Accountability, Determination, Toughness

By: Andy Sneddon
7/31/2023 5:21:00 PM
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Accountability and responsibility involve pointing fingers. Not at coaches, not at teammates, but at the mirror.
Looking back and ahead, coach Jim McElwain's Central Michigan football team is taking that to heart as the Chippewas look to rebound from the disappointment and frustration of a 4-8 season.
"I think this year there's more accountability with everyone," said senior Nick Apsey, who is in his sixth year with the program and, as one of the veterans, has lived through the lows and the highs, including a Sun Bowl victory that capped a 9-4 season in 2021. "I think last year we got complacent with winning the Sun Bowl.
"I think everyone came into this last year thinking it's going to be a breeze and we don't have to work that hard and we saw exactly what happened to us. We just have a better mindset this year; we're more accountable, and we realize that nothing's free. You've got to work to get something."
It wasn't all bad a year ago. Several young players gained valuable experience, particularly on defense where nine starters return.
The focus has been squarely on improvement since last season came to an end, said McElwain, who has led the Chippewas to a pair of Mid-American Conference West Division titles in his four years at the helm.
"We need to do better, we need to do better than we did a year ago, and we're going to do that," he said.
Certainly, there is an all-systems-go vibe as the Chippewas open practice this week. Then again, there is with every program in August. Yet it just feels different in '23 and that begins with McElwain, who coached through illness at the beginning of the '22 season, his 10th as a head coach and his 36th in the coaching profession.
"I've been really, really fortunate to be around great programs and great teams and I haven't really experienced what we went through a year ago and the reflection on the reasons why," he said. "First and foremost, to be honest, I don't think I had my stinger last year. Some things occurred before the season and I'm not sure that I was there for (the players) like I should have been and everything that occurred a year ago, it's all on me, it's nobody else.
"I just promise these guys they're going to get the best coach Mac that they've had in a long, long time because we don't want that taste again."
📺 @CoachMcElwain on what he learned personally from the 2022 @cmu_football season...
Full press conference: https://t.co/2Max8cXAH1#FireUpChips 🔥🆙🏈 pic.twitter.com/8F6dCvpMXf
— CMU Football (@CMU_Football) July 31, 2023
Apsey said it's clear that his coach is rejuvenated on the eve of the opening practice.
"That really got to him," Apsey said in reflecting on McElwain's health heading into last season. "He wanted to be able to do certain stuff and he just couldn't. We definitely saw it. I think he's back better than ever this year and he's ready to go."
And so are his Chippewas. And they had better be.
They open the season at Michigan State on Sept. 1 and go to Notre Dame on Sept. 16. The home opener is Sept. 9 against New Hampshire and the Chippewas will play at South Alabama on Sept. 23.
New Hampshire finished 9-4 a year ago and advanced to the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs; South Alabama went 10-3 in 2022.
CMU entertains Eastern Michigan in its MAC opener on Sept. 30. The Eagles went 9-4 last season, the second-highest win total in program history, and won their first bowl game since 1987.
"You can argue it's one of the most challenging schedules in our school's history," McElwain said, and then added specifically about the trips to MSU, Notre Dame and South Alabama. "I think it's fun; it tests your program, and it tests your kids. For us, it's an opportunity for us to go show our brand on a national scale.
"We should learn a lot about ourselves, but the most important thing to me is, let's make sure we compete, let's make sure that everybody knows who we are once that game's over."
The Quarterback
The Chippewas have five quarterbacks on the roster, led by returnees Bert Emanuel Jr. and Jase Bauer. Both saw significant playing time a year ago behind Daniel Richardson, who has transferred.
"We feel very comfortable with the guys in that room," McElwain said in explaining why the Chippewas chose not to pursue a signal-caller in the transfer portal. "Now, we've got to get them out there to play that way and that's our responsibility. We never had a thought about going into the portal for that position; we feel we've got a real strong room there and I continue to think that. We'll find out with their play throughout the season."
Emanual, a redshirt freshman, dazzled as a runner last season, carrying for an average of 7.4 yards per attempt and scoring seven touchdowns, most on long breakaways. Bauer, a redshirt sophomore, proved to be a capable dual threat, throwing for 435 yards and running for 312.
Redshirt sophomore Tyler Pape also returns and the Chippewas have added two freshmen, Ethan Lane and Tyler Jefferson.
📺 @CoachMcElwain on how the @cmu_football team has grown over the offseason...
Full press conference: https://t.co/2Max8cY8wz#FireUpChips 🔥🆙🏈 pic.twitter.com/sPD7DGbHCX
— CMU Football (@CMU_Football) July 31, 2023
Up Front
No matter who is taking snaps, the Chippewas need to improve on the offensive line, McElwain said.
"I look at the history and the success at Central Michigan, and the great Chippewa teams, it started up front and there was a certain mindset with those bubs, those offensive linemen, that they were not going to be denied," he said. "The quarterback position is obviously very, very important. But we need to do better in the parts around that position as well to allow them to go out and be successful.
"A lot of that instilled toughness has to be in our ability to run the ball and we weren't able to do that well a year ago which allowed people to stack the box."
That sentiment was echoed by redshirt sophomore Keegan Smith, who figures to be one of the leaders on an offensive front that, like so many other CMU position groups, picked up valuable experience in 2022.
"I think there's something the offensive line is trying to prove this year, especially with how disappointing last year was," Smith said. "If we're going to be the best team we can be we need to be able to run the ball. We definitely have that let's-go-prove-them-wrong attitude and I think we need to show everyone that last year was a fluke.
"I think we were a little nonchalant before last year and we thought it was just going to happen again and this year we're not going to let anything happen except what we want. That's our plan."
📺 @CoachMcElwain's opening comments to begin his 2023 preseason press conference...
Watch full press conference here: https://t.co/2Max8cY8wz#FireUpChips 🔥🆙🏈 pic.twitter.com/en3bR8ZS67
— CMU Football (@CMU_Football) July 31, 2023
Point of Emphasis
A major part of getting the job done in the trenches is toughness. That, Smith and McElwain agree, has been emphasized throughout the offseason.
"As an offensive line, we need to be the center of toughness," Smith said. "No matter what happens you're going to be the bully, you're going to be the hammer, and that's it."
McElwain said he attended the CMU football alumni golf outing in Mount Pleasant on Saturday. Some 125 former players, representing at least six decades, attended and, as usual, there was no shortage of opinions for the coach.
He listened.
"When you look back on the history of this program," McElwain said, "the one thing no one ever wanted to do was play Central Michigan because of the toughness and I think we had that and I think we lost it a little bit last year, or maybe the understanding that, look, the scoreboard means nothing. Let's go out and out-hit our opponents; let's make sure they know that we're here and I think these guys are ready to do it."
📺 @CoachMcElwain on how the @cmu_football team has grown over the offseason...
Full press conference: https://t.co/2Max8cY8wz#FireUpChips 🔥🆙🏈 pic.twitter.com/sPD7DGbHCX
— CMU Football (@CMU_Football) July 31, 2023