Crestivew’s 5-5 record in 2013 marked the first non-losing season since Matt Brunson guided the Bulldogs to the playoffs in 2010.
Making the playoffs this year would be the next step in head coach Tim Hatten’s rebuilding process.
Here, Hatten shares his thoughts on this year's team.
Team strength: The defensive front seven.
Biggest concern: No established running back entering the season with running back by committee.
Offense: We return six or seven offensive linemen; that seems to be our strength. We can protect the passer and we have a running game strength. But we have lack of depth at running back along with some injuries.
Offensive line: Six seniors– Trevor Vaughn, Sebastian Lee, Hunter Walker, Spencer Singletary and Nathan Gerard– have been in the program for several years. Justin Martel, who just moved in, is a guard for us and is a pretty good player. Matt French is playing a little defense, and we know he can come in and help us if we need him to.
We don’t have a bunch of 6-4, 300-pounders. We’ve got a bunch of 6-1, 245, 250 pounders– which is not real big for an offensive line– but I’m OK with that.
Receivers: We return Andrew Adkins and Marquis McClain to the outside, which is exciting.
We feel good about the kids we’ve got coming in, but they don’t have a lot of varsity experience. At slot receiver, we are going to end up with D.J. Stewart and Alik Whited.
We lost all of our wide receivers. How good these guys are going to be under the lights, we don’t know. Athletically, we should be pretty close to last year, but time will tell.
Offensive backfield: I think we got a little better at quarterback (with Corey Armstrong and Rusty Moorer) and lost a little at running back. But who knows, we may be better at running back. It all depends on how they play
We are running back by committee right now. We got a move-in guy (Marcus Mobley) from Pensacola High School that is going to help us, probably. And then we’ve got a possibility in Derian McGee. He could be a starter, but he banged his knee up.
We’ve got Malique Studevan that can come in and play some. We’ve got D.J. Stewart that can play some and Blayze Spencer will play some too.
Defense: Our defensive line and linebackers. I think with Blayze Spencer and Amp Seals at linebacker, our front seven will be very strong and they will keep us competitive.
Defensive line: We don’t have massive size, but we are 250 (pounds average on the line). But in high school football you don’t see massive size. For us to have the caliber of talent that we have (with Tyrone Baker, JaQuan Daniels and Marcus Flavors) is rare.
They are physical and they play hard and fast.
Linebackers: We’ve got speed and experience with Blayze and Antryon Gloster, and Matt French can play for us, too. French can play anywhere for us.
Secondary: Andrew Adkins, a sophomore who started the last three games last year, will start at safety. Marquis and Jakeem Peoples are back there. Trey Dennis is back there and is a really good corner. Ike Hillard also will contribute. We are solid back there.
Special teams: Some guys coming back are a year older. Seth Kootsouradis and Tyler Hancock will help us a little bit. We’ve just got to make sure we become consistent, kicking extra points.
The point: We were 5-5 last year and we very easily could have been 8-2. We very easily could have been 2-8. When you look at the way the ball bounces, we lost four ball games by less than six points, and one by 10 or 12 points. Even the games we won were close. You can do everything right and still lose.
I hope we can make the playoffs and have a winning season. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake.
Randy’s take: Look for the Bulldogs to have a breakout season. Quarterbacks Armstrong and Moorer have a year in Hatten’s system and should improve. Although Hatten has some concerns at running back, I believe Crestview will be able to run the ball behind the experienced and talented offensive line. And Crestview's defense easily could be better than last year’s.
Most people are picking Class 7A runner up Niceville as the team to beat in District 1-7A. That could allow the Bulldogs to pull the upset and claim their first district championship since 2002.
Randy Dickson is the Crestview News Bulletin’s sports editor. Email him at randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @BigRandle, or call 682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Bulldogs look to revisit playoffs this season