New MTSU coordinators explain goals

During the off-season, Rick Stockstill lost both coordinators.  Offensive coordinator Tony Franklin joined the LA Tech staff.  Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz accepted the same position at Mississippi State.

Stockstill turned around and hired former TCU and Illinois offensive coordinator Mike Shultz.  He then brought in Wisconsin assistant Randall McCray to direct the MTSU defense.

McCray wants to cut down the big plays from a year ago.

McCray told The Daily News Journal, "We looked at every game film from last season and every cut-up. In the past few weeks, we've gone back one last time and watched all the blitzes of last season. The thing that we've come up with as a defensive staff is that we gave up close to 1,900 yards on big plays last year, which to me is unbearable to think about.”

"If we will just eliminate half of our mental errors — people being in the right spot, knowing the call and lining up correctly — we could've eliminated half of that and reduced our touchdown margin by 16 touchdowns."

Shultz, who will call the game from the press box, isn’t giving many hints.  Shultz stated, "I'm going to leave that under wraps. I'm not going to say anything. I'm sure Minnesota (MTSU's first opponent) is up there right now wondering which direction we're going to go. So if I say something here, they won't have anything to think about. I want to keep them kind of in the dark on this thing."