SALEM, Va. (WDBJ) – The season of spring means fresh starts, new beginnings, and growth.
For Roanoke College football, it also marks the final ‘first’ phase of reinstating the football program.
And after an undefeated club season last year, the Maroons now transition to the ODAC, where they’ve spent the offseason preparing.
“Every year, no matter where you are, there’s a set of challenges. There’s a uniqueness to it,” begins head football coach Bryan Stinespring.
No one involved with restarting the Roanoke College football program thought it would be an easy undertaking. But thought the hard work of many, the team went 4-0 in its inaugural club season. This fall, with a team made up of just freshman and sophomores, Roanoke College makes its transition to the ODAC and Division III ball.
“The uniqueness of it is being so young, in a college game,” Stinespring continues. “When people say you’re young, maybe you’re starting a young quarterback or you’re young on the offensive line or you’re young on the back end. We’re young across the board. It is what it is. That’s not going to be a crutch for us. There’s a sense of urgency about our team about getting ourselves in a better position to be successful.”
“We’re definitely coming in ready to go,” adds linebacker Tandom Smith.
Through the transition, the program has embraced growth in both strategy and cohesion.
“Definitely mentally,” Smith continues. “Everybody has switched their perspective and definitely tried to lock in. Realizing it’s not high school ball anymore, it’s college kids. The competition is definitely going to be harder.”
“We have better chemistry,” wide receiver Khamari Garner expanded. “I feel like everything is clicking now. Everything is running smooth. We can play with confidence now.”
As the team breaks for summer, Coach Stinespring and the rest of the staff will equip the players with a conditioning plan that will help prepare them for fall where the team will, once again, buy into the next step for the overall vision of Maroons football.
“The most impressive thing about this group is when they were recruited here, there was no locker room, there was no football, there was no jersey. So when they came on their official visit, they couldn’t put on a uniform, spin a ball, put it on Twitter. This group, which makes them special, in this day and age, it wasn’t what they saw, it’s what they could see in front of them.”
That future is fast approaching! Roanoke College opens the season at home against Virginia University of Lynchburg on September 6th.
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