UNI football coach Mark Farley says the Panthers have the talent needed to bounce back from a disappointing 2012 season. The Panthers finished 5-6 last season and missed out of the FCS national playoffs. It was the first losing season for the program since 2002. UNI conducts its annual spring game Friday night.
“This football team is very committed to doing it the way the coaches are trying to get them lined up, our way, the UNI way,” Farley says. “We’ve made steady progress, sometimes you are high and you are low and you get setback. This team has been moving progressively forward.” Farley says the team has good leaders that are helping them move forward.
Farley says there is a lot of potential in this team. “I think it is a balanced team, both sides of the ball. I think it’s an intelligent team, and for UNI that’s a great thing, because that’s how we play,” Farley says.
Farley says while it is a talented team limiting injuries will be a key. He says they are not as deep as they have been and depth has changed with recruiting and rules and funding over the last three years. Farley says they have to find better ways to use players when the team is not as deep.