RedHawks plan ‘severe overhaul’ in football

Coach says he is looking for leadership on team, which won only one game last season.

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By Jay Morrison, Staff Writer Updated 1:39 AM Thursday, March 18, 2010

OXFORD — Spring is a time for rebirth, and nowhere is a fresh start more welcomed than on the football field at Miami University.

The first spring practice is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, March 20, when the RedHawks hope to begin working on what will be a marked improvement from last year’s 1-11 campaign during Mike Haywood’s first season as coach.

“We’re doing a severe overhaul,” Haywood said. “We’re going to be doing a lot of new things here, starting with developing new leaders for our team. One of the reasons for the lack of success was the lack of leadership we had, and it starts at the top.

“We’re going to have to develop leadership within our team and give our players some ownership,” Haywood continued. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman or a senior, you’re going to have an opportunity to be a leader on this football team.”

Spring practice will run for three weeks, concluding with the annual Red and White game April 10.

Among the focal points will be a renewed commitment to running the ball — “Our main goal is make sure we can run the football before anything else,” Haywood said — as well as realigning the offensive line and evaluating the quarterback position.

“There’s going to be some competition at quarterback,” Haywood said. “Austin Boucher is going to challenge Zac Dysert for the starting position. We’re really looking forward to seeing these guys compete for the job.”

Boucher is a redshirt freshman after not throwing a pass last year. Dysert, a redshirt sophomore, completed 274-of-401 passes for 2,611 yards with 12 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

Junior offensive tackle Brandon Brooks will miss all of spring ball with a knee injury, but Haywood said that will enable the coaching staff to evaluate the rest of the players in hopes of finding someone who can take over at left tackle and allow Brooks to move inside to guard.

“We’re going to be moving some guys around to make sure we’ve got the right guys in the first five,” Haywood said.

Eighty players are back from last year, including 51 letterwinners.

“We’re looking forward to getting out there,” Haywood said. “It’s supposed to be football weather. It’ll be a great change from the fourth-quarter workout weather we’ve been having, where it was anywhere from 10 degrees to 37 degrees at 6 in the morning. Some weather in the 50s to the 70s is going to be nice.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.

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