By: Charles Chaney/JUCOWeekly Contributor
WICHITA, Kansas — For the fifth season in a row, the Hutchinson Blue Dragons are picked to win the KJCCC according to the coaches.
The Blue Dragons who reached the NJCAA National Championship game were the run away favorite to win the conference, followed by Coffeyville who made the playoff last season.
The coaches' order of prediction mirrored how last year's conference standings ended.
Butler, who won eight games and won the Heart of Texas Bowl over Kilgore was picked third. Garden City, who is coming off their first losing season since 2015, their first season under Jeff Sims. The following year after that losing season, they won the national championship.
Independence was picked fifth, Dodge City picked sixth and Highland rounded out the rankings at seventh.
Many coaches, including Hutch's Drew Dallas said the predictions don't mean much since no one has played a game.
All teams kept most of their stars under wraps as it has been a tradition. Independence's head coach Keith Donerson spoke for less than two minutes, not really highlight anyone on his team outside of his coaching staff.
Here are some news and notes from the annual media day that took place in Wichita at Riverfront Stadium.
Saddler fulfilling dream
Mike Saddler helped with the region tournament a few years ago and noticed something, he found a new passion.
Fast forward a couple of seasons and the former Colby Community College athletic director is the new KJCCC commissioner after Carl Heinrich retired at the end of May.
"It's like trying to drink from a fire house coming at me," Saddler said of his first month. "It's been enjoyable and getting some stuff like [media day] means we're getting a little more in rhythm and we're getting closer to the school year."
It wasn't his first football media day, despite being that AD at a football-less school, he's been here before and it's just a nice change of pace for him. He kept his words to the coaches and introductions short and sweet.
For Saddler, bringing the conference more modernization. Saddler himself is rather young for a conference commissioner. Graduating from the University of Kansas in 2006, he's ready to drive a conference, that many already believe to be the best conference in junior college athletics, forward.
"The biggest thing for me is helping the modernization—for a lack of a better description," he said. "I take over for some guys who've done this for a very long time and they've done a wonderful job and now I'm trying to take that next step."
Saddler wants a younger perspective and increasing the brand as the premier JUCO conference.
"I want to make sure everyone can see that," he said.
You might be able to expect an updated website as well. Though, that could take months.
New rules for the season
The NJCAA will move the instant replay to everyone, not just the KJCC in terms of rules. Though, its effectiveness remains to be seen. That will take a few years but overall, it appears coaches are happy and so is the national office with what was put out last season.
In the KJCCC last season, there were 42 challenges and only four were overturned. 21 confirmed the ruling on the field, meaning the evidence on replay meant they could confirm the ruling. 17 stood as called, meaning there was not enough evidence to overturn the call.
Butler head coach Brice Vignery seemed happy with the instant replay but when asked if he could have any rule implanted, he said he just wants other angles for the instant replay.
Currently, the instant replay is only the end zone and sideline angle.
The NJCAA adopted the time ruling from the NCAA as well where the clock will no longer stop on first downs going forward unless it's within the final two minutes of the first or second half.
Vignery doesn't see it effecting Butler very much as they already play a fast tempo.
"You may see other teams play faster now to try and get more plays in," he said.
The Grizzlies were the fast team in the conference last season in terms of plays per game at almost 72 per game. Only Garden City broke the 70 mark. Everyone else was under 68, with three teams at 60 or fewer plays per game.
The NJCAA has also adopted the ruling of no continuous timeouts. No more of calling a timeout, lining up and seeing what the opposition gives you and then calling another timeout. With the updating ruling, you'll have to run a play before you can use another timeout.
Iowa Western picked to win Iowa conference
The defending national champion was a no brainer by the coaches to win the ICCAC once again. They're coming off a 10-2 season and a national championship.
Iowa Central and then Ellsworth were ranked by the coaches. Ellsworth has a long hill to climb as they haven't won a game over an NJCAA Division I opponent since 2019, a streak of 26 consecutive losses. Their last win vs. an NJCAA Division I opponent was on Sept. 14, 2019, a 15-8 win over Dodge City. Ellsworth is currently riding a 12-game losing streak, dating back to 2021. Coach Kory Vaught is hoping with six home games, the Panthers will finally break that streak this year.
The biggest thing from the media day is how large the Iowa rosters are. All well over 100 players and some over 130 as they choose to redshirt an extensive number of players. For a school like Iowa Western it's paid off. They played a lot of sophomores on last year's run to the national title. They'll be young in term of graduation year but they'll have players who've been practicing against national champions all season.
Iowa Central is hoping they don't have to play five quarterbacks this season as they'll have only one of them back for this season.
Highland trying to build something special under new coach
If you ask anyone at Highland, it's been a rough few years.
Since the loss of former coach Aaron Arnold, the Highland Scotties football program has rivaled that of the Kansas Jayhawks in the 2010s. They're hoping to change that under new head coach DJ Mayo. He was promoted after the untimely passing of Jared Powers.
"It took me a week to even start to move in the office," Mayo said. "Coach Powers meant a lot to this school."
For Mayo, the continuity of what Powers wanted to build is in his vision, though with his own twist. A Florida native isn't afraid to recruit nationally and try to build Highland back to what they were just a few years ago under Arnold. They have a new administration in place and he's seen the support.
"Our first recruiting season in state was really hard," Mayo admitted. "We got in really late and the kids we signed didn't make it through the first two days of camp."
"Everyone on campus has done a great job of making our kids feel at home."
Fast forward to this offseason and the Scotties are finally making their way through the halls of Kansas high schools, as well as some in Florida.
"I coached high school football in Florida and there's a lot of speed," he said. "We also want to recruit the state well, too."
The next step is trying to build on their momentum last season. While 2-6 isn't something to scoff at, they showed much improvement across the board and you can see the growth in the film.
"We're trying to build a culture," Mayo said. "We're going to give ourselves a chance."
While Highland—or most Kansas schools—aren't recruiting 150 kids like the Iowa schools, they're getting the right kids to fit their culture and system.
"Things are moving in the right direction," Mayo said. "We are putting things in place where we can have our guys stay a little bit longer over the summer and continue to build on their hard work."