WIU head coach Charlie Fisher goes on the record with HERO Sports - talks tradition, QBs, unique mascots

[BrianMacHEROSPORTS]

Hello Leathernecks,

As a son and grandson of Leathernecks (the USMC types) I wish you all good luck. Love that 3 game stretch to open the year. I asked Coach Fisher about that on the MVFC conf call yesterday and he agreed that it's one of the toughest overall schedules in the FCS. I still think there's a good chance you guys could be 3-0 coming out of it. If so there's no question were' talking a Top 10 or top 5 type ranking going into the fourth game.

At any rate, here's the talk Coach and I had last Friday. Spoke to Lance Lenoir briefly and he's stoked about the year. And I don't think anybody in the country has this kind of QB situation. Win Win Win situation, it appears.

http://herosports.com/news/ncaa-fcs-men ... s-qbs-mvfc

[ST_Lawson]

Nice interview Brian. I hope you don't mind, but I moved it into the Football-specific forum...thought that'd be a more appropriate place for it.

I'd love to see 3-0...a couple of very good (but beatable) FCS teams, and a FBS that we've had success against in the past. There should be a good WIU crowd at the NIU game and NIU is projected to be down a bit this year, I think. It's not going to be easy, but with some FBS games, you go in pretty much knowing you're going to lose and you just hope to not get absolutely demolished...this isn't one of those games. We've got a decent shot at an "upset" against the in-state former rival...Massey's predictions has us with a 26% chance of beating them, which is the same number that they give us for the NDSU game (His ratings also say that NIU will have an easier time with fellow FBS team Wyoming or in-conference foe Eastern Michigan than they will with us). Also, as compared to last year, we had a 23% chance of beating UNI (which we did) and a 34% chance of beating SDSU (which we also did)...so there's precedence for essentially "this team" (minus a few players, plus a few others) going into a particularly difficult place to play against a tough team and coming away with a win.

[BrianMacHEROSPORTS]

Hell Scott, you know better than me. Move it anywhere you want to. Thanks!

Yeah ... WIU and Northern Iowa have brutal non conference skeds and we already know about the conference sked. If both came out 3-0 they should take a bow.

[rocki]

Nice interview and write up.

Can't wait for the season to start - I've got really high hopes for this Leatherneck squad. I know they're learning a new offense and have had defensive changes, but even with all that I have a better feeling about this year than I had going into last year.

[BrianMacHEROSPORTS]

Thanks Rocki!

[vatusay]

I am very cautiously optimistic. My heart has been crushed far too many times by my favorite sports teams.