Haywood hopes  OL competition helps ground game

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By Pete Conrad , Staff Writer Updated 8:11 AM Monday, August 2, 2010

DETROIT — Miami University’s football team didn’t lose any of its interior offensive linemen from last season, but the RedHawks are likely to have a new look from tackle to tackle, anyway.

That shouldn’t come as a shock. The RedHawks were ranked next-to-last in the nation in rushing offense last fall, averaging only 2.4 yards per carry.

“We’ve moved Brandon Brooks into guard,” said Miami coach Michael Haywood, who attended the Mid-American Conference Football Preview at Ford Field on July 30. “He’s competing at left guard with (Bob) Gullley for the starting position.”

Brooks, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound junior, started 12 games at left guard in 2008 but was switched to left tackle last season and again started all 12 games. Gulley, a 6-4, 308-pound senior, started 11 games at left guard in 2009.

Haywood also noted that he has moved JoJo Williams, a 6-2, 277-pound sophomore who started five games at defensive end and defensive tackle last year, to right guard, where he will vie with 6-5, 308-pound junior Nate Williams. Last year Nate Williams started all 12 games at right guard.

“It has significantly helped Nate Williams because he has changed his entire body over the summer,” Haywood said. “Because now he has competition at that position.

“At right tackle, Matt Kennedy is probably the best offensive lineman we have on the field right now,” the Miami coach added. “He’s put on 20 pounds of good weight. Brad Bednar’s starting at center.”

Kennedy, a sophomore who was listed at 6-5, 245 pounds in the spring, and Bednar, a 6-4, 283-pound sophomore, both started in every game last season.

More competition looms at left tackle between Josh Harvey (6-5, 324-pound redshirt freshman), Andrew Phelan (6-4, 295-pound sophomore from Lakota West) and, possibly, a junior college transfer who has yet to make that transfer official.

Restoring the tradition

History has been on the minds of the RedHawks this summer, and not the kind of history usually reserved for the classroom.

They are more than just a little aware that their records of 2-10 in 2008 and 1-11 last year do not jive with the expectations of Miami fans, who are used to savoring winning seasons about nine out of every 10 years.

From 1991-2005 the RedHawks had 14 winning seasons in 15 years. Since 2005 they’ve had none, and Miami’s 21 combined losses in 2008 and ’09 are the most in back-to-back years in program history.

“There are a lot of people in the Cincinnati area who really value the brand of Miami football, its tradition and history,” senior strong safety Jordan Gafford said. “That means a lot to us, and we want to maintain it and grow that tradition.”

“That tradition that we used to have,” sophomore quarterback Zac Dysert noted, “now we want to get it back.”

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