ISU Special Teams prepares for 2016 season.

“We ran out of bodies in terms of soldiers. the guys in the front. we lost five or six seniors from the 14 team that were really really dependable, blue collar, cool aid players on every down. last year we were way too young and it was evident early on that we were not going to recover from it until a calendar year went by, ” Mike Kramer, ISU Football Head Coach.

The Bengals finished 2-9 overall last year and their special teams put up some of the worst numbers in the FCS. Head Coach Mike Kramer even fired himself at the end of the season from special teams duties. Putting David Fiefia in charge, a role that he’ll continue this fall, as well as coaching running backs and tight ends.

“[Fiefia] is the special teams coordinator and he’s got his hands full because we were the worst team in the conference in kick off, kickoff return, punt and punt return. we can only get better. I think david will do an outstanding job since he’ll have the reigns from the first day,” said Kramer.

Coach Kramer will still be involved.

“We say it like this, coaching our defense, is raising my children, coaching the offense, is like dating my wife, and running our kick teams, is standing in my shadow. i’ll be involved in all three phases,” said Kramer.

Junior place kicker Zac Johnson is recovering from off season surgery and the timetable for his return in still unknown.

Which means his spot is there for the taking.

” I don’t know it’s going to be a wide open opportunity for either Sean Cheney to go from punting and kicking, Tommy Jewell can do some kicking, Brenden Johnson can do some kicking. we will take a long time before we decide who will be the placement kicker before the season begins.” said Kramer.