Edinboro Fighting Scots

2013 Record: 5-6 (3-4)

Head Coach: Scott Browning (54-35, 9th year)
Defensive Coordinator: Wayne Bradford
Offensive Coordinator: Mike Miller

Top returning players: QB Cody Harris, WR Ben Eisel, WR Darren Massey, RB Jeremy Donaldson, S Veuntrae Robinson

The upside: The Fighting Scots had one of the smallest senior classes in the PSAC last year.

The downside: The schedule is among the toughest in the league. Getting back over .500 will be a huge challenge.



Last year was a bit grueling for the Fighting Scots. They suffered through several costly injuries, most notably to their team leader, QB Cody Harris. The offense struggled for consistency without Harris and things never seemed to get any better. In fact, they got worse. In the last three games, the Scots scored a total 25 points. There isn't much momentum carrying over, but Edinboro does get a huge boost with the return of Harris. Because he did not play after week 2, Harris qualified for and was granted a medical hardship waiver and an extra year of eligibility.

It's hard to overstate how important Harris' return is to the program. This is a critical year for Edinboro football. They've had two straight losing seasons and cannot afford to slip any further in the very competitive PSAC West. Having Harris back to help lead the team is huge. The offense also gets a big shot in the arm with new offensive coordinator Mike Miller. Miller is a Western PA native and a Clarion graduate, but he comes to Edinboro via the National Football league. He spent several years with the Arizona Cardinals organization including two years as offensive coordinator. He was also on the staff for the Cardinals' NFC Championship season in 2008. He's bound to bring a wealth of knowledge and some new philosophies from the NFL and I can only imagine that it will be very exciting for young players to learn from a coach that has spent so much time at the top level of football.

Miller's credentials are unquestioned, but there are still some unknowns with bringing in a pro level coach. He will not have nearly as much time to work with the players as he is used to, and he won't have a large staff of assistants. Coaches have to spread themselves pretty thin in Division II so that is going to be an adjustment for him. His Western PA roots and experience as a player in the PSAC will help, but integrating himself and his system into the program could be a challenge. The good news is that I can't think of an active D2 quarterback that will be more capable of quickly adapting and excelling in a pro-style system than Cody Harris.

Miller will surely get to work right away on building the offense back up and Harris won't be the only tool he has to work with. Leading receiver Ben Eisel (45 catches, 528 yards) and PSAC West Freshman of the year Darren Massey (26 catches, 339 yards) will lead the receiving corps. Top rusher Jeremy Donaldson (145 carries, 615 yards, 5TD) will return and will run behind an offensive line that lost only one starter.

Offense has been a strength for the Scots in recent years and they will be out prove that last year's sluggish performance was an aberration. The offensive line was vastly improved from 2012 to 2013 and with four starters returning, the unit should for a force. The passing game will be a major threat again with Harris (one the PSAC's most efficient passers ever) back in the fold and that should really help the running game as well.

The Scots will need to get a little tougher on defensive front. They've had a hard time standing up to good rushing teams over the last couple of years, and that has been hard to overcome. They should have seven starters coming back on defense, including all of the linebackers and three linemen. T Chris Williams made second team PSAC West and will be anchor of the front seven. They lost big talent in the secondary with the graduation of James Jackson. In addition, Devin Ghafoor, a junior in 2013 and Delano Faber, a sophomore, are no longer with the team. Filling those holes will be tough.

Outlook
Edinboro has enough returning talent to be a factor again, but their schedule is a grind. They open at Carson-Newman, a perennial top 25 program from the SAC and then face Shippensburg and East Stroudsburg in the cross-over schedule. After that, they open divisional play with Cal in week 4 and IUP in week 5. Sheesh.