(S12) - PT 1 - Back to Football

[GoonerBear]

Over the offseason, Kolby Deringer returned home to Austin to lend a hand with on-field and off-field efforts at his alma mater, the University of Texas. He showed their young linebacker corps techniques to help them improve and potentially use them in their late-season games. They also ventured out to charity endeavors for the city, putting on clinics and helping supply gear for inner-city high schools. The Longhorns and their alumnus guest visited these same schools in playoff runs which, while they ended sooner than they would have liked, exceeded expectations entering the season.

For the San Jose defense, they bring a powerful built-in tag team with the brothers Pennington. Thad brings experience from elsewhere in the league to bolster the secondary while Chad spearheads a linebacking corps that now boasts three veteran stars. With the offensive backfield having grown a year, both sides of the ball can better support one another. Bringing on rookies in defense and special teams should also improve their ability to gain and keep ground and make field goals a more viable strategic option with the selection of Neo Donaldson. San Jose have a much more optimistic outlook to making the playoffs for the first time since Season 6 and certainly to outperform the marks left the last two seasons at 4-10 in Season 10 and 1-13 in Season 11.