Gorillas picked first in coaches, media polls

Coaches do not put as much stock and value in preseason polls as do media and fans.

When asked what he thought of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association preseason polls from both coaches and media, Pittsburg State head coach Tim Beck sounded almost the same in 2012 picked first in both polls as he did in 2011 picked fifth in both polls.

“We don’t put a lot of stock in the poll,” Beck said on Monday in the Muehlebach Tower of the Kansas City Downtown Marriott. “I am not surprised where we were but on the other hand, I wouldn’t have been surprised if any of the top five or six teams would have been in the No. 1 spot because that’s the strength of our conference. A lot of times it’s based on what happened last year and we don’t put tons of stock in it.”

“We’re kind of where I figured we’d be,” Beck said in 2011. “There’s so much of it based on how people did last year. You can’t put too much stock into it. Our players will see it and they won’t be very happy. The bottom line is, when that ball’s kicked off on Sept. 1, the preseason polls won’t have anything to do with anything.”

Pitt State finished No. 1 in both preseason polls Monday, meaning that Northwest Missouri was not selected No. 1 in either poll for the first time since 2005.

Northwest Missouri finished eight points behind Pitt State in the coaches poll (192-184) and 14 behind in the media poll (538-524); however, Pitt State claimed 12 of the 15 first-place votes in the coaches poll and 24 of the 36 first-place votes in the media poll.

Defending national champions, a new playing surface on Brandenburg Field, over 40 incoming true freshmen (including St. Mary’s Colgan graduates Derek Beck and Drew Gill, as well as Shrine Bowl standout Ja’Mon Cotton) and several transfers add up to anticipation in hyperdrive for the 2012 season.

“We’ve got a lot of players who are very determined and want to play well and go win football games,” Beck said. “We’ve got to get everybody on the same page and understand how important it is to practice at a high level and to practice at a very fast level. If we can get them to understand that, we’ll have a good opportunity.”

The Gorillas return 12 players (six offense, six defense) who started five or more games during their National Championship season last year.

“This is a brand new team and a brand new season,” Beck said in a program release found among the informational smorgasbord available Monday. “Every team has its own personality. The biggest question facing this team is who all will emerge as leaders? We have some great leaders already in players like John Brown, Nate Dreiling and Gus Toca but who else will join them? The thing that stands out to me about our championship run was the team chemistry and leadership on last year’s squad was second to none. Hopefully we can match that this year.”

Dreiling, Toca and senior offensive lineman Aaron Kolich return as team captains and Brown earned a selection in his second year at Pitt State. Junior running back Solomon Watkins and senior defensive back Chas Smith both returned from injuries last season and both were picked team captains in the spring. Expected starting quarterback Anthony Abenoja was the lone sophomore this year picked team captain.

Hard work in the offseason definitely helped Pitt State improve from 6-6 in 2010 to 13-1 and national champions in 2011. Beck, Toca and Dreiling touched on hard work.

“What we do in the offseason is definitely a big factor in our success,” Beck said. “The offseason and the summer is something they have to do on their own but it’s a time where you build mental toughness. We were able to get through some games where we needed mental toughness last year. We had some good, tough football games and I think maybe some of the things we do in the offseason, a lot of credit goes to (assistant coach) Neal Philpot. He does a tremendous job with some of our offseason stuff. There’s no doubt practice in the offseason catapults you into preparing for the season.”

“We’ve been putting in our work this whole summer,” Toca said. “Seven-on-seven, runs, D-line drills, whatever we can do to get ready for next year.”

“We had good winter conditioning, lifting and everything,” Dreiling said. “Summer’s gone well. We’ve had a lot of kids there working hard. It’s what summer’s all about.”

Junior safety Keeston Terry adds even more depth to an already deep, talented, versatile Pitt State secondary. Terry was dismissed from Kansas by new head coach Charlie Weis before Terry could transfer, and the fourth-leading KU tackler in 2011 (66 stops) becomes immediately eligible for PSU.

Junior placekicker-punter Connor Frazell and junior offensive lineman Taylor Peak both played at area high schools (Frazell at Iola, Peak at Girard) and both played for two premier community college teams (Frazell at Butler, Peak at Hutchinson) before transferring into the Pitt State program.

Coaches and media agreed on 10 of the 15 selections, including all of the top eight: Pitt State, Northwest Missouri, Missouri Western, Washburn, Central Missouri, Nebraska Kearney, Emporia State and Lindenwood. Southwest Baptist and Lincoln were picked No. 13 and No. 15, respectively.

Kearney, Lindenwood, Northeastern State and Central Oklahoma both start their first years in the MIAA and Southwest Baptist returns to the fold in football after enjoying independent status for a few seasons.

Pitt State plays Northeastern State, Central Oklahoma, Southwest Baptist and Lindenwood this season.

“We’ve got some good football schools coming in,” Beck said. “That will be exciting for fans to see new teams coming in. It’s unfortunate we don’t get to play Emporia, Hays and Washburn but we can only play the teams in front of us and see what happens.”

“It’s always exciting to play a new team,” Toca said. “Northeastern, I think they’re a great team and I can’t wait to play them. You never know what you’re going to get with a new team. We played Central a couple years ago at their place and they have a real nice stadium (Wantland Stadium).”

“It’s always fun to face some new challenges and some new teams,” Dreiling said. “It definitely raises the excitement level coming into the season and it just makes the conference even more difficult.”

Pitt State begins its preseason camp Thursday and opens its season Aug. 30 against Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Okla.