Coming off a rough 5-6 season that included a 3-6 mark in the Lone Star Conference, WT athletic director Michael McBroom parted ways with six-year head coach Hunter Hughes for Lynn in December. After eight months of recruiting, spring football and going through the summer, Lynn is just glad that football workouts are finally here, and the season is less than a month away.
‘It’s great to be out here,” said Lynn, who was 65-50 in previous head coaching stints at Eastern New Mexico and Nebraska-Kearney. “It’s good to have all these players report and we all just love football season.”
The Buffs had a total of 155 players report to fall camp. Not only does Lynn bring back plenty of veteran starters, but he also brought a plethora of new talent.
The Buffs return 12 starters from a year ago that include wide receiver and leader Noah Bogardus. Bogardus had a tremendous junior season snagging 51 passes for 837 yards with five touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball WT returns third year linebacker JT Cavender who missed most of last season with an arm injury.
“I think the offensive skill positions are the oldest and deepest on the team,” Lynn said. “We got some guys that make plays and defensively we have an older group of linebackers. We added pieces on the defensive line that will help the linebackers make tackles.”
“Kyle and Weston have done a great job over the summer of putting in the work especially in the weight room,” Lynn said. “They are both leaders and natural quarterbacks, so we’ll see how this plays out. We also brought in some really good local talent. Landyn Hack from Panhandle is really good looking for us and five other freshmen. We’ll just have these guys compete and see what happens.”
WT was picked fifth in the LSC preseason football poll with defending champion, Angelo State, taking the top spot.
The Buffs will have a total of 21 practices over fall camp in August with the season opener at Western Colorado at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2.