RMAC MEIDA DAY RECAP NMHU
Denver, CO—Coach Kurt Taufa’asau and his players took the stage in Denver for RMAC media days at 10:50 MST this morning.
Entering year two under Coach Taufa’asau, Coach was asked what it was like to have a full offseason under his belt. “I feel a lot better coming to this event this year than last year…Getting the right people to execute our program vision and mission is huge.”
One of the players who joined the stage with Coach was junior running back Cayden Walton, and he was asked what the biggest thing he noticed when Taufa’asau took over. “The culture change was the thing I noticed.” Walton also talked about the offense and OC Drew Thatcher. “We are going to run run run the football, Coach talks about if we can get 3.3 yards per carry, then we are going to move the chains and throw the deep ball.”
Coach also brought Awsten Turnbow, a freshman safety, but he is not your typical freshman. “Being a 20-year-old freshman, I know what I want, and Coach Kurt gave me that opportunity,” Turnbow said. Turnbow returns to the football field after serving a Latter-day Saint Mission in Guatemala. Coach Taufa’asau had nothing but positive things to say about Turnbow, and when asked about the defense, Turnbow stated, “We got dawgs on this defense.”
The difference in the program, Coach said, was “We will be a lot bigger, a lot faster, and more disciplined. I feel I have the best coaching staff in the country, who can help these guys get in the right place and relate to them in many ways. The Cowboys were picked to finish tied for seventh place with Chadron State. Running back Tevita Valeti was picked as a member of the preseason All-RMAC team on the offensive side of the ball.
The Cowboys open the season on the road at Eastern New Mexico, then have the home opener against Western New Mexico this season. “The New Mexico games are huge for stuff off the field, like recruiting. My staff and I did a great job getting those kids to Northern New Mexico. This model is what we used at my previous stop.” Coach said when asked how important the in-state rivalry games are. The expectations for the Cowboys head coach on the season: “See the hard work come to fruition this season and improve 1% day.”
