RICHMOND, Ky. – Dane Damron, who is in his third year on the EKU football staff, begins his first season as offensive coordinator this fall. The native of Grayson, Ky., recently sat down with EKUSports.com to discuss the state of the Colonel offense heading into the 2011 season.

Click here for a story on Dane Damron in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Q: How do you make the transition from special teams coach to offensive coordinator over the summer?
A: I think we have a great group of kids and assistant coaches. We’re not going to change much. Coach Springston did an excellent job of laying a foundation for an offensive system here. It’s our job now to take [the system], expand it and get very good at it.

Q: You’ve held the offensive coordinator role at other schools. What is the foundation for your playbook?
A: We’re going to run the football. I don’t think there is any question about that. Coach Hood really wants us to run the football. I think at times last year we were very effective at running the football. We are going to do some more two-back [formations] than we have done in the past. But like I said, I think we have a great offensive foundation laid for what has been done in the past. We are going to look to get better at it and hope to become a more physical football team.

Q: Do you still consider the EKU offense a spread attack?
A: Call it as you will. We are going to have spread elements, there are no doubts about it. We also have some good tight ends that we need to get involved in the game, too. We are going to be multiple in what we do and make sure we try to do what the defense gives us.

Q: What about terminology? Will that basically stay the same or will there be changes in this year’s offense?
A: I am a firm believer that when you go in and you assume control of something, you’ve got to make it as much yours as you possibly can. We are going to try to keep [terminology the same] as much as possible without trying to overload the kids, but there will be some things that do change.

Q: What’s involved in putting together a weekly game plan for the offense?
A: I think the first thing you have to do is you have to look at what you do. You’ve got to make sure that whatever you take into the game plan, it’s what you are good at it. If the defense is trying to take away what we do really well, we have to try to find a way to do it because that’s the offense’s identity. We need to make sure we do a good job at identifying what other teams are doing in situations – what are their third-down tendencies, what are their first-down tendencies. I think first down is huge. We’ve got to make sure that we try to win the first down situations. You talk to any offensive coordinator in the world and everybody has plays for 2nd-and-6. However, 2nd-and-14 isn’t very fun. You want to make sure you stay out from being behind the chains.

Q: Do you like to script plays?
A: We will do that. We’ll talk about this as an offensive staff and try to come up with the best system. I like to script first and second downs, and then when you get to your [third down] situations, you can go to your play sheet. If you are staying in manageable situations, you can almost call anything you want to on first and second downs. Then third downs are where you have worked those situations in practice. Sometimes you might have a great game plan and they come out and do something totally different. The script then goes in the back pocket. You’ve got to start doing what you know your kids can do.

Q: What do you see as the strengths of the offense?
A: Anytime you return a quarterback who has started 18 games, you have to consider that a strength. I think we’re pretty talented at wide receiver, but we are not especially deep. We also return four starters up front [on the offensive line]. We return nine starters from an offense that won its last four games [in 2010] and played pretty good football. I think in order for us to take the step that everybody with Eastern Kentucky University football wants us to take, it’s got to start with the guys up front. You are only as good as those guys and I think they have a chance to be the strength. I really do. I think those guys need to develop an attitude, a little nastiness to them. I think if they do that then we have a chance to be pretty good.

Q: What areas on offense are in need of the most improvement?
A: It’s always going to be depth. I think our first 11, 12, 13 players are pretty good. We have got to make sure we develop some depth. I think we have to get more production out of the running back position, which we will. I think we have some great candidates. We also need to make sure that our quarterback position understands the importance of valuing the football. You can’t score if you don’t have the ball.

Q: You were a pretty successful quarterback at Georgetown College. What offense did you run there and do you still carry some of those ideas with you?
A: We ran the run-and-shoot at Georgetown, as well as some triple-option out of it. I think you always run what you really know, but football is football. There are only so many football plays. There will be elements of [the Georgetown offense], elements of me working for Coach Kidd for two years, and a whole lot of elements from Coach Springston. You just try to gather as much information as you can and process it. We are going to do our best to make sure we establish the run.