A new regime of AIC football is about to take place as the Yellow Jacket football team prepares for the upcoming 2015 season.

Coming off a disappointing loss of 58-25 in the NE-10 Championship game last season to bitter rivals and now champion C.W. Post, the Yellow Jackets are working hard to reclaim their crown.

Having won the championship game two seasons ago, head Coach Art Wilkins and the squad knows how it feels to execute a championship winning season. The Yellow Jackets did not execute well in last years battle and ultimately came up way too short.

Last year’s team was stacked heavily with senior talent across the board like All-Conference selections Kevin Arduino, Jaquan Simpkins, Joel Bowen and Stephen Davis. Each are working toward their dreams of making a professional team and 14 of the other seniors have either graduated or are preparing to graduate this May.

All signs point to a major comeback though evident by the team’s relentless drive and focus during winter workouts this year. The Yellow Jackets split their workout groups up according to class schedule, either at 6:50 a.m. or 7:50 a.m. Each respective group is then split into running or lifting groups. The running group stays upstairs while the lifting group goes downstairs in the weight room, then the groups switch. Workouts take place every Tuesday through Friday and the team looks stronger than ever.

The recent acquisition of two new strength and conditioning coaches, Joe Gilfedder and Mike Morgan, are a huge plus for the team as they now have more help to sculpt their bodies into the machines they need to be for the season.

“The way we work out, the way we train has been more effective. We still have a ways to go but we’re focusing on what we need to do to become better football players,” said Gilfedder.

Even though the season did not end how the Yellow Jackets had planned, the team had no doubt that they can reach the pinnacle of the NE-10, take that momentum all the way to the NCAA playoffs and possibly the National Championship. The prior class was loaded with senior talent but there is a new group of seniors that has been contributing exponentially for the past four seasons.

Current seniors such as Darion Chappell, Demetrius Steed, Johnathan Jubilee, Andrew Justice, Tyrone Mans, Mike Ford and myself are more than excited about leading this team to greatness this season. Several underclassmen are also in leadership roles as well including Danny Omoregie, Daquan Holmes and Jerrod Shelby.

Zach Jones (NE-10 Offensive Linemen of The Year), who was a senior last season, will also be contributing greatly to the Yellow Jackets success coming off a season plagued with injuries.

The intensity this team possesses is outstanding and it shows no signs of slowing down.

“It’s like night and day compared to when we first got here last August. We still have room to grow. We’re building that mindset, that culture I think that will translate the most out on the field,” saaid Morgan as he broke down the last workout group on a recent day.

The football team has a touch first two weeks as the season opener comes against FCS opponent Bryant on September 5th at 3:30 P.M. The following week the Yellow Jackets take on another bitter rival in the New Haven Chargers to open in conference play.

This upcoming season looks to be as exciting as ever and the team is hungry to plant their flag on top of the NE-10 mountain once again.