 "Photo: Matthew Sprague/The Towerlight")
As the 2009 spring football game came to a close, new head coach Rob Ambrose and the rest of his team remained on the field to meet more than 1,500 fans that attended to see the new-look Tigers. A 10-6 Black Team victory over the White Team seemed to be the secondary story as players mingled with the fans and press alike. The new era of Towson Tigers football has begun.
“That’s what college football is all about. Family and fun,” Ambrose said. “Changing the way we used to do things. I’d say we did that.”
The crowd came to find out what all the fuss about. It came to see Ambrose and his staff of hard-nosed, no-nonsense coaches and some of the changes they have made less than six months since Gordy Combs was released after 39 years with the program.
The team is bringing in a major overhaul schematically both offensively and defensively. Without Sean Schaefer under center and Tommy Breaux and Marcus Lee no longer catching passes, the offense will now rely on receivers David Newsom, Casey Cegles and Steve Holmes in the new spread offense Ambrose has installed.
Senior Matt Castor returns at running back and classmate John Godlasky returns at tight end. While no starting quarterback has been named, redshirt sophomore Blair Peterson worked with the first team offense and completed 16 of 26 passes for 185 yards, including going 4-6 on the final game-winning drive that was finished off by running back Trevor Walker’s three-yard rush with 53 seconds remaining. Redshirt freshman Erron Banks was also impressive as a possession receiver, recording five catches for 58 yards.
But perhaps the biggest story on the team is the revamped defense that was impressive during stretches in the game. The 3-4 alignment of previous defensive coordinators Bob Benson and Jeff McDonald employed with less than stellar results is now gone. Returning are linebackers Alex Butt and Donte Blakey, junior defensive tackle Yaky Ibia and corners Ollie Thomas and Jeremy Gardner. New defensive coordinator Matt Hachmann is bringing a new defensive scheme with him, implementing a more traditional 4-3 look. Additionally, transfer Brady Smith adds a completely different type of player Towson fans haven’t seen in years. Smith is an explosive pass-rusher who had four sacks in the spring game. Butt, for one, is impressed with the early intensity he’s seen defensively.
“The scheme is 10 times different,” Butt said. “I’ve been running a 3-4 since I got here. Going to a 4-3 is great. I’ve had four gigantic guys cleaning things up and opening things for us linebackers to make plays. Nothing touches me. I just run in there and tackle people.”
However, Ambrose knows there is plenty of work ahead over the summer to get done, and he won’t stop working until his team is prepared.
“This is not about scoring points or a whole lot of scheme,” Ambrose said. “This is about playing
hard, finishing, being excited. There’s about a million other things I would have liked to get
done. We need to get a lot better. We got our base schemes in on both sides of the ball, but very basic. I wish I had 30 more days of practice. The kids are excited about coming back and I’m excited about having them.”
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