Seniors Bill Hewig, Maurice Perkins, Antonio Thomas, Daniel Williams and Joe Woolridge all faced interview sessions at E.A. Diddle Arena before Western went through a two-hour practice at L.T. Smith Stadium/Jimmy Feix Field.
“Watching what has transpired from the end of spring ball until right now, I’m as excited as I have ever been. I’m going into my 10th season, and I’ve never felt more prepared as a staff as far as our organization and our playbook,” Elson said. “To see what our kids did this summer was even more impressive. We had all but two of our players on campus during that time, and our guys were committed. Our players coached and ran all the summer workouts, and we got a lot of work done.”
The Hilltoppers return 48 letterwinners, including 18 starters, from a team that finished 9-3 overall and 6-1 in the Gateway Football Conference. Western extended its active streaks to nine consecutive winning seasons and five straight berths in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.
That includes bringing back eight starters on defense. Thomas is a preseason All-American selection, and he was joined on the preseason all-conference team by Woolridge and Brandon Smith.
“From a defensive standpoint, we are excited about the opportunity for this next year with eight returning starters,” said Dietzel. “We have a lot of experience on the defensive line. As a coach, you always try to make sure your front line is locked in, and I feel comfortable with what we have up there.
“Our line and our secondary will obviously be the strengths of our defense, and we have a great quarterback in the defensive backfield in Marion Rumph.”
Western ranked in the top three in the league in four of five defensive categories a year ago, finishing among the top 20 nationally in scoring defense (16th) and turnover margin (17th).
On offense, the Toppers have nine starters coming back, led by a trio of all-conference caliber players at the skill positions — quarterback Justin Haddix, running back Lerron Moore and Perkins, a wide receiver. Preseason All-American Erik Losey anchors the offensive line.
In 2004, Western averaged 396.4 yards and 29.2 points per contest, both figures that were among the top three in the league.
“We have a lot of talent coming back after a good year last season. We aren’t just satisfied with a good year, because we could have been better, and that first round loss stings a little bit,” Weist said. “In the offseason that is all we talked about — taking it to the next level and having a great year.
“We have nine returning starters, including a quarterback that can really take control of this offense. So that makes us really excited about what can happen this season.”
Chris James returns to handle placekicking chores after making 9-of-12 field-goal attempts last fall, however, the Hilltoppers are looking for a replacement for former All-America punter Brian Claybourn.
“On special teams we are looking for guys that want to get on the field,” Holt said. “The great thing about our program is that we have guys that want to compete, so we don’t have an issue of trying to find guys that want to play on special teams — it’s more of an issue of finding the right spots for those guys.”
While WKU enters the 2005 campaign looking to extend it recent streaks of success, Elson wants to see the season go beyond the opening round of the playoffs.
“We talked all through the offseason about taking it to the next level — to go from being good to being great,” he added. “We have very high expectations around here, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
The Hilltoppers return to the practice field Wednesday at 3 p.m. (CDT) for a single workout session.
