By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
KANSAS CITY - Tyler Fenwick has been on the job as Missouri Western's head football coach for just over half a year now.
He won't coach his first game for five weeks yet, but in the time leading up to that day, there's been a lot of change.
A whole new coaching staff, a newly renovated locker room and a change in the program's culture.
The cultural shift, Fenwick says, is ongoing. Not an overnight switch. But, the emphasis this offseason has been focused on making the Griffons into more of a player-led team.
"Our guys have really embraced that and have had an open mind and have had great buy-in from what we've seen so far," Fenwick said at MIAA Media Day in Kansas City Tuesday. "The challenge is, what happens when we line up against someone else?"
Fenwick was hired as Missouri Western's new head coach this past December after the Griffons finished the 2022 season with a 5-6 record in the fifth and final year of the Matt Williamson era.
Fenwick enjoyed great success as the Griffons' offensive coordinator from 2007-2012, helping the team go 53-18 during that time. Missouri Western also averaged 35.1 points per game under Fenwick in that span as well.
Having come back a little more than 10 years later, Fenwick says getting settled back in St. Joseph has been a comfortable transition.
"I've been at Missouri Western before and have had success with previous years I was here," he said. "Obviously, it feels a bit like home. My boys (Kayden and Kiptyn) were born in St. Joe. My wife (Angela) is a (MWSU) alum."
Fenwick has had head coaching stints at Missouri S&T (2013-2018) and most recently at Southeastern Oklahoma State (2019-2022). His combined record in those years is 53-48, including a 10-2 record in 2018 and a 9-3 mark in 2021.
The introductory stage of this new job is over for Fenwick. He completed his first spring with the team this past April. As the team adjourned, one thing was clear to Fenwick - there's enough talent on the roster to be competitive with the best in the MIAA.
"I think there's talent," he said. "I don't think that's the issue. Just like anybody else would say, you just have to stay healthy."
The Griffons return eight starters on offense and seven on defense. Missouri Western had its flashes on offense last season, finishing second in the MIAA in total yards (412.3) and rushing yards (232.7).
Yet, Missouri Western averaged just 25.6 points per game and ranked seventh in the league in red zone offense. Fenwick says some of those things won't be fully righted until a game is played.
"How quickly can we get our kids to understand situational football?" he said. "Our red zone numbers last year were not very good. So, that's something we have to make sure...we don't want it to be a blockage of, 'Oh no we're in the red zone. How are we going to do this?' We kind of have to flip that mindset."
At quarterback, Missouri Western has an interesting battle shaping up. Reagan Jones is back for a third season, and has made 15 starts in his career. Jones, however, could not play in the spring due to injury.
Jones' backup, Ty Baker, got most of the first-team reps in spring football. Baker had his moments last year, including a game-winning touchdown run against Northeastern State last October.
Missouri Western also added University of Hawaii transfer quarterback Armani Edden this past offseason. Edden was at Hawaii for three seasons, but never saw the field.
"We're going to have to find a way to make sure those guys are all getting reps and being evaluated equally," Fenwick said, "so we can make the right decision on who's going to be the guy."
Fenwick is encouraged by what he has at running back. The Griffons return three of their top four backs in Brandon Hall, Jared Scott and Jonas Bennett.
Missouri Western also returns their top two receivers in Traveon James and Cooper Burton - both all-MIAA performers. Those two combined for 76 receptions and 1016 receiving yards in 2022.
The Griffons also return starting placekicker Cody Watson and starting punter Evan Williams, who each had solid seasons in their own right last year. Watson was fourth in the MIAA with 11 made field goals and he was 31-of-32 on point-after tries.
Williams averaged 39.5 yards per punt, pinning 12 kicks inside the 20-yard line.
Defensively, the Griffons return seven players with starting experience, but the team is making the change to a 3-4 defense - a scheme with three down linemen, four linebackers and four defensive backs.
The 3-4 is an athletic scheme that focuses on speed and running instead of using bigger players to clog gaps.
It's a scheme where coaches can get creative with all sorts of pass rushes involving defensive ends and outside linebackers. Linebackers can also more frequently hybrid between run and pass coverage.
Defensive lineman C.J. Ravenell has been at Missouri Western since 2018. A two-time all-MIAA defender and the team's lead returning tackler this year, this scheme change has been an eye opening experience for him.
"It's a little different having one less defensive lineman out there," Ravenell said. "I think we've adjusted well. The plays that we run and the way we do things, it really opens up a lot of opportunities for the defensive line and linebackers to make explosive plays."
Another emphasis, Ravenell says, is creating more turnovers. Missouri Western picked off opposing quarterbacks just four times last season - the lowest number of any team in the league. They also recovered just three fumbles.
"Coach (Fenwick), from day one, came in and has told us the expectations and standards he has on us creating and forcing turnovers," Ravenell said, "to put our offense in successful situations to win the game."
Ravenell and senior teammate Evan Clark, a two-time all-MIAA right guard, are amongst a group of upperclassmen that's helping Fenwick flip the culture and turn the Griffons into more of a player-led bunch.
Clark says it starts with the four pillars they've established - communication, family, work ethic and selflessness.
They've also sung the praises of new head strength coach Zach Fears, who often tells the team, 'Success comes before winning.'
What does that mean?
"If we're successful now with these workouts and what we're doing and the mindset we're trying to achieve," Clark said, "if we're successful in what we're trying to do now, we will win games. We will win many games if we continue to be successful and continue to strive for that top level of success."
Missouri Western kicks off the 2023 season with a home game against Central Missouri on August 31 at 7 p.m. The season-opener is obviously a highly anticipated moment for any team.
It feels especially so with this Missouri Western team - a group picked to finish 9th in the MIAA preseason poll. A team eager to prove that 2023 will be more about growth, rather than growing pains, under the guise of a new head coach.
"They're buying in, and they're learning," Fenwick said. "They've seen success throughout spring and so now they're like, 'Okay this is cool. This is fun.' When we came in, there's a group of guys that want to work and want to learn. That makes it easier."
"We didn't have to come in and cut ties with a bunch of guys. It was more about, 'let's take the guys that we have and continue to develop them.'"
"Just have to take it day-by-day and week-by-week," Ravenell added. "We can't look forward to week two, week three opponents. We're focused on week one. Once we get past that hurdle, we'll move onto the next one. That's how we'll take it each day."
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