By Russell Varner
SouthernPigskin.com

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After watching receiver Aaron Mellette, Elon defensive back coach Dave O’Brien said that he would’ve been good enough to start opposite current Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones last season.

September 3rd will make a big day in Elon football history. It will be the first time in five years that the Phoenix will take the field without Pete Lembo, Terrell Hudgins or Scott Riddle sporting maroon and gold. In their places? Jason Swepson, a first year head coach who left Tom O’Brien’s staff at NC State to take over at Elon. Aaron Mellette, who has already done an excellent job replacing the record-setting wide receiver, catching 86 balls for 1,100 yards and 12 touchdowns. And at quarterback? Well, that’s still up in the air.

Junior Thomas Wilson, Maryland transfer Tyler Smith and redshirt freshman Mike Quinn are currently vying for the quarterback spot and the unenviable title of Scott Riddle’s successor. But Swepson has already come out and stated that whoever does win the position battle will not be expected to duplicate Riddle’s gaudy stats.

“At Elon, I know we’re used to strong quarterback play with Scott Riddle to help win the game,” he said. “At this point, I’ve told the quarterbacks – Thomas Wilson, Tyler Smith and Mike Quinn – that you guys have to manage the game. You guys have some great skill on the flank and at the running back position. Plus, we have some senior tight ends (as well). If they manage the game and get the ball in the hands of the playmakers on the flank and in the backfield, we’ll be successful.”

It has been a whirlwind eight months for Swepson, who served under O’Brien as running backs coach at both NC State and Boston College. He has just been trying to get through the first year and learn as much as he can. He said that he can’t wait for this January, when he will have a full year of coaching under his belt.

“The tough thing is getting everything on paper – the schedule, the routine, all that stuff,” he said. “Me being an offensive guy, I (also) got to learn the defense. (Defensive coordinator) Ed (Pinkham) has been very successful in his career. His terminology is a foreign language to me … I’m trying to let him know what we did on defense at Boston College and NC State and try to incorporate some of that into our defense. I got a great one at defensive coordinator and I got to catch up to him.”

There are many other things for Swepson to work on as well. He will most likely try to keep much of Elon’s offense, which was ranked number eight in total offense and number two in passing offense in the country, intact. The offense returns six starters from last year, but is starting over at the quarterback position. Fortunately, the new quarterback will have plenty of talent surrounding him.

Senior guard Rodney Austin and junior wide receiver Mellette has been named on numerous preseason All-American lists and Austin is listed as one of the top guard prospects in the upcoming NFL Draft.

“I really think he’s going to play on Sundays,” Swepson said of his guard. “He’s as good a right guard as I’ve been around, (including) my time at BC for all those years (when we) were popping out guards left and right to the NFL. He would’ve fit right in at BC. So I think he’s got a tremendous mold, a passion for the game, plays it the way it should be played – physical and violent.”

When asked about Mellette, Swepson talked about the team’s new defensive backs coach, Dan O’Brien, who had worked previously at Alabama under Nick Saban. After watching Mellette, O’Brien said that he would’ve been good enough to start opposite current Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones last season.

“He’s a talent and he’s got two years left,” Swepson said. “He’s got tremendous work ethic and he’s got a chance to be special. I know teams are going to double cover him, but I’m also happy with (Rasaun) Rorie on the other side. We got some good inside receivers that are really going to give people problems.”

Swepson also added that he plans on running a variation of Pete Lembo’s spread offense. He called Elon’s new offense a “spread with run-and-shoot principles,” but added that he wants the offense to line up and try to run the ball down the defense’s throat more often to take advantage of the senior-laden offensive line and trio of running backs the team has.

“I think what I’m trying to do with this team is make them tough,” Swepson said. “I’m not trying to say they weren’t tough last year; they were just more finesse than anything. What we as a staff want to do is toughen them up. If we can do that, we will be successful. That was the blueprint we had at Boston College – we had smart, tough, blue collar kids.”

Defense will be a tougher task for the first-year head coach. Elon struggled on the defensive side of the ball last season, not long removed from finishing the 2009 campaign with the number two ranked defense in the nation. With only four starters returning from last year, only one of which is a senior, Swepson and new defensive coordinator Ed Pinkham will most likely have their hands full. But, there has already been a major change in the mindset of the defense.

“We’re not going to sit back and let the offense dictate us,” Swepson said. “(Pinkham) and I have battled when he was at Colgate and I was at Holy Cross. Our defense is really going to come after people, and that’s what I’m really excited about … We got some young kids, athletic kids. If we just stay healthy, we got a chance to get better each week.”

The team’s lone senior defensive starter, linebacker Joshua Jones, is hoping to bounce back from a 2010 campaign in which Jones was not 100 percent healthy. He spent the majority of last season feeling the aftereffects of a surgery he had to fix a knee injury he suffered at the end of Elon’s playoff loss at Richmond. After showing up overweight for Elon’s spring game, Jones has made a complete 180 turn, focusing nearly all of his waking hours to football. Coach Swepson said that Jones may now be, “the best conditioned (player) on the team right now. He has stepped up as a leader. The team voted him team captain. If he stays healthy, I think he has a chance to play at the next level.”

With the regular season beginning in just a few weeks, Swepson added that players are believing in the team and that they belong among the SoCon’s best, even if few outside of the school believe in them.

“With Alumni Fieldhouse, these kids really feel like a Division I program,” Swepson said. “They don’t feel like Vanderbilt has that much of an edge on them. I’m not going to hold them back. I’m going to keep preaching that we are big time football and that we can play with the best.”

Swepson also added that he is not looking just at wins and losses this season. More importantly, he wants to make sure there is a change in the mental philosophy at Elon.

“At the end of the game, win or loss, I want our opponents to say, ‘That’s a tough group of kids. They play it the right way.’”