Spring represents the chance to start anew. Forgetting the mistakes of the past and getting a refreshing start with new hopes and goals for the upcoming time of year.
For the Colorado Mesa University football team, this spring represents more than a fresh start. The Mavericks are hungry, very hungry. CMU’s season ended in heartbreak after a disappointing 35-56 loss at the hands of Azusa Pacific to end their 2017 season.
CMU was on the trail to make the NCAA Division II Playoffs and competing for a chance to complete their goal for a national title; however, Head coach Russ Martin and his team now find themselves back at square one. Moreover, there is one positive and standout entity coming into the new season: the goal remains the same.
The fire in the bellies of all of those who step onto the turf wearing Maverick maroon has increased tenfold.
“We plan on reloading,” Coach Martin said. “It is not having to rebuild, we are reloading with all the really good players we have in the program.”
CMU lost 24 seniors at the conclusion of the 2017 season. Standout players like David Tann, Blake Nelson and Virnel Moon will no longer play a football game at Stocker Stadium. The matter of the fact is, the talent is so deep in the Mavericks locker room that if this was any other team, they would be in full frantic mode trying to salvage what is left. That is not the case with coach Martin’s squad.
“Some of those younger guys gotta step up because it’s their turn now,” Martin said. “They can’t ride the coattails of the other guys. They gotta take that responsibility and accountability and say, ‘here we go’.”
The CMU football program will also look different in the coaching staff. Multiple coaches from the 2017 season have jumped ship to other programs to further their coaching careers. Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Jeromy McDowell is returning to Southeast Missouri State University as the new offensive coordinator for the Redhawks. McDowell was the starting quarterback for Southeast when Russ Martin was the offensive coordinator for the same school.
One of the wide receivers coaches, Willie Ponder, who also played at Southeast, is leaving to be a head high school coach in Tulsa, OK.
On the defensive side, defensive backs coach, Mac Alexander, is moving down the Western Slope to Durango in which he will be taking the defensive coordinator position at conference rival, Fort Lewis College.
New coaches will hopefully be hired before the start of spring football on March 6. On the other hand, most of the same talent from last year’s RMAC Championship team will be returning for the 2018 season.
Starting quarterback Eystin Salum will be entering his senior season at CMU with bigger and better expectations than ever.
“I wanna win it all,” Salum said.
Salum, who was named to the All-RMAC first team at the end of 2017, threw for 2465 yards and 11 TD while adding 919 yards and 20 TD on the ground.
The Mavericks also have wideout Josh Brown returning for his senior year. Brown was second on the team for receiving yards with 616 yards and catching two touchdowns along the way.
CMU also received some key transfers this offseason that could only add to the winning mantra the Mavericks are trying to enhance. Eastern Kentucky transfer, DJ White, is coming from the NCAA Division I program in which he competed in the Ohio Valley Conference. White stands at 6”3’ tall and weighs in at 250 lbs. He will most likely be competing for the starting defensive end position to replace Blake Nelson, who finished up his CMU career after the 2017 season.
The Mavericks are experiencing many changes, but with change comes the opportunity to get better. The goal in mind is an NCAA Division II National Championship. The resources are there and so is the drive to accomplish that specific goal and the beautiful thing is that football at CMU officially resets in the matter of a few days.
