Even though Morgan State won a competitive MEAC and earned a trip to the FCS playoffs last season, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who considers them a championship contender in 2015.
In fact, Morgan State was voted to finish fifth in the league during last week’s MEAC Media Day.
Several players, including junior running back Herb Walker Jr., have openly expressed disappointment not being tabbed to repeat as conference champions.
“It’s insulting, but I really try not to think about it,” Walker told the Baltimore Sun. “I really try to focus on our brotherhood and getting the team better. I try not to focus on that, but that got a chip on our shoulders and makes us want to work even harder.”
Senior quarterback Moses Skillon said coaches and players have printed multiple copies of the MEAC preseason poll and posted them on the walls inside the locker room and weight room.
“Of course it is [offensive], but we can’t worry about all the naysayers,” said Skillon, who taped a copy to the wall of his bedroom. “We know what we’re capable of. Respect is not given, it’s earned. So basically this year, we’re going to come out and earn it. … We know that everyone in the MEAC is doubting us right now, but we’re going to show.”
Even second-year coach Lee Hull, who is one of the more unflappable figures on the sideline, admitted that he is taking the snub “personally.” But he also pointed out that the preseason poll should be another reminder that the program can’t afford to dwell in the afterglow of last year’s success.
“We’re not worried about what happened in the past,” said Hull, the former Maryland wide receivers coach who was named the MEAC Coach of the Year last season. “That’s what I keep telling the guys. That was 2014, this is 2015. We’ve got worry about this team. It’s a great accomplishment. We talked about it yesterday when we reported, about the great season that we had, but I told them that was the last time I was going to talk about last year. This is this year, and we’ve got a new team. We only have nine seniors. So we’re a very, very young team, and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Morgan State won from the rear last year. They will be looking to do the same this season.
7/5 last year right? see you in Daytona!