Alabama NewsCenter 2021 football preview: Troy University
Troy Coach Chip Lindsey names running backs, including Jamontez Woods, as one of his team's strengths this season. (Troy Athletics)
Football coaches often talk about overcoming adversity.
Chip Lindsey and his Troy football team – like so many in the fall of 2020 – found adversity at every turn as they dealt with protocols to combat COVID-19.
“You think about preparing all week as a player and then finding out on Friday that you can’t participate the next day,” the Trojan coach said. “It makes it challenging for the mental health of your players as well as the coaching staff, trying to put together a plan of who’s going to be available.
“I think that was the hardest thing,” Lindsey continued. “Last year early in the season, we were really good. We didn’t have many incidences of COVID, and we got off to a good start. I think we were 3-1 and feeling good about things.”
Then came the middle four games in which Trojan coaches and players “got hammered” by the virus.
“Obviously, we finished pretty good the last two weeks of the season,” Lindsey said. “We didn’t get to play ULM; they had to cancel.
“It was definitely emotional (with) the ups and downs. We’re playing, we’re not playing. Who are we playing? I think we had maybe close to 100 different combinations of a schedule at one time, trying to find people. We wanted to play as many games as we could. Definitely there were a lot of challenges, mentally and physically as well.”
Troy is preparing to return to the field this fall as football fully goes back to its traditional season even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Alabama NewsCenter is taking a look at the upcoming season and today is focused on the Trojans.
Alabama NewsCenter: What is the outlook for this season?
Chip Lindsey: We feel great about it. A lot of our team has been vaccinated, which we know that’s gonna help some. At the same time, you never know how things are gonna play out with COVID re-emerging or whatever the case may be. I think it’s something that a little bit is still unknown. One thing I do think is a benefit is we’ve been through this once so it wouldn’t be a shock if we had to continue the protocols, which we are right now, in the building and so forth. But we’re excited about getting back to some sense of normalcy from a fan standpoint and all that good stuff.
ANC: What is the strength of this year’s team?
Lindsey: We’ve got a lot of guys returning, basically 19 of 22 starters. Defensively, I think you’d have to start with our linebacking corps. We’ve got two guys that have played a ton of snaps here in Carlton Martial and KJ Robertson. We added a transfer from Michigan, a kid named Jordan Anthony, (and) Jayden McDonald’s back for another year. … On offense, I think I’d start in the running back room — Kimani Vidal, BJ Smith, Jamontez Woods — and then we’re still battling who the No. 4 and 5 guys are going to be. But we definitely feel like those are two strengths on our team.
ANC: Who are your team’s standouts?
Lindsey: Reggie Todd, obviously, is a returner/receiver who’s played a ton for us. He’s an older guy, very mature. I think Tez Johnson is another guy who came on as a true freshman last year. We’re expecting him to take another big step. And then Jamontez Woods and BJ Smith at running back. I think those two guys … bring some experience as well. They’re just really good football players. On the O-line, I think it starts up front with Dylan Bradshaw, with Austin Stidham and Jake Andrews. I think those three guys are going to be the bell cows of the offensive line and our leaders up front. They’ve all played a lot of snaps, so that’s a good thing. Last year, we didn’t have that much experience coming back at O-line or quarterback, so you always feel good when you got some veteran offensive linemen.
ANC: What game do your fans have circled on your schedule?
Lindsey: The No. 1 is gonna be that first one against Southern, because of the full capacity and the opportunity to tailgate and do all those things that we didn’t get to do last year. It will just be kind of cool to get back to a sense of normalcy, so I think the opener against Southern being a home game, being here on campus, being able to tailgate and be full capacity is the No. 1 thing. But we’ve got a very exciting home game schedule – Liberty, a nonconference opponent, is probably going to be ranked or at least close to being in the Top 25 – as well as App State, Louisiana, Georgia Southern. All at home. The season ticket package for the home games is outstanding this year, and we will get some traditional powers here at home as well as the nonconference. But that opener is going to be pretty special for our guys to run out of the tunnel against a really good Southern team. I think they were 5-1 in the spring. They’re gonna be very challenging for us, and we want to play really well to have an opportunity to win, but just being able to run out on that field in front of a home crowd at full capacity, I think that’s going to be exciting.
ANC: What is your lingering question?
Lindsey: For us, as far as on the field goes, I think we’ve got some questions at corner. We’ve got bodies there to do it that we’re excited about, but we need two guys to kind of, you know, step forward. And then obviously a quarterback; we’ve got a big-time quarterback battle going on with Gunnar Watson and Taylor Powell. On both sides of the ball, those would be the two. Also at kicker, we had a big competition going for field goal kicker and the kickoff guy. I’d say those are really three areas that are going to be interesting to watch.
Alabama NewsCenter is posting season previews for all 15 college football programs in Alabama. Read about West Alabama, Tuskegee, Samford, Alabama A&M, Birmingham-Southern and North Alabama, and look for a new preview each day.
