Coyotes look to improve offense

With a two-win 2014 season far behind them, the University of South Dakota football team is ready to make a new name for themselves in 2015.

That begins with player mentality. A mentality that takes big aim on the future of Coyote football.

“We’re just trying to change the mentality and the mindset to where (we) strive to be the best in this conference, the best in this nation,” senior wide receiver Eric Shufford said.

The Coyotes struggled during their third season in the Missouri Valley conference, finishing winless at 0-8. The conference’s top dog, North Dakota State, wrapped up its fourth consecutive national championship season with a 29-27 win over conference foe Illinois State in December 2014.

“To compete at this level that’s just something that you have to do — you have to have it in your mind and in your head that you’re going to be competitive,” Shufford said.

Luckily, that mentality may come a bit easier for the team in 2015 with the advantage of two new coaches, Marty Biagi and South Dakota alum Collin Prosser. Biagi will coach cornerbacks, while Prosser will coach tight ends and offensive tackles.

“Our schemes are really good, we just have to be able to execute and get the guys into the mentality that we can execute,” Prosser said. “We’re not going to run a complex offense — there’s not a thousand plays. We’re going to try and be basic in what we do offensively so our guys can play fast.”

New mentalities and schemes aside, the Coyotes will need to be ready to compete at a high-level quickly. Glenn and his players will begin the 2015 season Sep. 5 at Kansas State, which has a team that finished No. 11 in the final national rankings in 2014.

Aside from mentality, the Coyotes will want to maintain a healthy squad in 2015, something it struggled to do in 2014, highlighted by the intermittent absence of junior quarterback Kevin Earl who was out with a thumb injury.

Earl’s injury was no help to the offensive woes the team faced, as the Coyotes managed to get outscored 233-427 in 2014.

However, all of that is behind coach Joe Glenn. As he and the team self-analyze in 2015 spring practice, just like Prosser and Shufford, he sees an opportunity to reinvent Coyote football.

“As long as we keep pushing each other to make each other better, we shouldn’t be worried about competing with each other,” he said. “We should be more worried about making each other better, and we have to get everything we can get from every player on this team. It’s honestly just us trying to change the culture and the mindset here. We don’t like losing — we hate it — so we’re done with that.”

More than anything, Glenn said it’s been good to see the emotion and energy in everyone already.

That heart and spirit is what Shufford is hoping will create a winning program for USD in the upcoming season.

“Everybody’s playing with a great heart,” he said. “They’re hustling and running to the ball, playing with a lot of emotion, and that’s what you love to see as a coach. Even though it’s in the throws of spring ball and no one really enjoys spring ball because you don’t have any games, the team has shown a lot of pep, a lot of spirit, a lot of hoorah, rallying to the football and having fun with it.”

(Photo: Sophomore running back Trevor Bouma finds a gap in the Univerisity of Northern Iowa defensive line Oct. 11 in the DakotaDome. The Coyotes were 2-10 overall this season. File photo / The Volante)