Will Samuel's third season be the charm?

But by year three, when the majority of the players are ones recruited by that coach and his staff -- and those players become more and more comfortable with the system -- significant progress is often made.

SEMO coach Tony Samuel hopes his Redhawks take a major step upward this season, after his first two SEMO teams produced records of 7-15 overall and 3-12 in the OVC.

Samuel recently told me with conviction he believes that will be the case.

I really like Samuel and his staff personally, and their football experience -- both where they have played and where they have coached -- is highly impressive. I think they know what they're doing.

I just wonder if SEMO football is such a black hole that nobody will be able to dig the Redhawks out of the mess, at least not on a consistent basis.

In 17 seasons on the Division I-AA level, SEMO is a collective 65-125, which spans three coaches. The program has gone 44-82 in the OVC.

SEMO has produced just two winning records in I-AA: 8-4 in 2002 and 7-5 in 1994.

Will Samuel be able to buck that trend?

I personally don't expect much from the Redhawks this year -- again -- since it's basically the same group of players that went 3-8 overall and 1-6 in the OVC last season. That's pretty much all I have to go on.

But the Redhawks do have a lot of key seniors and plenty of experience this year, which they didn't have last season.

A former area high school coach I respect a great deal told me during Friday's SEMO scrimmage that he believes the extra year of experience and physical maturity can make a big difference.

And here's something to ponder: Tim Billings, the SEMO coach immediately prior to Samuel, went 7-15 overall and 2-11 in the OVC during his first two seasons -- almost identical to what Samuel has done.

So most fans also didn't expect much out of Billings third SEMO squad -- but that 2002 unit went 8-4 (4-2 in the OVC) for the program's winningest season since 1969.

And the 2003 SEMO team, while only 5-7 overall because of a brutal nonconference schedule, went 5-3 in the OVC and needed only a victory in the season finale to win the conference title and earn the program's first playoff berth on any level (the squad fell short).

Of course, the bottom fell out for Billings after that, which is what brought Samuel to Cape Girardeau.

So what do you think, will Samuel's third season be the charm?

Here are few notable rules changes to be aware of as the college football season approaches:

-- The NCAA has banned the horse-collar tackle. A 15-yard penalty will be assessed when a runner is yanked to the ground from the inside collar of his shoulder pads or jersey. This does not apply to a runner who is inside the tackle box or to a quarterback who is in the pocket.

-- There is no longer a five-yard facemask penalty, which had been assessed when a player grabbed an opponent's facemask without pulling, twisting or turning. There is now only a 15-yard facemask penalty for pulling, twisting or turning.

-- There is now a 40-second play clock that will start as soon as the ball is ruled dead, instead of the previous 25-second clock that began only on the referee's signal. The 25-second clock will remain in circumstances when the officials stop the game clock for administrative and other reasons.

-- When a runner has gone out of bounds, the game clock will now start on the referee's signal when the ball is ready for play, not when the ball is snapped. But in the last two minutes of each half, the clock will continue to start only when the ball is snapped, thus allowing the offensive team to maximize the clock.