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Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Complete CCIW Coaches' Chat Archive

Aug. 5, 2010 - Below are North Central College head football coach John Thorne's responses to questions asked during the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin live football coaches' chat, conducted Thursday:

Thoughts on the upcoming season and expectations for the season:

"We have six terrific captains, nine returners on defense, seven returners on offense, and over 80 percent of our special teams players are returning. We hope to continue improving our team GPA and make the experience fun every day."

On addressing the void at quarterback left by three-time CCIW Offensive Most Valuable Player Aaron Fanthorpe '10:

"We have three outstanding young quarterbacks that competed very well this spring. We have an incoming freshman and a great transfer that will add to that competition. We are excited and looking forward to the outcome of that."

On the composition of the special-teams units:

"We have very fast players, and the incoming class has four kickers to compete for the kickoff/field goal/PAT jobs. Our punter and long snapper are returning, and the incoming class has several very, very fast players who should add to the production of our special teams."

On this year's crop of newcomers:

"We have a smaller class of 45 incoming players, but the talent level is very high. Academically, they are a very, very strong class. It's difficult for a freshman to break into a starting lineup, but we expect them to contribute on special teams."

On the return of All-American linebacker Matt Wenger from last-season's season-ending knee injury:

"Matt's a great leader, and an extremely hard worker. His knee seems to be better than ever, and we expect an All-America-type season from him."

On his expectations of North Central's veteran leaders:

"We expect our six captains to be tremendous leaders - to lead by example on and off the field. Matt Wengerand Derek Sulo have been great players for us, but even better leaders. To have them back as fifth-year seniors is a new experience for Cardinal football. Joe Schneiderbauer, Steve Hlavac, Preseason All-American Kyle Antos, and Nick Hicks have been tremendous players for us and they helped us finish the best offseason in the spring that we've had in eight years."

The complete archive of the chat, featuring comments by all eight of the CCIW's head coaches, can be viewed at www.cciw.org.

The Cardinals open the season Sept. 4 at Cornell College (Iowa), with the home opener scheduled for Sept. 25 against the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. North Central's first CCIW game will be Oct. 2 against Carthage.