CIS Preview: Craney has the young lions looking up

In the fourth installment of a continuing series, I’m previewing teams from the OUA for the 2012 season. At York University in Toronto, Head Coach Warren Craney is sticking to his plan for distancing his young Lions from York’s legacy of losing.

Craney knows the steps needed to bring success to York will happen on the recruiting trail. Last season, York brought in 63 players as new recruits. This year, the number will be somewhere around 50, but still large. York added size and depth to their offensive line through recruiting and were able to bring in two quarterbacks who will battle to start. Brooks Wilson comes to York from Birchmount Park Collegiate in Toronto and Tyler Pritty transferred from Concordia to play for York. In 2009, Pritty became the only player in history to win three Metro Bowl titles and he’s expected to make a push to start right away. The quarterback position is up for grabs.

“I’m excited to see the competition at quarterback,” said Craney. “I’m dying to see who our starter is that first game against Queens.”

Staying on offence, a recent signee is running back Chivon Gallagher (pictured above). Gallagher had some NCAA interest coming out of high school and brings some spark to York’s backfield.

“He’s someone who is very dynamic. With his skill set, he can make things happen on the field right away,” said Craney in a recent phone interview.

On the other side of the ball, Craney thinks he’s struck gold this year by signing cornerback Josh Smalls from Pickering.

“We’re very excited about him,” said the coach. “In our evaluations, we felt he was the top corner coming out of Ontario this year. He’s a very quick, very diverse defensive back that has speed, agility, and tremendous skill.”

All the new recruits will fight for jobs. In 2011, 18 of the Lions’ 24 starters were freshmen. It’s not an ideal scenario to compete in the OUA, but there will be competition this fall from the incoming class to start.

Figuring out how to utilize all this young talent will fall on Craney, who recently took over as defensive coordinator as well, and offensive coordinator Michael Faulds. Faulds is the all-time CIS leader in passing yards and brings his experiences as a player to the young quarterbacks at York.

“Without a doubt,” said Craney, “the best thing I’ve done in my head coaching career was to go out and hire Michael Faulds. He’s an unbelievable mentor to young quarterbacks. The CIS is a quarterback-driven league. You’re only as good as your quarterback and he’s lived that for five years at Western.”

Faulds will continue to polish his evolving offence as the talent comes in. Craney wants to ramp up the aggressiveness on defence. He had success as defensive coordinator at Concordia and is looking to bring that “high-risk, high-reward” style to York this season.

Leading the defensive charge will be second-year defensive back Marcus Grandison. The DB already took a leadership role during the off-season. He, along with offensive lineman Max Sullivan, worked especially hard to make significant gains in the weight room and the rest of the roster has followed their example. York also hired a second strength and conditioning coach this past winter and since January have seen a 98% attendance rate for their lifting and track sessions. Craney and his staff are excited to see how that translates on the field when spring camp begins in a couple of weeks.

The players are buying in to Craney’s plan. Nobody likes losing and both coaches and players have had their share of sleepless nights. Playing freshmen against 4[SUP]th[/SUP] and 5[SUP]th[/SUP]-year players can be mentally taxing.

Every week last season, Craney met with his players to let them know where they stand and where they’re headed.

“We’re selling a dream,” said Craney. He tells his young Lions, “’This is where we are in the plan…I know losing sucks, but look how much we’re getting better.’” He finishes by telling his players, “We’re right on track.”