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WVIAC Sports

Monday August 3, 2009 UC no longer WVC's football patsy by Mike Casazza Daily Mail sports writer Advertiser

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. - The way Tony DeMeo remembers it, one of the first exploratory phone calls he made as the University of Charleston football coach prior to the 2005 season was to Shepherd Coach Monte Cater.

"Give me a rundown of the league," said DeMeo, who had coached 16 seasons at Iona (N.Y.), Mercyhurst (Pa.) and Washburn (Kan.).

Cater, the winningest coach in the history of the West Virginia Conference, explained how Glenville State was strong again, how West Virginia Wesleyan and Concord were legitimate and, well, how just about everyone in the conference made it a difficult place to coach.

"Monte," DeMeo said, "who's the patsy?"

Cater thought for a moment.

"Well," he said, "that'd be you."

No more, though. DeMeo's fifth season at UC began with the Golden Eagles predicted to finish second in the conference at Saturday's WVC media day here. It's the highest the team's been predicted since football returned in 2003 after a 47-year hiatus.

DeMeo said it was a matter of time and adhering to a patient process.

"We have a good team back," he said of a group returning eight starters on offense and defense that helped UC go 7-4 and 5-3 in conference play last season. "On defense, we have seven seniors in our front seven.

"Think about that. We're pretty excited about that and that goes back to 2006 when we started eight freshmen on defense. That was a nightmarish kind of deal."

Defending conference champion Glenville State was predicted to win the conference and had 68 points in the poll, which was eight better than UC. The preseason pick won the league three of the past four years as Shepherd won four straight league titles before going 5-5 last season.

It was the Rams' first non-winning season since 2003 and just the third in Cater's 22 seasons.

Glenville State, which hadn't won the WVC in seven years before last season, hasn't repeated since winning in 1993 and sharing from 1994-96. The Pioneers were 8-3 and 7-1 in the WVC last year and don't have it easy.

They open at home, but then play road games against Division I-AA Chattanooga, Seton Hill and Fairmont State in conference and Division I-AA Central Arkansas. Chattanooga, Seton Hill and Central Arkansas are Thursday night games and the last one comes on a short week.

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. - The way Tony DeMeo remembers it, one of the first exploratory phone calls he made as the University of Charleston football coach prior to the 2005 season was to Shepherd Coach Monte Cater.

"Give me a rundown of the league," said DeMeo, who had coached 16 seasons at Iona (N.Y.), Mercyhurst (Pa.) and Washburn (Kan.).

"Monte," DeMeo said, "who's the patsy?"

Cater thought for a moment.

"Well," he said, "that'd be you."

No more, though. DeMeo's fifth season at UC began with the Golden Eagles predicted to finish second in the conference at Saturday's WVC media day here. It's the highest the team's been predicted since football returned in 2003 after a 47-year hiatus.

DeMeo said it was a matter of time and adhering to a patient process.

"Think about that. We're pretty excited about that and that goes back to 2006 when we started eight freshmen on defense. That was a nightmarish kind of deal."

It was the Rams' first non-winning season since 2003 and just the third in Cater's 22 seasons.

"I feel, and the staff feels, this team coming up might be the most talented team we've had in the five years we've been here," Glenville Coach Alan Fiddler said. "I hope we can survive the first five games."

Glenville State had four of the nine first-place votes. UC, Seton Hill, West Liberty, Shepherd and Fairmont State all received one first-place vote

"I think the consensus is pretty much anyone can win the league," Fiddler said. "It's a very competitive conference. There are no easy games."

Never before have six conference teams received first-place votes.

"I don't think there's a favorite to win the conference," said Seton Hill Coach Joel Dolinski, who led the Griffins to a 10-3 record, a second-place WVC finish and a playoff win in his first season. "It's the team that can stay healthy, take care of the ball and eliminate mistakes. It's up for grabs."

Seton Hill had 57 points, West Liberty 56, Shepherd 53 and Fairmont State 48. In that regard, no one put too much value into the coaches' poll.

"I don't think these predictions have ever come to fruition," West Virginia State Coach Earl Monroe said. "I don't think anybody has ever picked these in order. If you have, I've got a lottery ticket in my car I'd like you to fill out for me."

Conversely, though, Monroe was a little perplexed his Yellow Jackets, who return more starters than anyone else in the league after a second consecutive 7-3 season, were picked seventh in the poll.

State hasn't had three straight winning seasons since 1978-80.

"I was kind of taken back when I saw we were seventh," he said. "I thought we were starting to earn some respect in the league. It threw off my thought process and I hope it does the same thing for our team as a motivating factor.

"They always say it's fodder for the bulletin board. This'll be up on the bulletin board before I get out of the car."

Monroe's feelings were not isolated, and Fiddler later expressed his disbelief.

"Earl's sitting there with 20 starters returning from a 7-3 team and he's picked seventh?" Fiddler said. "That's fairly ridiculous if you think about it, but that's just how competitive this league is."