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Dave Dallas enters his 21st season as a head football this fall.

During the past 20 years, his coaching creed has been "run the football, play great defense, play great special teams." That belief system resulted in 110 victories at Ottawa and Kansas Wesleyan.

But the Coyotes finished with a 5-5 record last season and are 16-14 the past three seasons -- that on the heels of back-to-back eight-win seasons.

Dallas decided it was time for some changes. Wholesale changes.

Offensive coordinator Ryan Mills was replaced by Chris Snyder, who had coached Mendocino College (Calif.) and utilized a pass-oriented spread offense. Dallas knew Snyder and brought him in to implement the same scheme at KWU, starting in the spring.

Then this summer, longtime defensive coordinator Colby Hensley departed for a high school job in Texas, leading to the hiring of veteran coach Bob Frey, who has installed a new scheme this fall.

As Wesleyan enters the 2010 season that begins Saturday night against Tabor in Hillsboro, the operative word for the Coyotes is change.

"We talk about change ... a lot of times it's good," said Dallas, who's in his 14th season at KWU. "I think these guys have taken the change in our offense and run with it, and the defensive guys have turned around and done the same thing.

"It all goes back to the players and them accepting the responsibility and taking ownership in what we're doing and taking pride in it."

Dallas said the two coordinators have made him more at ease because of their experience and expertise.

"It gives me the opportunity to give them the latitude to coach," he said. "I'm not having to oversee the offense and make sure everything's the way that it needs to be or the same with the defense. These guys are very confident in what they're doing and comfortable in what they're doing."

The spread was something Dallas considered previously, but decided it had to be done after Wesleyan ranked sixth in scoring (22.3 points/game) and total offense (308 yards/game) in the KCAC last season.

"That's what they're doing offensively these days," Dallas said. "It's fun for the kids. It's been contagious across the board.

"Our defense did a great job, they gave up (22) points a game last year. If we'd have had a progression of the offense and would have scored 28, 29, 30 points a game ... but we weren't able to do that because we weren't explosive enough. We put our defense in bad situations and it finally kind of caught up with us."

While the spread emphasizes the pass, Dallas promises he has not forsaken the running game.

"We've got three or four quality tailbacks who need to touch the football," he said. "In fall camp that's probably been the biggest progression we've made is up front in our run game, even more so than our passing game."

Returning starter Doug Webster and junior college transfer Travis Hunter have battled for the starting job. Webster, a senior, completed 48.6 percent of his passes for 1,778 yards and 12 touchdowns last fall, but also threw 14 interceptions.

Senior Jake Winship returns at tailback after gaining 764 yards and earning first-team all-Kansas Conference honors. Senior Dane McCoy, who sat out last season, returns. Sophomores Brett Giesen and John-Michael Cook are in the mix, too.

There's depth and experience at wide receiver, led by seniors Anthony Berry, Troy Alsobrook, Jason Engelberg and Will Hall. Berry led the Coyotes with 37 catches for 529 yards. Engelberg caught 32 for 354 yards, Alsobrook 19 for 187 and Hall nine for 134.

Several others also will play, including returnee Tanner Giffin and transfers Robert Marshall, Ricky Roberts and Jerome Wooten.

The offensive line has ample experience. Guards Sean Junkins, Oscar Torres and Zach Brown return and are joined by transfer Will Mangino. Will Slazor, Cody Ramirez, Jacob McCoy and Shelby Stoughton return at tackle with transfer Dan Pinsky pushing hard for time. Transfer Chase Hartman is the center with Jeremy Smith backing him.

Defensively the Coyotes took a big hit late in preseason camp when senior cornerback Kendrick Mitchell, a two-time all-KCAC first team selection, suffered a season-ending knee injury. He'll redshirt this fall and will return in 2011.

The secondary still has depth, but Mitchell will be difficult to replace. Seniors Corey Tate and Sonny Gallegos return at cornerback while transfer Jamie Cowan and freshman Kelton Reed come aboard. Four letterwinners are back at safety -- Jesse Walls, Jacob Brackens, Anthony Luna and J.R. Reynolds.

Linebacker is the defense's strength. Senior Vicente Arellano returns from a knee injury that forced him to miss last season and joins Adrian Thomas and Kane Kaualoku, who earned all-conference honors in 2009. Mike Marowitz, Austin Hoover and Jeff Rooney are the back-ups.

The question is the front line that was hit hard by graduation. Transfers Keoni Funtanilla and Isaiah Jackson were solid at tackle in the preseason along with returnee Omoniyi Olayiwola and transfer Michael Wilbert. Billy Butler, Spencer Popple and Gary Hemmy are back at the ends and are joined by transfer Dominick Waters and redshirt Kyron Hill.

Former KWU soccer player Jesus "Chewy" Ochoa will handle the punting and placekicking.

"It's how you accept change and I think our guys have run with it and accepted the challenge to make themselves the best they can be," Dallas said.

* Sports editor Bob Davidson can be reached at 822-1404, or by e-mail at bdavidson@salina.com

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