Media Days: Doane focusing on rejuvenating offense, details in 2023

CRETE, Neb - The Doane Tigers are just weeks away from beginning fall practice and just over a month away from their week one matchup on August 26.

At the inaugural Small College Media Days in Crete, News Channel Nebraska caught up with the Tigers for a midsummer update.

“We’re excited about where things are at,” head coach Chris Bessler said. “We have a lot of returners coming back on both sides of the ball. Also some key pieces.”

Sixth year head coach Chris Bessler says one of those key pieces is sixth year running back Frazzie Wynn. After coming up just short of 1,000 yards two seasons ago, Wynn had a down year in 2022 due to some offensive struggles from the unit as a whole. Bessler hopes a rejuvenation of the offense will lead to a rejuvenation from Wynn.

“He’s very important to what’s going to happen,” Bessler said. “The running back position is critical. We have some other guys we’ll be looking at as well. But the experience Frazzie brings back, the explosiveness, he works extremely hard. We’re going to need to be able to depend on him.”

Doane ended 2022 with a record of 4-6, but junior defensive back Cade Wiseman says there’s reason to believe a good year is on tap for the Tigers.

“As a team, our chemistry is at its best since I’ve been here,” Wiseman said. “It gets really competitive during practice, but after, we’re one team again, and we need to keep our end goal in mind, which is to win games.”

To do that, Wiseman emphasizes details.

“Details are very important. If you want to win, you’ve got to do things right,” Wiseman said. “It starts in practice. Getting to know new guys off the field. Bonding with your team, all that work has been done over the summer, you’ve just got to come in and be committed.”

Tigers kicker Kelen Meyer was 2nd team All-GPAC last year as both a kicker and a punter. He knows the importance of a cohesive, solid special teams unit.

“There’s so many points scored from special teams that win games,” Meyer said. “Being able to flip the field, having good returners like Cade [Wiseman] , having those guys around to make plays goes a long ways.”

After a year where the Tigers averaged just 13 points per game, coach Bessler said point production is the main point the Tigers will hone in on in 2023.

“That’s number 1,” Bessler said. “We need to be able to produce some points. And that isn’t just from the offense, but also special teams and defense. Point production is very, very important.”

The Tigers kick off the season on August 26 at Graceland.