Travis Rundle has a lot of reasons to expect the progress to continue with his Sewanee football Tigers this season.
Mainly, the number of starters and other contributors back from his inaugural season as the coach and the weightroom statistics they've compiled since then.
Lee Menefee was a first-team All-Southern Athletic Association linebacker as a converted safety, and he's added bulk without losing quickness, Rundle said as the Tigers reported to preseason camp on Aug. 10.
"I think Lee played at like 183 (pounds), and now he's at 205. We're happy with what he's done," Rundle said.
That applies in general to the team, which ended a 19-game losing streak with a 45-20 home win over Kenyon in its first game under Rundle, bounced back from a 63-30 thrashing by Washington & Lee with another victory in game three and wound up 3-7, 2-6 in SAA play, with three losses by six or fewer points.
"Overall team strength was one of the big differences between us and some of those other teams," said Rundle, who used numerous sophomores and freshmen. "But I think the guys have done a really good job building that team strength. I see a big improvement."
He further reminded that "everything was new" in 2017 and now the players recognize play-calls, for example, without having to think through the terminology.
Besides first-teamer Menefee, second-team All-SAA selections John Gaither and William Phillips are back to lead the offensive line and defensive backfield, respectively. Gaither is a senior from Cleveland High School, and Phillips is a sophomore who also starred as a punt and kickoff returner and was the SAA newcomer of the year in 2017.
The offense lost starters only at right tackle and tight end and has capable candidates at both spots, Rundle said, including senior Trey Claus and former quarterback Sam Hearn at tight end.
"He's too athletic not to play somewhere, and I think he has a chance to be really good there," the coach noted of Hearn. "He's tough."
Hearn moved because of the success of former Notre Dame High School star Alex Darras at QB before tearing a knee ligament in the game-seven win over Birmingham-Southern.
"Alex is back and we expect big things from him," Rundle said. "He was just getting in a rhythm when he got hurt."
Junior Warren Holland and sophomores Sam Everette and Zach Milan have experience at running back, and the very deep receiving corps is led by sophomore Cyrus McCullough, juniors Micah Maes and Allan Puri and senior Allan Parrott.
All-conference safety John Cleveland and cornerback Glenn Ireland are the only starters who graduated on defense, and now-sophomore Walker Weatherby rotated with Ireland in the defense that intercepted 22 passes. Wesley Porter at corner and "disruptive" defensive lineman Jo Jo Matlock earned All-SAA honorable mention, and seniors Karim Antoine, Tristan Fuller (from Calhoun, Georgia) and Brinley Rhys are other proven linemen.
Senior Conoly Koontz and sophomore Pierce Johnson starting linebackers besides Menefee who have returned, and Sewanee also has place-kicker Michael Jacobs and punter Ben Brown back.
"We've got a ton coming back, so hopefully we can make some noise," Rundle said. "We're stronger, and we have a different level of confidence than in years past."
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com.