Southern Utah University will open its quest for the initial Great West Football Conference championship today when the Thunderbirds welcome newcomers and returning players to fall camp. All players are scheduled to report for orientation with the first practice slated for 4 p.m. at the Thunderbird practice facility.
The Thunderbirds open the season Sept. 4, at Weber State and begin GWFC play Oct. 9, at home against Cal Poly in the annual homecoming game.
"We're excited to get going," first-year coach Wes Meier said. "We feel like our returning players have had a great off-season as far as conditioning and individual workouts go and we're looking forward to seeing our newcomers as well."
Southern Utah returns the bulk of its starters from last year on both sides of the ball, with eight returning on both offense and defense.
Linebacker Nick DiPadova (6-0, 205, Sr) is a pre-season second-team all-American (The Sports Network) after earning third-team honors last year. He will lead a defense that has been tabbed by many as one of the best in the nation as it also returns 2003 I-AA all-Independent selections Sitiveni Tuivai (DE, 6-4, 250, Sr), Major Salanoa (DT, 6-2, 250, Sr), Steve Smith (S, 6-0, 185, Jr) and Brandon Perkins (S, 6-1, 195, Jr) and has added pre-season all-Big 12 pick Marques Harris (LB, 6-2, 235, Sr), who transferred to SUU from Colorado in late summer.
The offensive side of the ball isn't exactly bare either as the Thunderbirds have 2003 all-Indies Iosefa Robins (OT, 6-4, 315, Sr) and A.J. Smith (WR, 6-0, 175, Sr) back along with QB Casey Rehrer (6-0, 185, Sr) and a group of returning receivers and linemen.
"We have a lot of talent coming back on both sides of the ball," Meier said. "I guess Nick is our name player and we have several guys who were all-independent last year but we a lot of talented players who didn't get any recognition last year too."
Practice Schedule: SUU will split into two groups for the first few days of practices (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday) as NCAA regulations prohibit full contact for the first five days of camp and will hold their first full-contact practice Wednesday, Aug. 18. Practices are scheduled for 9:55 a.m. and 4:25 p.m. through Aug. 27 with morning practices every day and afternoon practices on alternating days. Scrimmages are scheduled for Aug. 21 at 10:00 a.m. as well as on Aug. 18 and 25. The team will begin game-week preparation Aug. 30, with practices scheduled for 4:25 p.m.
Quick Outlook: Although the Thunderbirds will have their third head coach in as many years the team will have consistency as Meier retained the staff, and the philosophy, from last year's 4-7 squad.
Rehrer returns at quarterback to run the show and he has a handful of offensive linemen, including Robins and Lee Chart (6-3, 290, Sr) who both started every game last year, returning. Chris Shipman (6-2, 305, Sr), Jeff Barbee (6-5, 280, Sr), Quinn Campbell (6-3, 320, Sr) and Justin Johnson (6-4, 305, So) all got significant playing time last year as well. The receiving corps is seasoned as well as A.J. Smith, Justin Walterschied (5-10, 170, Sr), Steve Price (5-9, 170, Sr) and Isiah Mack (5-10, 175, Sr) all started at wide receiver last year.
On the defensive side SUU has the players mentioned above, as well as linebacker Mike Overly (6-2, 225, Sr), nose guards Justin Taylor (6-3, 265, Sr) and Sione Uipi (6-0, 280, Sr), end Levi Erickson (6-2, 230, So) and cornerback Brian Kofoed (6-0, 175, So) who all started last year. In addition the team returns safeties Grant Smith (6-0, 190, Sr) and Josh Raban (6-0, 185, Jr), who both played significant roles last year, and added JC corners Mike Palefau (6-1, 205, Jr) and Dave Zelasko (6-0, 185, Jr) last winter in time for spring ball.
As far as special teams go the Thunderbirds return kicker Steve Pulver, who kicked 10 field goals last year for third-place on the SUU single-season list, as well as Walterschied, who logged the third-most punt return yards in SUU history with 291 last year. Long-snapper Jared Nelthorpe (6-0, 180, Sr) also returns and Price, Palefau and Zelasko could also see time returning kicks and punts. The team will bring in freshman Trevor Ward (Bonneville HS) as its punter this year.
Although the head coach has changed most of the staff returns from last year. Meier takes over this year after spending last season as assistant head coach under Gary Andersen, who returned to the University of Utah. Meier will continue to coach the Thunderbirds' defensive line. Cole Wilson and Kevin Clune will continue as co-defensive coordinators with Wilson overseeing the secondary and Clune coaching the linebackers. Wilson has also taken on the added responsibility of assistant head coach. Aaron Roderick returns as the team's offensive coordinator and he will take primary responsibility for the team's quarterbacks and receivers. Kalani Sitake also returns on the offensive side, where he will take over the offensive line and coach tight ends after coaching tight ends and running backs last year. Jared Martin also returns. Martin spent last season as a graduate assistant but moved onto the staff full-time in the spring as the team's running backs coach.
Student assistant Ben Meier also returns as a secondary coach, while Ryan Hunt, a four-year letterman for the Thunderbirds from 1999-2003, will continue to work with the defensive line as an undergraduate assistant after serving in that role during the spring.
Newcomers to the Thunderbird fold include Dan Finn, a former all-American offensive lineman at Northern Arizona, who joined the program in the spring and will work with the SUU offensive line as a graduate assistant. SUU will also welcome the help of former SUU quarterback and tight end Charles Henderson and BYU graduate Isaac Kelly, who will both serve as graduate assistants working with the Thunderbird receiving corps.
SUU Picked Fifth In GWFC Polls: The Thunderbirds are picked fifth in the GWFC pre-season polls by both the coaches and media, but some independent prognosticators have tabbed SUU as high as second in the league.
The last time the Thunderbirds competed in the first season of a fledgling league they were picked to finish fourth in the pre-season but wound up in a tie for first with UC Davis in the American West Conference's debut, back in 1995.
"We're not really concerned with where we've been picked to finish, second or fifth or anywhere else," Meier noted. "We're happy to be playing in a league with s good group of talented and successful football programs. Like everyone else our goal is to finish on top of the standings at the end of the season and while pre-season polls are fun to look at and speculate about what really matters is where you finish, not where you start."
The coaches tabbed Cal Poly as the pre-season favorite with 30 points and four first-place votes, while Northern Colorado was the media's pre-season favorite with 169 points and 24 first-place votes.
UNC was second in the coaches poll with 28 points and a first-place nod, followed by UC Davis (26), North Dakota State (21 and the other first-place vote), SUU (13) and South Dakota State (8).
In the media's eye Davis was picked second (114/2), followed by North Dakota State (106), Cal Poly (95/3) SUU (75) and South Dakota State (50).