Bryant is coming off a 6-5 season in the Big South, and is now looking forward to its first year in the CAA.
The Bulldogs brought to CAA Media Day coach Chris Merritt, linebacker Ben Silver, and tight end Marc Taglieri, Jr.
These three things stood out from their appearances.
Merritt on the challenge of the fourth conference in four years for the Bulldogs
“You can look at it two sides, right? There’s a lack of opponents familiarity, but, at the same time, they don’t know us, either. When you look at it, it’s been an interesting journey over the last four years, introducing myself to the other team’s head coach before the coin toss. The kids have accepted the challenge. It doesn’t matter who we play. We’re going to prepare to win and be successful. That’s our motto. We’re going to always prepare to be successful, expect to win. That’s not going to change based on the conference we’re in. But we are excited. The CAA is from top to bottom, I think, the best conference in FCS football. I’ve known that for years. You look at the representation in the playoff field, as well, and it seems like every week you’re playing a team with one of those little numbers next to their name on the schedule. That’s a challenge. It’s exciting for us, and our guys are ready for the challenge.”
Silver on his play, and the defense as it comes into the CAA
“Since I’ve been the school, every time we’ve played a team, it’s always been, they’ve been thinking, they don’t know who we are, all this. They may be licking their chops, but it’s never been that way. There’s always been a dog fight, win or a loss. It will still continue to be that way. That’s the attitude we bring. From coach (Anthony) Barese, our defensive coordinator, from the four pillars we have, all the training we do in the offseason, it’s always going to be a dogfight when you play us. That could be when we’re playing the FBS teams, or playing teams in the CAA. We’re never going to be slouching for anybody. It’s always going to be the dogfight mentality.”
Taglieri on the offense
“Obviously, we lost a lot of guys, either to eligibility reasons and the transfer portal. But I think coach Merritt and our coaching staff couldn’t have done a better job reloading and restocking our positions, and geared up for this year. This spring was probably the most competitive and intense spring that we’ve had. Offensively, every day was a dogfight like Ben said. Offense vs. defense, we really got after it. I think this year, we’re really going to bring the violence up front. Between the o-line and the tight end group, I definitely see us getting some work done with the receivers on the outside in the passing game. We’re going to open it up. We’re playing on edge this year. We’re going to be violent, and we’re going to bring to these guys in the new conference.”