Kennesaw State coach Brian Bohannon said Wednesday that he understands it won’t be easy for his program to move from FCS to FBS — with tougher opponents, a harder strength of schedule and other pressures — but he thinks the program’s overall attitude will help in the transition.
“I think it’s our culture, as the team is a bunch of young men that come into this program who want to do something bigger than themselves,” said Bohannon, who is entering his 10th season at the Owls coach. “We take a lot of pride in how hard we work, our attitude and our toughness, which will be pivotal when we start this first year of FBS play.”
Last season, Kennesaw State competed as an independent during the program’s transition to Conference USA, which took place July 1, and finished 3-6. The three wins came by an average margin of 35.7 points and occurred at home. The team’s six losses last season were decided by 10 points or less.
Bohannon described the mindset he wants in preseason camp. “Practice harder and be in better shape to give ourselves an advantage as we know there’s going to be a lot of mismatches as we go through the season,” Bohannon said. “I think getting everybody on the same page and being able to fight through adversity is critical.”
Bohannon has added some new faces to his coaching staff this season, bringing in Chandler Burks and Stewart Cook as co-offensive coordinators and Greg Harris as defensive coordinator.
He talked about having the new coaches at practices with him the past month. “It’s been awesome as we’re all on the same page of what we need to get accomplished and how we need to go about doing it,” Bohannon said. “We know what we must do to give ourselves a chance to be successful, and we’re all working towards that.”
Defensive back Sidney Porter, who accounted for 27 total tackles (19 solo) and two interceptions last season, said the team is ready for the move to FBS. “It’s a great experience, and we’re looking forward to this opportunity,” Porter said. “We’re excited about the challenge that’s ahead of us, and we’re going to be ready.”
Running back Qua Ashley talked about the move to FBS as the motivation this summer in practices.
“Last year, we didn’t play as well as we wanted, and we knew going into a bigger conference this year that it would take everybody coming to work every day,” Ashley said of getting better to compete with FBS opponents. “We’re all getting better every day, and we’re trending in the right direction.”
The Owls will face their first opponent as a FBS member when they play at Texas-San Antonio on Aug. 31.
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