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By Brian Nowicki 
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with University of Toledo head football coach Tom Amstutz. We reflected on the 2005 season and talked about what goes on during the offseason to prepare for the next football season.2005 was the 12th straight winning season for Toledo, and it marked the 4th time in the last five years that the Rockets played in a bowl game. But without winning the MAC Championship, was it a successful season? Despite not making it to the MAC Championship game in 2005, the Rockets went 9-3, won a share of the MAC West Division Title, and won the GMAC Bowl. When I asked Coach Amstutz about the success of the season he said that their number one goal is always to win the MAC Championship, but other goals were met. "Anytime you're a 9-3 team, win a share of the West Division Championship Title, and win a great bowl game; I definitely look at that as a championship season," said Amstutz. One of the biggest wins of the season was a 45-13 victory over UTEP in the GMAC Bowl. "It introduces recruits to the University of Toledo," Amstutz said when I asked him about the impressive win in the GMAC Bowl. Amstutz went on, "we played a very good 8-3 team from Conference USA and handled them on national TV. That was a dream come true kind of day for a coach." When asking him what his favorite highlights were of the season, he first mentioned the opportunity to work with the players, in particular the seniors on the team. "They all gave so much. They were great young men, great leaders, and they had a great year," Amstutz reflected when talking about the seniors. Of course beating Bowling Green was another highlight for Coach Amstutz. He said, "It's always great to beat Bowling Green, especially at Bowling Green." And of course the GMAC Bowl victory was another highlight for him. To the average football fan the college football season runs from late August through New Year's, but to a college football coach the season never ends. Once the games are done, coaches put all of their emphasis on recruiting. The coaches travel all over the country while recruiting and Coach Amstutz touched on that a little bit. "We recruited in Florida, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan." He went on, "we travel non-stop, working seven days a week." Once the players sign LOI's (Letters of Intent), the coaches study the films of the past season to see where they need to make adjustments. "We evaluate our personnel and see where we could possibly move some players to improve our football team," said Coach Amstutz. They also evaluate the calls they made the previous year and look for ways to improve the playcalling. The coaches also take the time to travel to different clinics. They are the speakers at some clinics and they go to other clinics to learn from other speakers. For the players on the football team they have a weight conditioning program and a conditioning class that both football players and other students can enroll in. Amstutz said, "we work out in the weight room three days a week and really encourage our kids to buckle down in the class room." Every year it seems that members of the coaching staff receive offers from other schools to move up the ladder. "We've had several coaches over the last few years get opportunities to improve themselves professionally." Amstutz went on, "I'm proud of them for doing that and it is a sign of a successful program when other schools want to come in and hire the coaches that trained at the University of Toledo and take them to their program." He added, "it gives us the opportunity to bring in new and fresh young coaches and get some new ideas and thoughts on both sides of the ball. It's an opportunity for us to get better." This year Coach Amstutz is looking to replace assistant coaches Mike Devlin and Randall McCray. Devlin has moved on to the New York Jets in the NFL. I asked Coach Amstutz about his time at the University of Toledo. "He (Mike Devlin) did an outstanding job with the offensive line," said Amstutz. "He brought in a lot of good coaching techniques with his experience in the NFL. His goal was to be an NFL coach and he has done that after two quick years at the college level. We were very fortunate to have him here for those two years." Randall McCray took an assistant coaching position at Rice University. McCray is from the South, so the move to Rice gives him the opportunity to move his family back to that region. "He (McCray) had a lot of enthusiasm," Amstutz said. He concluded, "He gave us several years of good service." Coach Amstutz told me that he hopes to have their positions filled before Spring practices start. Our conversation then shifted to Spring practices. With Bruce Gradkowski graduating, many Rocket fans are focused on the battle at the quarterback position. Amstutz touched on the battle for the spot. "We have three or four quarterbacks on campus that are going to be competing for it," said Amstutz. "We also have a freshman quarterback (Aaron Opelt) coming in that will be in the competition for the job." He reminded me that in the Spring of 2003, Bruce Gradkowski started out as the #2 guy in the QB battle and he won the job. The coaching staff is going into the Spring with the thought that this is an open competition and any of the quarterbacks could win the starting job. As for other positions, you can expect some changes. "We're gonna move some players around," said Amstutz. "I'm looking for the best 11 on offense and the best 11 on defense. I don't like to say that anyone has a position locked down. We will start Spring ball with open competition." Even though they won't be on campus until the summer, there are 23 incoming freshman that will have a chance to show what they can do. Amstutz added, "all of the recruits are physically ready and capable of coming in and helping our football team." Amstutz believes that at least a half a dozen of the incoming freshman could play a significant part this fall as either a backup, starter, or contributor on special teams. With the graduation of kicker Jason Robbins, incoming freshman Alex Steigerwald will have a very good chance of winning the kicking job and starting this fall. We talked about a couple of players that are looking to come back from injuries. One in particular is running back Scooter McDougle. "He has been cleared by doctor's to play," said Coach Amstutz. Scooter is now working on getting back into shape for the season. We also talked about defensive lineman Al Martin. He had knee surgery last year, but Coach Amstutz said he is back and working out with the team and should be on the field this Spring. Coach Amstutz also told me that Jalen Parmele battled through some injuries last fall, but he is doing good now and he expects a lot out of him in 2006. We also talked about a couple of younger players that are expected to play important roles this fall. First is running back DaJuane Collins. Collins was highly recruited in 2005 and chose the Rockets over offers from several BCS schools. One recruiting service had him listed as one of the Top 50 running backs in the country. Amstutz was excited to talk about DaJuane. "We are really excited about him. He is every bit as tough as we thought he was gonna be," Amstutz said. He concluded, "I expect good things out of him." We also talked about wide receiver Nick Moore. Despite suffering a minor concussion against Northern Illinois and missing the Bowling Green game, Moore came back in the GMAC Bowl against UTEP and had a very good game. The redshirt freshman had 4 receptions for 84 yards, showing that he was over the injury. "He got better and better as the season went on," said Amstutz. "I expect him to be a go-to receiver and I expect him to do very well." I asked Coach Amstutz about the pending merger between the University of Toledo and the Medical University of Ohio. Amstutz said, "there's only a few state schools that have their own law school, medical school, pharmacy school, and engineering program." He added, "this is an exciting time for the University of Toledo." As I walked away from the interview with Coach Amstutz, I found myself very excited about the 2006 football season. The Rockets open the season at Iowa State on August 31st. That is a long time away, but for the coaches and players it is always football season and Spring practices are just around the corner. The first practice of the Spring is scheduled for March 18th. Have a question or comment for Brian? Email |