By Nathan Hutchinson
Register Sports Editor
RICHMOND —
With the start of training camp just a few days away, its hard to imagine that there not a certain sense of urgency surrounding the Eastern Kentucky University football program.
And if there isn’t, well, then there certainly should be.
This season could well be one of the most important in the history of the Ohio Valley Conference’s most tradition-rich program.
After two-straight league titles (and playoff appearances) helped vault the program back to national prominence (among FCS schools), last year the Colonels took a big step backwards.
A late-season slide, which included completely disastrous losses to Western Carolina and Austin Peay, left the school without a winning record for the first time in 32 years.
Among the most hardcore, die-hard EKU fans, the end of that three-decade streak was nothing less than devastating.
Some were so upset that they demanded a change in the coaching staff, including the head coach.
That didn’t happen, despite the outcry from a few overzealous folks.
The school stood behind head coach Dean Hood and his entire staff.
And that was the right move.
Still, a year later Hood and the program have reached a critical juncture.
A winning season and an OVC title get the program moving back in the right direction once again. However, another losing season and EKU may well slip into obscurity in a league which is not considered amongst the strongest in the nation.
It’s that simple.
And there really is no other way to put it.
After 31-straight winning seasons, two-straight losing seasons is, well, simply unacceptable.
Dean Hood knows that.
Every coach on that staff knows that.
Every player who will put on an EKU uniform this season knows that.
And all the fans who follow the Colonels know that.
So, that’s the situation.
Plain and simple.
The expectations surrounding the EKU football program are always extremely high — this year’s there just a little bit more pressure.
And soon enough we will find out the Colonels can rise to the challenge.
