Culture Shift: Lights are a year older, as new season approaches

GREAT FALLS - A common sentiment emerged from Frontier Conference Media Days Tuesday in Great Falls and that's the fact that the league is going to be as tough and competitive as ever.

Yet, when the coaches and media released their preseason polls, there was consensus at the top as the College of Idaho was picked to finished atop the league in both polls. Southern Oregon was also the No. 2 choice in each poll followed by Montana Western.

That's where the consensus ended. The coaches listed Eastern Oregon, Rocky Mountain College and Montana Tech fourth, fifth and sixth, followed by Carroll College seventh and Montana State University-Northern in eighth.

College of Idaho received five first-place votes in both polls and the media also listed Southern Oregon and Montana Western as the second and third-place teams. Montana Tech was awarded the fourth spot by the media, followed by Rocky, Carroll and MSU-N.

"We all know how tough this league is," Northern head coach Andrew Rolin said. "As we have all said, it's going to be very competitive."

In a sign of competitive balance, seven of the eight teams received at least one first-place vote. The one team that didn't was Northern. However, that did little to dampen the spirits of second-year head coach Andrew Rolin.

"The one thing I can say about our program right now is we are one year older," Rolin said. "We were a young football team last year. Our record wasn't what we want but we also don't talk about it either. 1-0. That's our goal right now. We want to be 1-0 each week and our guys have done a nice job trusting that process."

The benefit of playing so many young players last season is the natural growth and development that should occur for a number of Lights, including a bevy of guys who were first-time starters in 2018. While Northern will be looking for a new starting quarterback, multiple starters return along the offensive line in addition to veteran skill guys like wide receiver Bryce Bumgardner and running back Jett Robertson. Another name to watch is rising sophomore Keagan Stroop, who excelled as a slot receiver last season. Marvin Williams is another skilled pass catcher and at running back Andrez Trahan-Proctor should be more of a factor.

"We are one year older in our development and establishing this culture and I think it showed this spring," Rolin said. "Our guys are putting in the work and putting in the sacrifices that they need to make in order to be successful and reach the goals they have set."

Rolin emphasized the Lights creating an identity based on running the football and that centers around a pair of returning starters up front in Darius Alexander-Jones and Trenton Woodward, who projects to be Northern's starting left tackle.

"We want to run the football and establish the run," Rolin said. "Everything else falls in behind that. (Alexander-Jones) is one of the better kids that I have coached up front. He's tough, he's athletic, he's nasty, he's everything you want on the O-line. I am excited about his development. Trenton Woodward had a great spring. From the moment I showed up, he has been one of our better players in terms of development, physically and mentally. Then, we have some other guys that we need to step up and fill those voids. We have the talent. They just need to step up and execute."

One position where Northern won't have any experience is at quarterback. Redshirt-freshman Brenden Medina took all of the snaps during spring practice and after a year in the system, he's the favorite. Yet, incoming recruits Tre Long and Oakley Kopp will also have a chance to compete.

"That's the most important position in sports," Rolin said of the quarterback. "We are still going to have a competition just like last year. (Our starter) is going to be a freshman. We are going to be young but we have three guys and one of them is going to be the one to help us win football games. We will put them in a position to compete and let the best man win."

On the defensive side of the ball, Rolin talked about the defensive line and the improvement he expects to see there next season. Northern started four underclassmen a year ago and they will each be back as Joe Fehr, Justin Pfeifer, B.J. Hatcher and Trenda Umi-Tuato'o highlight the defensive front. Jake Norby, Jaren Maki, Ostin Welch and Jeff Tinae are other key contributors defensively.

"The cream of the crop will always rise," Rolin said. "We are going to have a lot of competition. We brought in 51 guys this year, whether it be transfers or freshmen. That's how we are going to build this program, brick by brick. It's going to take time and I understood that when I came here, but we have tremendous support from our university and our community and we are going to get it right. If we keep building and doing things the right way, the score will eventually take care of itself."

The Lights will embark on a difficult schedule once again in 2019. MSU-N will play each team in the Frontier, including Rocky and Carroll twice. Before conference play begins ,though, Northern will travel to Phoenix to battle Arizona Christian Aug. 31.

"We are excited about the opportunity to go down there to Phoenix and represent the Frontier Conference," Rolin said. "This is a conference that pulls for each other and we want to go down there and represent both MSU-Northern and the Frontier Conference in the best way possible."

Kickoff in that opening game in Phoenix (Aug. 31) is set for 7 p.m. The Lights will open Frontier Conference play at Rocky Sept. 7 before playing their home opener at Blue Pony Stadium Sept. 14 against Montana Western.

Frontier Conference Preseason Coaches Poll

College of Idaho (5) 44

Southern Oregon (2) 40

Montana Western (1) 31.5

Montana Tech 30

Rocky Mountain 29

Eastern Oregon 28.5

Carroll College 13

MSU-Northern 8

Frontier Conference Preseason Media Poll

College of Idaho (5) 99

Southern Oregon (3) 95

Montana Western (3) 85

Eastern Oregon (1) 72

Rocky Mountain (2) 71

Montana Tech (1) 64

Carroll College 39

MSU-Northern 15