It was a lesson quickly learned.
When the new head football coach at Bowling Green State University, Dino Babers, had his first meeting
with the team he asked who was the starting quarterback. Matt Johnson, who started 13 games in 2013,
raised his hand.
‘‘I said, ‘no you’re not,’’’ Babers said. ‘‘I didn’t mean to be mean at him … I told them there is no
starting quarterback, there is no starting tailback, there is no starting guard.
‘‘If you are the best, it won’t take long for us to figure it out, and you’ll be back there,’’ he
continued. ‘‘Everybody is on an even scale. For a guy who has been starting for two or three years, it’s
kind of scary. But for a guy who has been backing up for two or three years, it’s kind of exciting.’’

Babers said he would not look at game film from last season when the Falcons finished 10-4 overall and
won the Mid-American Conference championship.
‘‘I’ll make all the decisions based off what I see, and it gives everybody a clean slate and a clean
opportunity to prove who they are,’’ Babers said.
‘‘We shouldn’t be afraid of competition,’’ he added. ‘‘The best always rises to the top. We like winning.
If you can help us win and you are the best, you’ll be in there.’’
Babers was at Ford Field watching the Falcons play Pittsburgh in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.
‘‘We haven’t recruited to system. We will fill in spots after watching practices,’’ Babers said. ‘‘I feel
very strongly that we have enough football and athletes that we’ll be fine.’’
The Falcons will start their 15 spring practices on March 1, going one week before spring break. The
spring drills will end around the first part of April. Babers has not set a date for the spring game.

‘‘If I can find out I can get 3,000 people on a Thursday, we’ll have the spring game on Thursday. I’m not
locked in to that kind of stuff,’’ Babers said. ‘‘The only reason I would be reluctant to move it to a
Thursday is parents being able to come see it.’’
Right now, the team is lifting weights and working out.
‘‘I’m not big on putting guys in a room and making them throw up on some wrestling mat,’’ Babers said.
‘‘We’re not into the mat drills, and how tough are you?
‘‘These guys are champions; let’s treat them like champions until they start acting like they are not
champions,’’ he added.
Babers plans to announce his complete coaching staff after national signing day on Feb. 5.
‘‘I’m not in a hurry to announce it. We just really want to get finished with the recruiting,’’ Babers
said. ‘‘I want to release it (the staff) all at once.
‘‘We’ve got all these kids who have committed,’’ Babers added. ‘‘We really don’t have any scholarships to
go out and recruit. All these kids were committed by coach (Dave) Clawson, and his old staff.’’
Babers said that’s both a positive and a negative.
The positive is the recruiting for the 2014 class is done, and the coaching staff can focus on recruiting
current high school juniors.
The negative is Babers and his staff have to hope that everybody is as good as the former coaches
forecasted.
Babers expects approximately 20 recruits to sign with the Falcons next month.
There are some recruits who have already enrolled at Bowling Green and working out with the team, but
Babers said he wants to release the entire recruiting class on signing day.
As for current players leaving the program, Babers said some players also asked Clawson for a release,
but none have asked him.
‘‘Most people don’t want to get a release from what’s going to happen here,’’ Babers said.