Burns will have more new faces than old ones on his staff for 2002. The returnees are assistant coach Jess McInerney, offensive line coach Mark Hutson, linebackers coach Sam Lawanson and Barry Lunney, who switched from quarterbacks to wide receivers.
The new offensive coordinator is Dan Lounsbury, a 26-year veteran in the coaching profession. He comes to Tulsa after spending the 2001 season as the quarterbacks coach at TCU. Lounsbury will also coach the Hurricane quarterbacks.
The new running backs coach is TiAndre’ Sanders, a 1997 graduate of the University of Houston who comes to Tulsa after coaching the running backs and special teams the last two years (2000-01) at A&M Consolidated High School in College Station, Texas. Before that, he coached the receivers for one season at Willowridge High School in Missouri City, Texas.
Burns also hired Bill Keopple as the school’s defensive line coach. Keopple, 43, coached the defensive line at Arkansas for two years (1999 and 2000) when Burns served as defensive coordinator for those two seasons. He returns to the coaching ranks after being in private business for the last two years.
Burns hired Sallisaw native Matt Wells and promoted graduate assistant coach Steve Hayes. Wells will coach the Hurricane tight ends, while Hayes will coach the secondary.
Wells, 28, comes to Tulsa after spending the past five seasons (1997-01) as an assistant coach at the U.S. Naval Academy. For the last three years, Hayes has served as a defensive assistant coach for the Hurricane. Last year, he assisted with the defensive line, and before that coached the secondary.
RUNNING BACKS
If healthy, junior Eric Richardson (5-9, 170) could turn in some big numbers. Despite nagging injuries last year, Richardson ran for 469 yards and five touchdowns. He had 119 yards on 22 carries against Fresno State in the second game of the season, but then was plagued by injuries the rest of the year.
Sophomore Kevin McKenzie (5-10, 184) missed most of spring drills with a leg injury but should be healthy and Richardson’s backup in the fall. Last year, McKenzie ran for 144 yards and two touchdowns.
The H-back will be red-shirt freshman Mark Holata (6-3, 240), who moved over from defense during spring drills. Sophomore Brandon Fuqua (6-0, 211) also moved from the defensive side of the ball and will be the backup.
Junior J.D. Barnett (5-11, 2210, who has been hampered by injuries during his career and missed spring drills, can play either tailback or H-back.
Depth will come from junior college transfers Preston Portee (5-9, 221) and Jamil Porter (5-9, 188), who both rushed for more than 1,000 yards last year at New Mexico Military Academy. Portee was rated the 28th-best player in the nation by The Insiders.com, while Porter was 58th.
Porter ran for 1,303 yards and Portee gained 1,266. They both scored 11 touchdowns.
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS
Leading receiver Donald Shoals is gone, but plenty of talent remains -- including the addition of a Parade All-American.
Junior Darrell Wimberly (6-0, 196) is the leading returning wide receiver with 23 receptions for 253 yards. Opposite Wimberly will be sophomore Montiese Culton (6-0, 174), who caught eight passes for 109 yards last year against Rice while filling in for Shoals.
Also in the mix are senior Brandon Birks (5-10, 180), sophomores Clint Rountree (6-1, 191), Jermaine Landrum (5-10, 160) and Edmond Freeman (6-2, 170) and red-shirt freshmen Sean Yoder (5-9, 178) and Richard McQuillar (6-3, 201).
Birks had 16 catches for 172 yards last year. Rountree and Landrum combined for 22 catches and 221 yards.
The National Letter of Intent office ruled that Jerome Janet , a 2000 Parade high school All-American from Tulsa’s Union High School, will have four years of eligibility remaining at Tulsa starting in 2002.
Janet (5-11, 182) originally signed a national letter-of-intent with Kansas State last February, but left the school in August. He is required to serve one academic year in residence at TU without athletic aid and was not permitted to participate in spring practice.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Three-year starter Kevin Shaffer is gone, along with part-time starting tackle Jake Stoetzner and reserve center Zach Newby, who had their careers ended by back injuries.
Returning are five lettermen, including three starters -- senior center Anthony Taylor (6-1, 287), junior guard Matt Black (6-2, 291) and junior tackle Tony Katic (6-4, 317).
Junior Austin Chadwick (6-3, 281) started five games last year and will start at tackle opposite Katic, who moved from guard to tackle.
The starter at right guard will be red-shirt freshman Victor Mercado (6-4, 330). Sophomore Derek Warehime (6-2, 292) will provide depth.
Burns and his staff signed Ashcon Madjid (6-4, 300), who will transfer from Cal State Northridge, an NCAA Division I-AA school that discontinued its football program after the 2001 season.
Madjid started 12 games for the Matadors in his two seasons. He started nine games at left guard as a red-shirt freshman in 2000, and started the first three games of 2001 before suffering a broken foot. He will have two years of eligibility remaining and is eligible immediately.
In high school, Madjid was an all-conference selection in his three years as a letter winner and starter at L.A. Baptist High School. He served as team captain as a senior and earned all-CIF and all-Valley accolades both his junior and senior seasons (1997 and 1998). He helped his prep team win conference championships in 1996 and 1997.
KICKERS
Senior Ricky Tallant (5-10, 178) is listed No. 1 on the depth chart to replace Chris Earnest, who made 6-of-12 field goals and 19-of-21 extra-point kicks last year.
Also, Cort Moffitt , who was an all-state kicker in 1998 at Tulsa’s Booker T. Washington High School, will play football for Tulsa. Moffitt transferred to Tulsa from the University of New Mexico before the 2001 season, and was a member of the TU men’s soccer team last fall.
Moffitt (6-3, 236) was a two-year letter winner in football at New Mexico before transferring.
At Booker T. Washington High School, he earned all-state honors by the Tulsa World, Daily Oklahoman and Oklahoma Coaches Association his senior season. As a kicker, he converted 14 field goals and 83-of-86 PATs during his career.
Moffitt made 7-of-10 field goals his senior season, including a state record 61-yarder and had a 41.0 punting average. He was also a four-year letterman as a soccer goalkeeper.
Last season as a member of the TU soccer team, Moffitt played one game in goal and recorded a shutout.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Returning here are seven letter winners and one of the top interior linemen in the Western Athletic Conference in senior nose guard Sam Rayburn (6-3, 303). Last year, Rayburn tied the school record for tackles for lost yardage with 16 for minus 47 yards. He totaled 17 solos and 10 assisted tackles.
Sophomore Josh Walker (6-5, 250) returns at tackle after finishing the 2001 season on a high note. He finished with 26 stops, including six tackles for minus 20 yards.
In the fall, newcomer Antwan Floyd (6-0, 286) will join the team from New Mexico Military Academy.
Listed as the starters at end are junior Sammy Umobong (6-3, 253) and sophomore Brandon Lohr (6-1, 240). Lohr made 22 tackles last year.
Depth will come from juniors Jason Collier (6-3, 231), Wayne McIntosh (6-5, 277) and Jeremy Davis (6-1, 256).
The defensive front was a key element of Tulsa’s recruiting class as eight newcomers will join the line in the fall.
LINEBACKERS
Leading tackler Michael Dulaney (6-2, 231) was a Football News All-WAC selection a year ago. The senior had 93 stops last year, including 11 tackles for loss, after transferring from Oklahoma.
Also back is junior Jorma Bailey (5-11, 194), who made 50 tackles last year.
They will get help from junior Jason Wiltshire (6-3, 223) and sophomore Josh DuPree (5-11, 200), both of whom saw valuable playing time and earned starting assignments last year.
Junior Brendon Swisher (6-1, 210) and sophomore Michael Ware (6-3, 208) will push for playing time.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
The Hurricane returns 12 letter winners to the five secondary positions, including 10 players who started at least one game last year.
At rover, junior Max Kraus (6-0, 177) is listed as the starter ahead of three-year starter Keithan McCorry (6-0, 181). Kraus had 22 tackles last year, while McCorry has started 29 games in the last three years and made 55 tackles in eight games last year.
At bandit, senior Reginald Reese (5-11, 188) is just ahead of junior Chad Smith (5-11, 197). Reese had 33 tackles last year and Smith had nine.
The free-safety position will be manned by sophomore Jeff Thibodeaux (5-10, 164), who started four games last year and made 37 tackles. He also broke up three passes. Sophomore Chris Benson (6-1, 184) can play either free safety or rover.
Junior C.J. Scott (5-7, 160) is listed ahead of senior Don Gibson (5-10, 180) at right cornerback. Sophomore Jermaine Hope (5-9, 155) is just ahead of junior Sherman Steptoe (5-9, 180) on the left.
Steptoe led the group with 41 tackles last year, while Gibson had 36, Scott 25 and Hope 16.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Shoals led the Hurricane in punt returns with 12 for 83 yards, but he is gone.
Landrum, a wide receiver, is back. He returned eight punts for 80 yards last year, including a long of 42.
Landrum led the team in kickoff returns last year with 20 for 379 yards.
The deep snapper is junior Thomas Perrault (6-2, 236) while Rountree will hold for kicks.
RECRUITING CLASS
Tulsa signed three outstanding junior college players in defensive lineman Wil Goff from Riverside (Calif.) Community College, and a pair of players from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M -- wide receiver Romby Bryant and defensive tackle Shay Ogisi.
"We had some positions that we needed to address at the mid-term, including receiver and defensive line, and with these three we’ve been able to meet those goals," Burns said.
Goff (6-6, 275), a first-team Mission Conference All-Northern Division selection, was credited with 48 tackles, including 34 solos, while adding six stops for lost yardage and 2.5 quarterback sacks. He also recovered two fumbles, caused one fumble and had one interception in the 2001 season. Goff, who received a medical red-shirt in 2000, started all 10 games as a freshman in 1999 and collected 25 tackles. Goff played his prep football at Redlands (Calif.) High School, where he was a three-year starter and all-conference performer.
"Wil fits a need we had in our defensive line, where he’ll play more as a defensive end,’’ Burns said. "He’s a veteran player who will have an impact on our defense early.’’
Bryant (6-2, 180) and Ogisi (6-2, 285) were two-year letter winners and each started their sophomore seasons at NEO. Both were selected to the All-Southwest Junior College Conference honorable mention squad for the 6-4 Norsemen.
Bryant, who played his prep football at Western Heights High School in Oklahoma City, had a team-leading 20 catches for 401 yards and two touchdowns as a sophomore. He also rushed the ball six times for 69 yards and one touchdown. His longest pass reception covered 68 yards against Navarro Junior College. Bryant had two-year totals of 31 catches for 562 yards and three touchdowns. As a high school senior, Bryant was a preseason Tulsa World Blue Chip member, and earned third-team all-state honors by the Daily Oklahoman.
Ogisi tallied 57 total tackles, including 20 solos and 37 assists, in 2001. He was also credited with two quarterback sacks, one caused fumbled and one fumble recovery. He completed his two-year career at NEO with 65 tackles and four stops for -15 yards. Ogisi played his prep football at Tulsa’s Booker T. Washington High School.
The high school signing class included seven defensive linemen, two linebackers, and one each running back, free safety, center, quarterback, H-back and place-kicker.
The quarterback is Shane Davison (6-1, 185) from Bixby High School in Glenpool, Okla. He completed 199-of-333 passes for 2,522 yards and 25 touchdowns. His career totals are 4,278 yards passing and 43 touchdowns.
The running back is James Clancy (6-0, 252) from Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa, Okla. He ran for 434 yards, a 5.8 average and four touchdowns last year. He was a first-team Tulsa World all-state selection as a linebacker.
The H-back is Garrett Mills (6-1, 211) from Jenks High School in Tulsa. He had career totals of 61 receptions for 1,511 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was selected the Tulsa World Player of the Year.
BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS
Burns retained his enthusiasm and excitement about the program despite last season’s 1-10 mark. He realized the poor record was the result of having an extremely young squad.
With 62 of 88 players either freshmen or sophomores last year, Tulsa could not overcome the inexperience. Still, it was easy to see that Burns has assembled some good talent and that a payoff could be coming in the near future.
The schedule will prohibit too much of a rebound this year, but Burns and the Golden Hurricane could duplicate the five victories earned in 2000.
"We came into spring drills having to improve in a lot of areas, and we did just that,’’ Burns said. "Offensively, the players adapted to the system and coach Lounsberry well. We were able to protect the football and identify who our playmakers are.
"On defense, we have to continue to eliminate big plays. But we did better in that area, and we shored up our run defense and created turnovers, which we’ll need to do like we did in our first year at Tulsa."
