Campbell football never beat Goliath, but Mike Minter still glad Camels played as David
Campbell was the “feel-good” story of the 2020 college football season.
Adopting the David-vs.-Goliath role, the FCS Camels decided to play a four-game fall schedule.
And they took on all comers.
The Camels came within a two-point conversion of shocking Georgia Southern and played then-unbeaten Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State nearly even for a half.
Now it’s back to reality, and Campbell coach Mike Minter says his Camels are a better team because of what happened last fall.
“It built confidence,” he said. “We went out and competed against some really good FBS teams. You saw the Georgia Southern game. We were down 3 at the half to App State. And we hung tight with Coastal Carolina.”
Defensive back Darion Slade, a preseason All-Big South pick, agrees.
“We always went out with the mindset of upsetting the other team — of winning the game,” he said. “I think it made the team stronger.”
The Camels were able to score freely against the three Sun Belt teams and Wake Forest, their other foe. Defending was another issue.
Campbell allowed an average of 48 points and more than 480 yards of offense last season with opponents running the football at a 295-yard-per-game clip. The Camels also allowed teams to score on 21 of their 24 trips to the red zone — 19 of those being touchdowns.
“We got a lot of good transfers, and the people we already had are better,” Slade says. “We got a lot of good experience.”
All but one starter returns on both the offensive and defensive starting units.
Minter, who played for 10 years with the Carolina Panthers, says coaching at Campbell is different from when he started in 2013. The Camels began offering football scholarships in 2017 and they’ve since finished a new locker room.
The Camels posted winning records from 2017 through 2019.
“There’s no comparison,” Minter says, looking back to his first season with the Camels. “We were non-scholarship, dead-last in FCS. Now we have scholarships and are playing in the Big South, a tough conference. I love talking about this program.”
Can’t-miss game
▪ Monmouth, Oct. 16
The Camels face defending Big South champion and preseason favorite Monmouth at home Oct. 16. That will be a measuring stick of how far the Campbell football program has come.
A successful season is …
Finishing in the top three of the Big South. Minter has designs on bigger things, but the Camels are making steady progress since joining the ranks of scholarship-awarding teams four years ago.