CIS Preview: Defense may prove to be Mount Allison Mounties weapon in 2012

The Mount Allison Mounties hope to become a force to be reckoned with in the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) conference in 2012.

After rigorous and impressive winter workouts, the team is currently preparing for the start of spring training camp on April 20th.

Mounties head coach and offensive coordinator Kelly Jeffrey says he’s impressed by what he’s seen so far in the offseason.

“Our winter workouts were the toughest we’ve had since I’ve been here and the guys responded well every step of the way,” comments Jeffrey. “It’s been an incredible offseason to see all of our young players continue to improve.”

“It’s hard to single out individual players going into our spring practices as the overall effort has been excellent by so many but we’re really looking forward to putting all of that work on to the field April 20.”

Since 2006, Jeffrey has been a part of the Mounties coaching staff. When he first arrived on the campus, Jeffrey was an assistant coach. In 2008 Jeffrey took over the head coaching reins. Previous to the Mounties, Jeffrey instructed many different teams south of the border. Those stints included student assistant receivers coach at Dickenson State University (1994-1995), running back coach at Northern State University (1996-1997), quarterbacks and special teams coach at San Diego State University (1998-2000), quarterback coach at UNLV (2001) and head coach at Maryville State University (2002-2005).

Shane Mosher is the newest addition to the Mounties coaching staff. The former Saint Mary’s University running backs coach and head coach in the New Brunswick high school ranks will be an asset to the team due to the knowledge he possesses and the familiarity of the recruits from the region.

Scott Brady is the defensive coordinator of the Mounties. Assistant coaches for the team include Perry Kukkonen (offense), Pete Miller (defense), Gaetan Richard (offense), Jock Gemmell (defense), Terry Tait (offense), Chris Clem (defense) and Olivier Eddie (special teams).

As for the team roster, the Mounties will have 56 returning players. However, the offensive unit has lost five key starters: two offensive lineman and three receivers.

“We have a lot of young players in our program who have had a great winter and there will be enormous competition to fill those positions going forward,” adds Jeffrey of how the team plans to fill those gaps in the lineup.

The Mounties hope this year’s recruiting class will fill some of those voids.

“We’re excited about the quality and character of players we have recruited this year,” says Jeffrey of the Mounties recruitment class. “We had a large group of recruits last year so it was important that this class addressed some specific needs we had.”

Jeffrey says the additions Nova Scotia defensive stars Jordan Redding (6’5, 205 lbs), Max Fitzgerald (6’2, 200 lbs) and Mark Sampson (6’3, 185 lbs) will be invaluable assets to the Mounties. All three players are very familiar with each other as they played together on the defensive unit for the Citadel Phoenix of the Nova Scotia Student Athletic Federation Football League (NSSAFFL).

They led a defensive unit who played a pivotal role in the Phoenix’s success. During their time with the Phoenix, the team registered three consecutive undefeated seasons en route to winning three straight NSSAFFL Tier 1 championship titles (2009-2011).

Redding, Fitzgerald and Sampson’s impact will be immediately felt on the Mounties.

“The three defensive players from Citadel will provide immediate competition into our program and bring a winning tradition with them to our program,” explains Jeffrey about how the newest Mounties recruits will contribute to the team.

Defensively, things look to be promising for the Mounties.

“The defense has looked very strong this winter,” says the Mounties head coach and offensive coordinator. “You can see our defense improve with almost every workout and there is so much competition the defense just continues to elevate its level of play each timeout.”

On the offensive end of things, the focus will be on the battle for starting positions.

“Offensively, we have graduated some key performers from last year so the position battles will continue this spring and well into fall camp,” explains Jeffrey.

Overall, both units will be ready compete come the first game of the regular season in the AUS.

“Both sides of the ball will be in an attack mentality this year from the first game on,” adds Jeffrey of the Mounties game execution plan.

Since the Mounties football program’s focus has been on recruitment and offseason workouts, the team has not paid much attention to what the other three AUS programs have done in the offseason. However, Jeffrey expects the competition in the league to be tight.

“The competition level will continue to be solid throughout the conference,” says the Mounties head coach. “The talent level that showed in the CFL’s E-camp is indicative of the players we have in the AUS and we expect the race for the title to be as wide open as it has ever been.”

Ultimately, there are two areas the Mounties want to improve on this upcoming season if they are to be successful on the field.

“The keys for 2012 is to get back on track in the turnover margin category and to finish games,” explains Jeffrey. “We took a step back in both of those areas from 2010 to 2011 and it will continue to be the most important focus for our program.”

Improvement and competition will be the expectations the Mounties will have going into the 2012 AUS regular season.

“Our expectations for 2012 are to improve in every phase,” comments Jeffrey. “I’m excited to see the results of the work that our team has put in this offseason and will expect to compete every play of every game.”

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