at QB and both may see action on Saturday. The offensive line will be boosted by the return of 6'4" 326 lb Demetrius Jackson who was a medical redshirt last season. Jared Edwards, the Bulldogs 2nd leading rusher in 09 with 452 yards, will be counted on to lead the way in running game portion of the new offense. Along with a new look offensively, the receiving corp is likely to be revamped.

Between the coaching, philosophical, and personnel changes, the offense of the Bulldogs brings more questions than answers into Perkins Stadium on Saturday. By the time they leave Saturday afternoon, the coaches hope to have more answers as they continue to try to fit their system to their personel

DEFENSE

The 2009 Bulldogs ranked first in total defense, first in rushing defense, and third in scoring defense in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. However, only 5 starters return from that unit, including only one on Adrian's defensive front line. Gone from the defensive line will be 2009 MIAA Defensive Player of the Year Gino Panza. Danny Taylor and Jarred Kwaitkowski lead a strong group of linebackers. Deere runs a 4-4 system that emphasizes stopping the run. The most experienced defensive group will be the secondary. The biggest question mark will be the unproven interior of the defensive line.

Adrian College prides itself on playing good defense. The Bulldogs ranked 28th nationally in scoring defense giving up only 16.2 points per game last year. It remains to be seen what affect Coach Deere's promotion to Head Coach and Coach Haines' move to Offensive Coordinator will have on the 2010 AC defense. But as with the offense, the Bulldogs defense will likely learn a lot about themselves on Saturday afternoon.