A sense of stability has the Drake football team looking for improvement this season. Coach Chris Creighton returns for his second season at the helm after leading the Bulldogs to a 6-5 mark in 2008.

At that time he was the third different head coach in as many years. Creighton says they are now doing the same things once again and aren’t relearning a new staff all over again, and he says because of that they are having fun.

This will be a much more experienced squad as 16 players with starting experience return. One of the new faces will be at quarterback. Redshirt freshmen Michael Piatkowski and Peter Badovinac are battling for the job.

Creighton says Piatkowski throws a "beautiful" ball and is not a "rah rah" guy, but the team believes in him. He says Badovinac comes from a good high school background and does what you want him to do.

Eight starters are back from a defense that ranked second in the Pioneer Football League last season. Creighton says he’s not going in saying they are not going to be very good on offense and will try to hold on with the defense keep them in games. He says the defense is really good and they will do their best to get the offense to catch up.

The Bulldogs open at home against Grand View on September fifth. 

After a successful first season at the helm Simpson coach Jim Glogowski hopes the Storm can contend for the Iowa Conference championship. Simpson finished 7-3 in 2008, including a tied for third in the league race, and the program has confidence going into this season.

Glogowski says it’s night and day in terms of expectations of the coaches and the players with a year of experience working with each other and knowing how practice is going to go. With 14 starters returning the Storm are considered a title contender but Glogowski says a number of teams can feel the same way.

He says the teams that play consistent football and don’t turn it over have a chance to be up at the top of the conference and that’s their goal. An experienced offensive line returns that helped the Storm lead the Iowa Conference in offense in 2008. Glogowski says the linemen have all worked hard in the off season to get better.

The Storm won four of their final five games last season, and he says the biggest concern is to get back to where they were when the season ended last year. Simpson opens at Wisconsin-Stout on September fifth.

A switch to an option offense came at the right time for the William Penn football program. Coach Todd Hafner installed the new attack prior to the 2008 season and the Statesman finished with a 7-4 record, their most victories since back in 1976. Hafner says they had to adjust early after making some mistakes and not having people in the right positions.