The Candor

Issue date: 9/8/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Marcus Pass Typical day at practice for Coops.

Media Credit: Marcus Pass Coach Cooper talking to his troops about the process of winning.

Head football coach Jon Cooper is excited about his team's chances this year and knows that in order to win, his team has to focus on the process of how to win games instead of just talking about what they want to win.

"I want us to play hard every possession, every practice, execute and never give up. I want us to focus on the process of winning and not just winning," said Coach Cooper.
Coach Cooper thought the team's training camp over the past two weeks has been eventful.

"We have a lot of kids back in good shape and ready to play some football. Unfortunately, we have had to deal with injuries," he said.

Despite the injuries, Coach Cooper expects he and his coaching staff to prepare the kids offensively, defensively and on special teams so they can perform to the best of their ability.

"We expect big expectations from everyone. Everyone has to contribute somehow. We just need to show up, play hard and take one game at a time," said Coach Cooper when asked if there were any players with high expectations.

Since his Regime took place in 2004, Cooper's main focus has been on defense. "Defense wins championships and we have tried to instill that mindset into our players here."

However, the offense for the Eagles has been suspect for the past few seasons and Coach Cooper is aware of the criticism about the nonexistent offense and plans on doing something about it this season.

"I haven't been pleased with the offense myself and I agree with the critics. We haven't changed the offense, just some changes within the scheme of the offense. The way we call plays is different and we are working very hard to change our offense," said Coach Cooper.

The Eagles football team looks promising this season, especially with senior running back Ryan Schwartz, who is just 23 yards shy of 2,000 yards rushing in his BU career, and senior quarterback, David Klinger. Klinger took over late last season for current sophomore, Derek Hitt. Hitt has moved to the running nack position this season. Cooper calls Schwartz a "workhorse" and expects a good year out of him.

Klinger is the man under center this season and Cooper feels good about him. "He's a great leader and we feel optimistic he will be OK," said Coach Cooper.

The Eagles opened up their home opener against Elmhurst this past weekend and lost, 24-14. No one is hanging their head, though, because the Eagles are prepared for a tough start to the season, but they do expect to play well.

"I have been doing this for a long time and a lot of people look at the one loss record," said Cooper. "I want my team to play up to our capability every day. Play hard every day, execute and never give up, regardless of what the score is. This game is a learning process and we have to focus on that."

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