New coach hoping to light a fire under Cornell

He's a new coach brought in to attempt to make Cornell College football relevant. He's been doing his best drumming up excitement and interest in the program, even hiring a popular old head coach to be an assistant.

He's more than ready to roll for his first season. And five minutes before he begins handing out uniforms for the first day of practice last Saturday, his weight room catches on fire.

Seriously.

"We talked about how we were going to handle adversity this year," said Vince Brautigam. "I just didn't think adversity would hit us on day one."

Brautigam and his Rams are still getting practices in, though the players have had to dress in their dorm rooms since their locker room at Small Multi-Sport Center is adjacent to the weight room and been unavailable. The school had a large crew hard at work Thursday cleaning up what is mostly smoke damage.

The fire was electrical and began in between the walls of the weight room, which has to be re-painted and re-floored. Replacement weight-training equipment was expected to be delivered sometime Thursday.

"It could have been worse, but I don't know how," laughed Assistant Athletics Director Dick Simmons. "No one was injured, so that was the biggest thing."

"It just comes with being at Cornell," smiled senior wide receiver Kyle Tierney of Cedar Rapids Jefferson. "It seems like every year we've got something that comes. But it hasn't really been a big deal. It's kind of like Pee Wee football all over again. We get dressed in our rooms and walk down to the practice field."

Hey, Brautigam knew things would be tough when he signed on for this job. A former head coach at Dubuque and NAIA Mount Senario (Wis.), he was hired to replace Matt Dillon and expedite the growth of a program that simply hasn't been able to compete since moving to the Iowa Conference in 1998.

Cornell went 2-8 overall last season, breaking 19-game overall and 34-game IIAC losing streaks. As usual, numbers are going to be an issue, with 57 on the roster.

The front-line guys are decent but depth is a question, particularly on defense, the coach said. Brautigam will run a spread offense and has returning starters Tierney, fellow wideouts Thomas Connor and Harry Herbert, running back Charles McDonald and quarterback Andrew Burdick at his disposal.

All five linemen return as well. Defensively, there are five returning starters, led by senior linebacker Joe Barlow.

Among the new assistant coaches is Steve Miller, who won 87 games as Cornell's head coach from 1987-2001. Recently retired as a fundraiser for the school, Miller is coaching running backs.

The opener is Sept. 4 at home against nationally ranked North Central (Ill.). Hopefully there will be no more fires before then.

"Overall, I think we've done a pretty good job just dealing with all the adversity and kind of adjusting what we need to do," said freshman wide receiver Sam O'Donnell of Cedar Rapids Washington. "We're kind of forgetting about everything and going to work on the practice field and not really worrying about it. Just kind of disregarding it."

"In a way this has brought us closer," said freshman defensive back Nick Brautigam, the coach's son who transferred in from Division II Northern Michigan. "Because we've had to go with the flow."