NOTEBOOK: MT stays busy at 2022 C-USA Kickoff

ARLINGTON, Texas — High atop the suite level in the outfield of Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, the Conference USA football season got officially underway at the C-USA Kickoff.

It meant Wednesday was a jam-packed day for MT's representatives: head coach Rick Stockstill, defensive end Jordan Ferguson and wide receiver Jaylin Lane, as they cycled through the full media press circuit of live TV, broadcast partners and various social media photo and video shoots. And a busy day for the MTSU Athletic Communications office as well.

GoBlueRaiders.com Staff Writer Sam Doughton was on hand in the home of the Texas Rangers to grab some sights and sounds from the day.

Leading off: Let's Talk Some Football

MT's press conference in front of a plethora of writers from around C-USA was a fairly straight forward affair for most of its 15-minute run time, with all in attendance, both in person and on zoom, getting a nice overview of some of the storylines heading into Fall camp starting up for the Blue Raiders on August 3.

The "newsiest" takeaway from the press conference, at least on a conference level, was Rick Stockstill saying he's not ready to name a starter at quarterback, where redshirt senior Chase Cunningham will battle with sophomore Nicholas Vattiato through fall camp for the nod at QB1 for MT's season opener at James Madison.

"Chase is a great young man, he's a great team player," Stockstill said. "He cares about the team more than he cares about themself. We're going to have a good competition with him and Nick (Vattiato). Nick finished out the year the last four games when Chase got hurt. He got better and had a really great spring. We feel good about our situation."

Stockstill pointed out that Cunningham has not seen the field in a live situation since his ACL tear against Southern Miss that ended his 2021 season. And, of course, that there would be plenty of time for Cunningham or Vattiato to separate themselves once camp was under way.

Jaylin Lane, a preseason All-American in multiple outlets as a punt returner, brushed off the preseason hype with a focus on the future.

"I try not look too far ahead," the sophomore wideout said. "I'm just focused on building team camaraderie. The accolades, if they come, they come. But, I'm just trying to win ball games."

Lane is expected to take on an even bigger role in the Blue Raiders' passing game after the graduation of C.J. Windham, Jimmy Marshall and Jarrin Pierce following MT's Bahamas Bowl win to close out the 2021 season. Lane highlighted those three wideouts' mentorship, while also making sure to highlight the experience of many of his guys in the wideout room, like Yusuf Ali, Izaiah Gathings and DJ England-Chisholm.

"JP and Jimmy and CJ, since Day One in 2020, they took me under their wing," Lane said. "So I'm very grateful for them. They could see it in me. A lot of guys coming back have a lot of experience."

On the other side of the ball, Jordan Ferguson clearly relished in the defensive line's leadership position as the main position group on defense not replacing multiple starters.

"We've got 'upper division learners', as Coach West would say," Ferguson said. "We kind of know what to look for. We're just trying to get better in everything we do, whether it be run fits, two-gaps and everything."

Batting Second: Notes from the Commissioner

Conference USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod spoke to the assembled media immediately after the conclusion of MT's press conference on the second deck of Globe Life Field. After an admittedly "tough year" for the commissioner, who navigated nine different schools planning to leave C-USA for different conferences in the future, the only female conference commissioner at the FBS level projected confidence in the future of the league.

"This spring we were able to meet with the new group moving forward and really have some good discussions about what we want to be moving forward, what we want to represent," MacLeod said.

She highlighted the additions of Sam Houston State and Jacksonville State in particular heading into 2023, while also praising Liberty's early leadership at those spring meetings and New Mexico State's potential now that have a stable conference schedule year-to-year.

"The two FCS programs that are joining us were programs that have been working for that transition for a long time and that are hungry," MacLeod said. "I've said before, sometimes it's harder to turn a football program that has lost and been down a long time, sometimes it's harder to turn that than to build from an FCS that has a winning tradition."

On the newsier end of things, MacLeod said that the conference is currently in its exclusive negotiation stage for its next media rights deal, as the current one expires at the end of school year in June 2023. Updates aren't expected for a bit, MacLeod said it could be as soon as a couple of weeks from now or as long as a couple of months from now depending on how negotiations go, but the process for the nine teams in C-USA 2023 is underway.

As for C-USA 2022, MacLeod emphasized that there are no hard feelings for the schools that are leaving the conference.

"The schools are going to leave this year, we have great relationships (with), and we'll always have those," MacLeod said. "I do look at this year as a celebration of this (current) group. We tell our staff all the time that nobody is (to be) treated differently. The student athletes all work the same, no matter if their school is leaving or if their school is staying."

In the Hole: Odds and Ends (aka Fun Things I saw or heard in Arlington)

Friday night featured some fun social activities for visiting staff, sponsors, and players, and Ferguson and Lane took full advantage of the opportunity at Texas Live!'s Arlington Sports & Social. Part sports bar, part bowling alley, part golf simulator, it was one of the highlights of the trip down to Texas for me, as it gave the student athletes a good chance to unwind alongside their fellow C-USA representatives.
- There was also plenty of opportunity for competition, however. Lane got the best of Ferguson in bowling, winning 116-95 thanks to a pair of late spares. But Ferguson, who readily admits basketball was his first love as a sport, was dominant on the pop-a-shot, winning 426-347.
I've gotten warning from both Jordan and Jaylin that their attempts to draw the MT logo with a Pegasus from memory for the Conference did not go well. I expect we'll see the video, alongside other attempts from C-USA student athletes, in the weeks to come on the conference's social channels. I'll certainly be on the lookout.
The timing of this year's C-USA Kickoff made for some awkward timing for a few programs, as Charlotte, FAU and Rice all started their fall camps that very same day. In Charlotte's case, that meant a 7-9:30 practice (EST) for the 49ers, then hopping on a plane to Arlington shortly thereafter. It was tight, but head coach Will Healy and his players were all able to make it onto the ESPN+ Kickoff special just before it was scheduled to sign off.
Not surprising given both his personal kindness as well as his longevity in the league, but Rick Stockstill remains one of the friendliest coaches in college football. I've never seen so many coaches in a media days setting chatting casually about the season ahead as I did around Coach Stock this week.
On a personal level, it was great to see so many of the writers I corresponded with in the past year for our game previews with local beat writers, including Underdog Dynasty's Eric Henry, Owls247's Kevin Fielder, the Bowling Green Daily News' Jared MacDonald, among many others in attendance. With this being the first in-person C-USA Kickoff since 2019, it was great to see so many folks who do great work across the league get a chance to work in-person once again.

Middle Tennesee State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Yusuf Ali

Chase Cunningham

Jordan Ferguson

Izaiah Gathings

Jaylin Lane

Jimmy Marshall

Jarrin Pierce

Nicholas Vattiato

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