By MAT SCHLISSEL
TowsonTigers.com
Tiger Coach Rob Ambrose's 3 1/2 month-wait to get back
on the field for spring practice ended this week.
It was the Tigers' first appearance on the field since dropping a 40-38 heartbreaker to Lehigh in the FCS Playoffs at Unitas Stadium. That loss was one of the few bumps in the road for a Tiger football
squad that won a CAA championship and finished with a 9-3 record.
Freshman running
back Terrance West won the Jerry Rice Award for the nation's top rookie
and the Eddie Robinson National FCS Coach of the Year award went to Ambrose.
Some people will say that going from 1-10 to 9-3 is easier than living up to
the new expectations that will be on the line for 2012 and beyond.
"We set the expectations and we have to maintain it," said Ambrose
before spring practice started on March 27. "The goal is not just to win
the CAA; we're missing a letter. We want the "N". You have to raise the
bar. We have to do what Delaware, Villanova,
James Madison have done (who won FCS Championships recently)."
Ambrose knows that it takes more than just getting good players to
maintain a program. For the most part, the elite programs in the CAA
stay at the top almost every single season.
"We have to stay the course and keep getting better incrementally
within the department," said Ambrose. "In some manner in our past, we
have always worked hard enough to achieve some degree of success. In the
Patriot League, we worked hard enough that
we made a run at the title. We went to Colgate with a chance to win the
title (but lost). What we didn't do as a program, athletic program and
institution was committing to consistency. To staying the course.
Eventually we went from Patriot League to the CAA
and said 'let's start all over again'. We have to just keep doing and
getting better at it."
But Ambrose did have some time to reflect on the accomplishments of
2011 and they were remarkable when you consider where the team was in
2009 when they were 2-9 and 2010, when they went 1-10 but did show some
progress. In early November, Towson was a
playoff contender but they needed one more win for the knockout punch
to convince the doubters they were for real.
"I remember playing New Hampshire here (56-42 win) and I knew we
were going to have a chance at a conference title (with a win)," said
Ambrose. "(After the game) I had to keep my eyes from tearing up. We
needed that game more than we needed any game all
year. To have as many people at a game in November, I was awestruck. I
was so proud of our kids."
After the season, Ambrose and West hit the award circuit and that's when it finally sunk in for the fourth-year head coach.
"Honestly, I remember being in (Frisco) Texas, with all these
awards," recalled Ambrose.. "At the (FCS) National Championship Game, doing a
press conference and it just hit me. That this is where we are. This is
what we did. I would travel around not even wearing
(Towson gear) and people would walk up to me and say 'you're the head
coach at Towson. You guys are awesome. My sister went to Towson.' I went
to a
restaurant with my wife and this guy walks up to me and says 'I want to thank you'. I thought, did I help you
change a tire? 'No, I'm a Towson alum for 20 years
and I've never felt any university pride at all. And I've never been more proud to graduate from that school in my life'.
"I realized that it's different now. If you're a freshman at this
school, you think that the University of Maryland-College Park (stinks)
and Towson is awesome. How cool is that? Now we need to stay the course.
In the future, there's going to be some good
years, some average years, maybe there's going to be a down year (like
Villanova had in 2011). There's not going to be bottom-dwelling anymore. As long as we stay committed, this has changed forever."
For Towson, improvements were made in the offseason to ensure that
some of the deficiencies of last year will become strengths. The
secondary upgraded with the additions of three transfers in CB Jordan Love (Georgia), CB Ben Harvey (South Carolina) and
S Darrell Givens (Rutgers).
The pass defense allowed 227.2 yards per
game as the Tigers ended the season with just two scholarship
cornerbacks in true freshman Tye Smith (below) and sophomore Corey Ford. Now
there's depth and competition and that's what Ambrose loves
about this spring.
"I want to get the young guys as many reps as humanly possible," said Ambrose about the goals for this spring. "A lot of coaches have set their depth charts set by the first
week of spring ball. That doesn't work here. I want competition all the
way through. I want guys to take guys' jobs. If somebody behind you
pushes you and beats you out then the program got better. The only way
we get better is though competition."
