It has been almost two weeks since the Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Texas Longhorns in the BCS National Championship. More important locally, it has been two weeks since the CMU Chippewas won a double overtime thriller against Troy, 44-41 at the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.

Since the bowl game, the Chippewas have named a new coach- Dan Enos from Michigan State. Enos takes over for the departed Butch Jones, who left for Cincinnati on December 16. He has a lot of work to do, in assembling a new coaching staff, getting to know his players and new recruits, as well as implementing new offensive and defensive schemes.

 From a fan's perspective, the CMU football program has never been stronger. Each of the past two coaches have raised the bar another notch; Brian Kelly put CMU on the map and Butch Jones helped establish CMU as a Top 25 team at season's end, in both the USA Today and AP polls. Jones led the Chips to a 12-2 record this season,  as they undefeated in conference play and winning the MAC Championship- and oh yeah don't forget about that big 29-27 victory over Dan Enos' former football team- Michigan State on September 12.

Fans are going to expect Enos to continue the winning trend that has been established here. However, don't expect the Chips to go 12-2 next season. Sure, I believe that CMU will compete within its conference, but the offense has to rebuild itself, with Dan Lefevour and Bryan Anderson graduating, as well as Antonio Brown forgoing his senior season to enter the NFL Draft. The quarterback position is the key to Enos' offense- and he will have 3-4 options at QB to determine who will be his starter.

On the defensive side of the ball, Nick Bellore will center the defense for his senior season. The defensive line and secondary will need to rebuilt, with losses due to eligibility and graduation of multiple players.

Overall, the CMU football program is unmistakably the best program in the MAC, as well as the state of Michigan. Michigan State has a record of 22-17 their last three seasons, while the University of Michigan has gone 17-20. During the last three seasons, CMU has gone 28-13.

The upcoming season that starts at the end of August for the Chippewas will reveal a whole new look and lineup from top to bottom. CMU fanfare is at an all-time high- by next season's end, we'll see who the true "Chippewa" fans really are.

GCM file photo by Michael Mulholland

By Jerry Taylor

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