Cosmos back in the mix

Springfield football coach Kevin Tallman looks upon the upcoming season with only positive thoughts even though his team played only one Division II game last season.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20130828/SPORTS02/708289911

Published August 28, 2013 in the Rutland Herald Cosmosback inthe mix By POODY WALSH Correspondent SPRINGFIELD — Kevin Tallman is one of those guys whose glass is always half full and the Springfield football coach looks upon the upcoming season with only positive thoughts even though his team played only one Division II game last season before folding the tent. “We’ve pretty much turned the program around,” said Tallman. “Our goal is to be competitive and win football games. I think we will reach those goals.” Last year after the Cosmos took a beating in its opener against Otter Valley it was determined that because of the limited number of players and the fear of injuries it was decided that it was not feasible to continue. Since then the Cosmos have been allowed to drop down to Division III and the numbers have increased. “We’re dressing around 35 a day, so I’m OK with that,” said Tallman, the former Fall Mountain head coach who has also had stints as an assistant coach at Stevens, Hanover and John Stark. While Tallman is always optimistic he is also realistic and after a recent scrimmage with Newport he knew if the season is going to successful his players need to tackle better. “We were doing a lot of reaching and arm tackling and that’s not going to work,” said Tallman. “We’ve got to get better at that.” Because there is no Pee Wee program in Springfield, the Springfield coaches have to spend a lot more time on fundamentals than they would like. “We’ve got some kids who have never played football. What we have is a bunch of average Joes. We’re not a bunch of superstars.” Offensively the Cosmos will run what Tallman calls a modified spread. “It’s a combination of the single wing and power-I that allows the offense to pass and run equally.” said Tallman. “What you have to have is good ball handler at quarterback and I think we have players that can do that in Mitch Greenwood and Josh Rivers.” Just how good Springfield will be is unknown, but what is known is that the Cosmos will be big. “We’ve got a bunch of 240-260 guys,” Tallman said. Springfield will have a non-league game with Fall Mountain on Aug. 31 before opening the season for real Sept. 6 at Woodstock. While the move to Division III will be helpful, but with the Likes of Mill River, Oxbow and Otter Valley on the schedule Tallman knows the roach can still be rocky. “If we can get a few breaks here and there who knows what can happen,” he said.