St. Francis University has a good reason to be optimistic.
The athletic department hired a very qualified individual to take over a football program that flat out stinks.
Chris Villarrial - an 11-year NFL veteran - replaces Dave Opfar after one year as his offensive coordinator.
The Red Flash saw improvement with Villarrial in charge of the offense, and there's no reason to think he won't do a better job having the entire team under his control.
But this is St. Francis we're talking about - a school built around education, not football.
An enrollment of 1,500 undergraduate students. A small Division I-AA - I mean FCS - program with no tradition. No winning history whatsoever. In the middle of nowhere. A life-size snow globe in the winter months.
Who could possibly want to play football there? Unless, of course, you are already from Cambria or Blair County and have dealt with the area your entire life.
It's just not ideal with options like Penn State, Pitt, IUP, and Cal Pa. all within 100 miles.
Those are just a few of the reasons why Villarrial will have a difficult time, not only with recruiting, but with winning.
It's not his fault. It's not any other coach's fault. It's not the university's fault. It's just what everyone has to deal with having a Division 1 program in Loretto, Pennsylvania.
Speaking with Villarrial - he is truly a character. He isn't a man who makes you lose interest when he speaks. He looks you in the eye, yet he can keep the mood light and rattle off a joke or two to make you smile.
And with his experience and credentials, there's no doubt that what he brings to the table is something the Red Flash can certainly build on.
Villarrial says St. Francis is the perfect fit for him.
He played football at IUP before moving on to the NFL, so he's been around small-college football teams. He coached at Central Cambria High School, a stones-throw away from his home in Ebensburg, so he's seen the local talent and knows the coaches in the area.
His - and the university's - selling point is family values. Not to mention a field house with a state-of-the-art weight room, a relatively new stadium with an artificial, all-weather surface, and other updates the university has made to entice student-athletes of all sports to choose St. Francis.
But will Villarrial be able to bring in what he needs for the Red Flash football program to finally get more than two wins in a season?
Only time will tell.
Then again, the optimism on campus was high when Bobby Jones and Jill Poe were hired to run the basketball programs - and we all know how that turned out.
Maybe this is the guy that will put St. Francis football on the map. Maybe not. Maybe no one can put the Red Flash on the map.
One thing is certain: St. Francis football players will get a good education.
Nate Foreman can be reached at sports@altoonamirror.com
