Q: The team is projected to finish sixth (last) in the Mid-American Conference West Division. Will those predictions be proven wrong?

A: Preseason polls are what they are, and the vast majority of the time in my college career, they haven’t been too generous with selections. As I looked out and saw that in a majority of our football games, we had an opportunity to win in the fourth quarter, I felt there was somewhat of a lack of ownership – everybody looking around for somebody else to make a play. So, in December, we formed a leadership council of our current seniors along with captains from each position group. Those 15 young men and I have been meeting every other week.

This group and I spent a lot of time together ensuring that this leadership group felt very much part of the management of the football team. We face seven Mid-American Conference teams this year. There are no teams on the conference schedule that we feel are going to beat us by insurmountable amounts. We aren’t going to get blown out, but we’re also not going to blow anybody out. We believe that through the dedication sown in the spring and summer, a better leadership core and increased attention to detail from a mental perspective, we’ll overcome and beat those predictions.

Q: The team faces many difficult non-conference foes this year. Is such a challenging schedule a blessing or a curse?

A: In the MAC, a vast majority of the teams will play three and four [Bowl Championship Series] schools. It’s a huge challenge for us from a game-planning and staying-healthy perspective. But it’s also an opportunity for us to challenge ourselves against the best of what college football has to offer. The way the schedule stacks up this year is real interesting in that we play two MAC games relatively early in September, and then we finish up with four MAC games in 21 days. Obviously, to find a way to win two or three of those early MAC games puts us in a position to make a run. I think that 6-1 will win the West Division. I like the way the schedule is set up. Obviously, four BCS games is a challenge for us, but we’re up to it.

Q: What areas of success are you building on from last year?

A: We have a lot of leadership. We have a tremendous amount of experience on the defensive side of the ball. Any time you are building a program, you have to learn how to win. By putting ourselves in position to win those close games in the latter part of 2005 and during 2006, it has put us into position to take the next step. It wasn’t too long ago that the vast majority of the football games at Eastern Michigan were decided at halftime, and not necessarily in Eastern Michigan’s favor.

In the short-term perspective, when you have those frustrating-type losses, you feel like maybe you’re not making progress from a fan’s perspective or a parent’s perspective. But if you look at it from a broader view and watch the progression of the program, this is exactly what happened at Northwestern University [Genyk was a coach there before coming to EMU], and that team went on to win back-to-back Big Ten titles. We’re very close. A vast majority of the upperclass football players have taken tremendous ownership and want to do something about it. You either find a way or you make one. I feel our players are now in a position to take that sort of action.

Q: What’s the biggest personnel challenge for this team in 2007?

A: The biggest unknown is that any time you lose players like A.J. Bennett, Trumaine Riley (’07) and Eric Deslauriers (’07) – three receivers who over a two-year period had more than 400 receptions – that’s an area of concern. But that’s the essence of college football. When you have mature, excellent players at one position, the backups don’t get a lot of chance to play, to show their wares. I really feel that our receivers had a very challenging spring. Dontayo Gage, Travis Lewis and DeAnthony White have really grown and are ready to step in and make some plays. In addition, losing a player like Andrew Wellock (’07) after four years is a challenge.