Post by catscratchfever4 on Aug 24, 2016 14:48:06 GMT -6
PENSACOLA, Fla. — Pete Shinnick knows all about starting a college football program from scratch.
Shinnick started the program at North Carolina Pembroke in 2005. He spent two years putting the pieces together before the Braves played their first game in 2007. He led UNC-Pembroke to nine wins in its second season and in 2009 his team became the youngest program (three years) to advance to the Division II playoffs.
So when West Florida made the decision to start a football program Shinnick was the perfect candidate to be the head coach. He accepted the challenge, becoming the first head coach of the Argonauts in 2014.
“It was very difficult to leave Pembroke because we had so many established relationships and so many things moving in the right direction,” Shinnick said. “But seven years earlier I had the same thing at Azusa Pacific. As long as we had success those were two places I could have stayed at for a very long time because I really enjoyed both schools.
“But the challenge at Pembroke was very appealing to me and the challenge here is very appealing to me. First off, there is great leadership here with (president) Judy Bense and (athletic director) Dave Scott. Then you come onto this campus and it sells itself. Pensacola sells itself. Their vision of what they wanted to do and the success we’ve had in the Gulf South Conference is very appealing and something I wanted to be a part of.”
Shinnick is looking forward to finally getting on the field with the Argonauts this year. West Florida will play its first football game at Ave Maria on Sept. 3 and will open its home season on Sept. 10 against Missouri S&T.
The Argonauts signed their first recruiting class in February of 2015 and the team practiced last fall and scrimmaged each Saturday.
While it would have been tempting to sign plenty of Division I and junior college transfers in an effort to immediately complete for the GSC championship, Shinnick did not choose that route. While there are a few transfers scattered among the Argonauts’ roster the majority of the team will be redshirt freshmen and true freshman.
Shinnick said part of starting a new program is being patient when it comes to handing out scholarships.
“When you start your program you use a portion of your scholarships the first year, a portion the second year and so on,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to have 36 on scholarship right now because I wouldn’t be able to sign anyone for next year. So we proportioned it out and it is working well.
“We redshirted the entire first class and the second class will have an opportunity to compete immediately, so we will have a large group of freshmen. We will have to supplement them with some guys of different ages, but for the most part we are going to be a very young team. That’s part of it and it is not a huge issue to me. I like our young guys and I think they can play.”
For the players, the chance to be a part of West Florida’s first football team is a special opportunity.
“It feels good to start from zero,” freshman running back Tim Bellinger said. “You get to make history and make your own records. We are setting the tone for the history of the program, so that feels good.”
West Florida’s football facilities are a work in progress. They have a new full-length artificial turf practice field on campus which was completed in January. The Argonauts will play their games at Blue Wahoos Stadium, home to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos Double A baseball team. West Florida has plans to eventually build an on-campus stadium, but a date for that has not been set.
“I think Blue Wahoos Stadium will be one of the best small college venues in the country,” Shinnick said. “It might not have the mystic or size of some stadiums, but the setting is going to be first class. At some point in time we might want to play on campus, but there are so many benefits to us playing downtown.”
Putting together a competitive product in its first season is a challenge for any new program. It is even tougher for one competing in one of, if not the toughest conferences in Division II in the Gulf South Conference.
Bellinger said West Florida’s players are expecting to win in their first season as a program.
“I feel like this team is going to be very competitive,” Bellinger said. “People are looking at us as a first-year program, but we don’t look at ourselves like that because we’ve been playing football all our lives. We’re just looking to win. We expect to compete at a high level every week.”
Shinnick led North Carolina-Pembroke to a 4-7 record in its first season, so he knows it is possible to experience some success in an inaugural season. He said the goal for the Argonauts is to compete and improve each week.
“Our president wants to win and win immediately,” Shinnick said. “We want to go into every game knowing that our guys are getting better every week and are playing their best.
“I didn’t come here just to try to be mediocre in the Gulf South Conference — that’s not what we are looking for. We have a lot of pluses here. We have to take advantage of them, but we do have a lot of pluses. Everybody is excited about football and it is a great fit here.”
Shinnick started the program at North Carolina Pembroke in 2005. He spent two years putting the pieces together before the Braves played their first game in 2007. He led UNC-Pembroke to nine wins in its second season and in 2009 his team became the youngest program (three years) to advance to the Division II playoffs.
So when West Florida made the decision to start a football program Shinnick was the perfect candidate to be the head coach. He accepted the challenge, becoming the first head coach of the Argonauts in 2014.
“It was very difficult to leave Pembroke because we had so many established relationships and so many things moving in the right direction,” Shinnick said. “But seven years earlier I had the same thing at Azusa Pacific. As long as we had success those were two places I could have stayed at for a very long time because I really enjoyed both schools.
“But the challenge at Pembroke was very appealing to me and the challenge here is very appealing to me. First off, there is great leadership here with (president) Judy Bense and (athletic director) Dave Scott. Then you come onto this campus and it sells itself. Pensacola sells itself. Their vision of what they wanted to do and the success we’ve had in the Gulf South Conference is very appealing and something I wanted to be a part of.”
Shinnick is looking forward to finally getting on the field with the Argonauts this year. West Florida will play its first football game at Ave Maria on Sept. 3 and will open its home season on Sept. 10 against Missouri S&T.
The Argonauts signed their first recruiting class in February of 2015 and the team practiced last fall and scrimmaged each Saturday.
While it would have been tempting to sign plenty of Division I and junior college transfers in an effort to immediately complete for the GSC championship, Shinnick did not choose that route. While there are a few transfers scattered among the Argonauts’ roster the majority of the team will be redshirt freshmen and true freshman.
Shinnick said part of starting a new program is being patient when it comes to handing out scholarships.
“When you start your program you use a portion of your scholarships the first year, a portion the second year and so on,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to have 36 on scholarship right now because I wouldn’t be able to sign anyone for next year. So we proportioned it out and it is working well.
“We redshirted the entire first class and the second class will have an opportunity to compete immediately, so we will have a large group of freshmen. We will have to supplement them with some guys of different ages, but for the most part we are going to be a very young team. That’s part of it and it is not a huge issue to me. I like our young guys and I think they can play.”
For the players, the chance to be a part of West Florida’s first football team is a special opportunity.
“It feels good to start from zero,” freshman running back Tim Bellinger said. “You get to make history and make your own records. We are setting the tone for the history of the program, so that feels good.”
West Florida’s football facilities are a work in progress. They have a new full-length artificial turf practice field on campus which was completed in January. The Argonauts will play their games at Blue Wahoos Stadium, home to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos Double A baseball team. West Florida has plans to eventually build an on-campus stadium, but a date for that has not been set.
“I think Blue Wahoos Stadium will be one of the best small college venues in the country,” Shinnick said. “It might not have the mystic or size of some stadiums, but the setting is going to be first class. At some point in time we might want to play on campus, but there are so many benefits to us playing downtown.”
Putting together a competitive product in its first season is a challenge for any new program. It is even tougher for one competing in one of, if not the toughest conferences in Division II in the Gulf South Conference.
Bellinger said West Florida’s players are expecting to win in their first season as a program.
“I feel like this team is going to be very competitive,” Bellinger said. “People are looking at us as a first-year program, but we don’t look at ourselves like that because we’ve been playing football all our lives. We’re just looking to win. We expect to compete at a high level every week.”
Shinnick led North Carolina-Pembroke to a 4-7 record in its first season, so he knows it is possible to experience some success in an inaugural season. He said the goal for the Argonauts is to compete and improve each week.
“Our president wants to win and win immediately,” Shinnick said. “We want to go into every game knowing that our guys are getting better every week and are playing their best.
“I didn’t come here just to try to be mediocre in the Gulf South Conference — that’s not what we are looking for. We have a lot of pluses here. We have to take advantage of them, but we do have a lot of pluses. Everybody is excited about football and it is a great fit here.”