UMHB to make tweaks after playoff loss
Posted On: Tuesday, Dec. 1 2009 05:20 AM
By Angel Verdejo
Killeen Daily HeraldBELTON – Two days after his Mary Hardin-Baylor football team had its season end before December for the first time in four years, coach Pete Fredenburg sat in his office and said the entire program will take a look in the mirror and decide what needs tweaking and changing moving forward.
That's includes the 12-year head coach.
"You have to start with everything," Fredenburg said. "You look at your philosophy. You look at your beliefs.
"All those things come in question."
UMHB lost to Linfield (OR) College 53-21 in their NCAA Division III second-round playoff, as the Crusaders led 14-13 only to have a school-record seven turnovers help the Wildcats score 27 third-quarter points. The Crusaders reached playoffs for the eighth time in nine years, but have reached the finals just once, losing to Linfield in the 2004 championship.
"We want to win 15 ballgames," Fredenburg said. "That's a goal of this program. We want to win a national championship, and in order to get there, you have to have that intensified look at everything and create.
"If we would be satisfied with winning 10 ballgames, then everything would be fine. But we're not. We want to win it all."
Fredenburg said the key now is to turn the loss into lessons moving forward. He plans to speak to each player in the near future while accessing where the program can improve.
"We're going to look at everything," Fredenburg said. "We have to take some of the things that we're not doing really well and figure out a way to do it better. We lost two ballgames that I don't know that we should have lost.
"I think we could have done some things that could have really helped us in those two ballgames, and that's coaching. I have to do a better job that those things don't happen again."
Decorated seniors
The Crusaders lose 11 seniors which led UMHB to a 44-7 record, four outright or shared American Southwest Conference titles and consecutive trips to the national semifinals.
The class combined for 13 all-conference selections and this season's ASC Defensive Lineman of the Year selection (Marco Coppola).
"I can't say enough about this senior class and I hate that it ended that way," Fredenburg said. "They have a lot to be proud of."
Other notables include Bryson Tucker, who started the season at defensive back before switching over to running back when injuries mounted. Tucker rushed for 558 yards and seven touchdowns, finishing his career with 1,230 yards and 11 scores on the ground to go with 146 total tackles. He is the only Crusader to score a touchdown six different ways (rushing, receiving, passing, kickoff return, punt return and fumble return). Brett Parker set a school record with 15 career interceptions and tied another with six this season. Jeremy Salinas finished sixth all-time with 221 total tackles, while Coppola also finished sixth in career sacks (14).
Daniels' future
A big question surrounding UMHB is whether running back Quincy Daniels will return next season. The junior is scheduled to graduate in May but could play another season if he pursues a medical redshirt after missing nearly all of the 2008 with a knee injury.
"We need to sit down and just talk about it," Fredenburg said. "But I'm in no rush. I think there's a lot of things that have to be considered."
Daniels returning could help a backfield which will lose Tucker and Mays. He ran for 112 yards against Linfield and finished as the Crusaders' leading rusher with 982 yards and 14 touchdowns despite missing two games.
The Belton native is fourth on the school's all-time career rushing list with 2,769 yards and total rushing touchdowns (36). Should Daniels return, he will likely become UMHB's all-time leader in both categories.
Contact Angel Verdejo at
averdejo@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7564.