[turkeysalad]

Looking on KHSAA they return their starting QB and both leading rushers from last year. They lost their top two receivers but return their 3rd leading receiver. I know Wright was a huge loss but it looks like they return all their skill guys and majority of their line except for two receivers. When Mercer played them #33 Brandt Babin played the whole game both ways and Brandt Babin did not play. I thought their QB and receivers they have now were the best players on their team that night.

Austin Collins (lineman) transferred out of state; he is big-time stud; D-1 level.

CAL was fundamentally built around Milton Wright; his role of safety made passing a nightmare; when he lined up at DB, CAL could overcompensate on the other side; on offense, Wright was the ultimate distraction; used to the betterment of the team (slot, QB, decoy, etc); he lost scholarship options from flipping Alabama and Ohio State, because of his lack of direct touches, but he and his family never batted an eye, because he was always all about team outcomes. And when CAL needed Wright to make a play, there was no one in 2-A that could stop him from doing whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted to do it.

LeFors was an excellent coach, and let's just say that while his predecessor is also a fellow former UofL QB, Paducah T grad, as irony would have it, he is not the same level of coach as LeFors.

Essentially, CAL lost their coach, best player, second best player, third best player, and fifth best play, has had to confront nagging injuries to their remaining stars, and has a coach, that may be over his head, at least for now.

It also may be an issue, that while LeFors was an offensive guy, and Wright plays on the offensive side of the ball at Purdue, CAL had a spectacular defense last season (many of their defensive guys worked under Redman at Male), and there is likely a huge adjustment to the kids knowing that their offense now has to carry the day, and Cantwall may be a little unsure how to adjust to being an offensive guy, and not being quite able to have his squad simply outscore their opponents.