Kennesaw State coach Brian Bohannon thought the pace of building a first football team would slow after signing day.
Instead, more and more things keep popping up on the black-and-gold checklist. Not that he minds. He still travels Georgia talking to groups about the Owls, one of many things he spends his time doing.
“One thing we said was we’ve got to get the word out,” he said. “That hasn’t changed. Until this thing runs itself, which will be several years I’m sure, we will continue to do that.”
His efforts to recruit players and money are paying off.
More than 2,500 season tickets have been sold and four major sponsors, including three in the past two months, have been secured.
Bohannon also is interviewing strength coaches as he continues to complete the staff. He hopes to have that coach, a video coordinator, an equipment manager and a head trainer hired as soon as April 1.
Twenty-nine players signed with Bohannon on Feb. 5. He and his staff are vetting more than 40 preferred walk-ons on a depth chart that is ever-changing.
Bohannon would like to have between 80 and 101 players when he holds the team’s first practices, likely in September. To fill out the roster for depth and talent, the school will host tryouts March 22. More than 100 students have signed up.
Bohannon is keen to add offensive and defensive linemen, wide receivers, defensive backs and linebackers. Every position coach has a number of players needed that Bohannon would like to see reached to begin to balance the groups by class.
“Anybody that we feel like brings value, we will bring them back in the fall,” Bohannon said.
But an invitation doesn’t mean they are on the team, not yet.
Bohannon said he doesn’t want anybody officially on the team until the first class that signed in February arrives on campus.
It sounds odd, but Bohannon and his staff have also finally been able to focus on their offensive and defensive schemes for the first time since the staff was finalized.
The offense will be option-based with some quarterback-under-the-center principles that Bohannon learned at Georgia Tech and other principles used at Auburn and other schools that incorporate the shotgun formation.
The defense will run a 4-2-5 formation that allows some flexibility as more offenses install hurry-up principles designed to stretch opponents.
The staff is lining up trips this summer to consult with coaches at other schools in a “best-practices” gathering exercise that is common among football coaches. Bohannon said they haven’t finalized which coaching staffs they are going to visit.
Kennesaw State also will host several camps as they continue to scout talent for the next signing day and beyond.
Bohannon said the recruiting focus for the Class of 2015 will shift to a mix of transfers and high school players because, like one of the goals of the tryouts, they need to balance the position groups to have a mix of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. Bohannon said he would prefer to find transfers who have at least two years of eligibility remaining.
“It will be a little different signing class next year,” he said.
