MAC Football Media Day (MAC West)

I wrote earlier that I would post my recap of last Tuesday's MAC Media Day, so here it is. Everything I have is on my tape recorder, so getting through all the audio on it takes awhile.

Tuesday, for the most part, presented a good opportunity for me to get with representatives from each of the 13 teams. While there wasn't enough time to really get in depth with everybody, I did get a glimpse of what teams are doing and what they think of CMU's football team, plus a small snapshot of what players think of NCAA Football 09 on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. First up: The MAC West, which held print interviews from 9 to 10:30 in the morning.

Besides, this may be the best opportunity to put some coverage on here, because regular updating won't take place for another 2-3 weeks or so. I'll try to keep posted on here periodically with any updates.

Here's an approximate timetable of my day:

8:15 a.m.: Finally made it to Ford Field after a couple traffic james on I-75 south. The first thing I noticed getting into town was the giant Dan LeFevour poster plastered on the back of Comerica Park's scoreboard. That thing is massive. It seems CMU is doing what it can to promote its football program, something Athletics Director Dave Heeke was involved with during his time as senior associate AD at Oregon, when then-quarterback Joey Harrington received similar publicity at Times Square. The hook? "Joey Heisman."

9:05 a.m.: The first set of coaches and players made their way into the room. Each team had a roundtable for them and extra seats for the press. First up for me, obviously, is CMU. Jones brought junior quarterback Dan LeFevour and senior guard Andrew Hartline with him. Really, the talk of the morning was the LeFevour poster and his Heisman candidacy, so he had to fend those questions off a little bit. He says he's paying little mind to that talk. But he did say he trimmed down a little bit, probably because he did a lot of running this summer. That should bode well for his scrambling ability this year, as if he needs any extra speed.

9:20: Next up is Ball State, a team many think will snap CMU's three-peat bid. One thing worth noting: All 11 starters from last year's offense return for this year. Coach Brady Hoke obviously was enthusiastic about that, but also mentioned there are no gimmes in the MAC West. Quarterback Nate Davis is more mature, he said, and is becoming a much better leader for this season. As for a possible CMU-Ball State rivalry developing? Hoke said it's already there, since his time as a Cardinal athlete. But this year's game in Mt. Pleasant could be the biggest in some time, especially since it's Senior Day for Central.

9:30: I sat down with Western Michigan senior wideout Jamarko Simmons. He feels this year's Broncos team is much stronger, in terms of senior leadership, than last year's team... plus, that early ejection in last year's 34-31 loss to Central is still in the back of his mind. I was impressed to hear he's taking anger management classes to help control his temper, because some accounts from that play (he was ejected for kicking linebacker Red Keith after a tackle) say Keith grabbed his foot and invoked the "kick." He's taking responsibility for it anyway and seems to have a new mindset for this year.

9:40: Jeff Genyk, coach at Eastern Michigan, sees predictions (particularly of the team's last-place finish in the MAC West) as "nothing but historical references." He remembers Northwestern receiving the same lack of respect when it won Big Ten titles in 1995, 1996 and 2000 - all of which Genyk was a part of. Although the team does lose leading rusher Pierre Walker (who ran for 149 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Eagles' 48-45 win at CMU), Genyk likes the prospects of his next starting rusher, senior Terrence Blevins.

9:50: New Northern Illinois coach Jerry Kill has plenty of experience at taking teams to another level: He took Div. II Saginaw Valley State into national rankings during his five years there (1994-98) and brought Southern Illinois from 1-10 in 2001 to 12-2 in 2007 with five FCS playoff appearances. He hopes to pull the same type of turnaround at NIU, which loses just four starters from last year's squad. Fun fact: While at SVSU, Kill coached against then-Ferris State offensive coordinator Butch Jones.

10:10: Last but not least, Toledo. After four bowl appearances in his first five years, coach Tom Amstutz is coming off two consecutive 5-7 seasons (3-5 MAC). How to get the team back to prominence? "It starts with our defense," Amstutz said. "It's a great area of concern. We finished 2nd in the conference in scoring, so we're scoring point, but we have to play better defense." The Rockets gave up a conference-high 304 points in MAC play last season, including 52 to Central.

10:20: I had some extra time, so I went back over the Ball State table to talk to quarterback Nate Davis, who's a pretty light talker. The biggest things he is working on are his decision-making, his composure and his footwork. He's not thinking too much about the Ball State-Central game in November, but instead trying to take it a game at a time, starting with Northeastern on Aug. 28.

10:25: Ken Hoffman, Motor City Bowl executive director, sat down with me for a small chat. He compared managing a bowl game to managing a football team: You always try to get better and do the little things each year. This year, they held a golf outing, which was the day before, in an attempt to raise money and send up to 3,000 kids to this year's Motor City Bowl on Dec. 26. "I think we came close to $45,000," he said. He also likes the possibility of a Big Ten team showing up again this year. Since the Big Ten agreed to send its 7th-seeded team to the game about 6 or 7 years ago, only Northwestern (2003) and Purdue (2007) actually made it. With 6-6 teams eligible for bowl games and more than 65 bowl spots available, Hoffman think it's getting more and more likely for the Big Ten to show up at Ford Field.

Coming soon: MAC East interviews.