Good football coaches rarely mince words.

Saturday, August 12, 2000

Good football coaches rarely mince words.

Bob Pruett got right to the point when it came to discussing his Marshall football team of 2000.

"We have the chance to compete for the league championship, of course, we have to go out and do it," he said at Marshall’s media day. "We have to see how they react when they get back to the mountain. We’ll see if they react like men. There is a lot of anticipation, we’re ready to go."

Pruett’s mountain may have been the Mid-American Conference season, championship game or Motor City Bowl. Three "mountains" his Herd has climbed well in the past.

"We set our goals high here at Marshall University, we expect to play for championships," Pruett said. "When we recruit we tell players we want them to leave with a diploma and a championship ring."

Marshall has back-to-back Motor City Bowl titles to its credit but the departure of standout quarterback Chad Pennington, running back Doug Chapman and others have led to a few question marks. Pruett is fast to dismiss any shortcomings but then comes up with a few of his own.

"We have good players who are very capable, we don’t doubt ourselves," he said. "Hopefully, we’re just reloading not rebuilding."

Senior wide receiver Nate Poole thinks it is the upper classmen who have to step up and lead in order for the Herd to continue grow.

"We’re going to take it upon ourselves to get ourselves back to the MAC championship game," Poole said. "The fans are great here. I hope the freshmen and sophomores can keep the tradition alive."

How does the tradition look to a newcomer? Freshman quarterback Andrew English knows he has something to live up to.

"They have had a lot of great quarterbacks who could have been starters at many other schools," English said. "My goal is to have the offense down and be ready if they need me."

Senior defensive end Paul Toviessi, like Poole has seen the good days at Marshall. He says effort makes the Herd what it is.

"We play hard every down, the bottom line is we want to win," Toviessi said. "Our defensive ends are fast and our tackles are quick. We won’t have any problem putting pressure on the quarterback."