SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- With each new fall season comes a new football season, filled with optimistic excitement and opportunities to improve upon the season prior. The 2015 season of Notre Dame Falcons football will certainly be an exciting one, but will also have new beginnings as well. Head football coach Bill Rychel begins his first season as head coach of the Falcons after serving as the offensive coordinator/assistant head coach since the program's inception in 2009.

Rychel, a University of Mount Union alum, has deep football roots that expand across Ohio and even through other Midwestern states where he's made coaching stops throughout his career. Now, after six seasons of building the blueprint of NDC Falcons football, Rychel assumes his first head coaching position with plenty of experience and familiarity with the program.

As Rychel and the Falcons prepare for their season opener on Thursday, Sept. 3 at Charleston, we take a look at what the transition has been like for Rychel and his staff, his plans going forward, and his expectations for the upcoming 2015 season of Falcons football.

At the beginning of June, there were some moving pieces with the football coaching staff, and the head coach position was vacant. What was it like for you as things started to develop and you found out you would become the new head coach of Notre Dame College football?

BR: A little crazy, but I guess not too crazy. When it was actually finalized, it was more of a reality at that point. Scott and I had talked prior, about "hey, if this happens, what do you think?" and went back and forth on that. It wasn't like all the sudden. At that point, I was prepared in my head. Really, it's been a smooth transition and the nice part is that a lot of the guys we have here have been here, so it makes it easy as we're working and operating as normal. The biggest differences are making decisions … guys we've been trying to hire and still have to hire. Now, I have to make sure we get everything done we need to and we're prepared for our students coming back in.
 
Throughout your football career, you've coached all over Ohio and the Midwest, and you played at the University of Mount Union where you won three national championships. How did all of that prior experience shape and prepare for this opportunity?

BR: First off, it was probably that I've worked in a lot of different capacities. From a straight coaching standpoint, I've always been on offense, but all the extra stuff that goes into a program that people don't see on Saturday, with different aspects of recruiting and travel, equipment, fundraising, all those different things. I've been a part of a lot of different things doing that type of work, but also have been responsible for those different areas at different places I've been. I think just seeing how different coaches operate within their programs, and learning what I liked, what I didn't like and how we did things here. Most importantly, it has to fit into what the mission of the institution is and what the resources of that institution are. So it changes no matter where you're at. With that, I was fortunate enough to work for some great people and be coached by some great people. Larry Kehres at Mount Union, I played for him and actually one of his assistants who was my offensive line coach [at Mount Union] was one of the guys I first got a job with out at Coe College in Iowa. Dean Paul at Ohio Northern, Bob Frey at Tri-State, and then Adam [Howard] here, I've worked with some great people who have showed me their coaching styles. I obviously have some strong Mount Union ties in the way that the program was coached and the way it was run, but obviously that's a different dynamic there. I think that's where I come from and what I'm used to and what I've found has been successful. It's really molded me with different ideas. When you come out of college, the biggest thing is, I only knew how Mount Union did it. A lot of times, I worked for Mount Union people, as my first three jobs basically were Mount Union guys. As they left, and with what the mission and resources of the institution were, they molded their coaching styles to accommodate and enhance what was going on at that college already. I think that's the same at Notre Dame. At the same time, you have your base of what you do and what you believe in, and you adjust and adapt to serve the college.
 
In your time so far as head coach, what changes have you made within the NDC football program? What are some changes fans can expect to see?

BR: I don't think it's anything that you'll see when you're out at a game on Saturday. Most of the things are internal things we'll change and tweak how we operate and the things that we do. When we first started the program, it was a big picture thing. There was a lot going on that led us to get to this point. Now, you slowly can narrow that focus as you get to the point that we're at right now. So I think the focus right now is things that are happening internally within our office while we're preparing for this Fall camp we have coming up. When the kids come in on August 12th, we can narrow our focus a little bit and pay a lot more attention to detail. Not that we weren't detail-oriented in trying to get these guys to become better football players, and their schedules and their practice time, that was the big picture we tried to focus on. We had to transition a whole bunch of young guys that really didn't have role models and things like that as upperclassmen to teach them how to be student-athletes. Now I think we can dive in a little deeper and hopefully affect their lives more where we can focus on some smaller details and talk about some of the resources available here at Notre Dame. Not only do our athletes really realize what's available here for them to utilize, but hopefully grow them and prepare them for when they graduate.
At the beginning, we had a focus on going to class, getting your degree, and how to be a college football player. That's still the big umbrella, but we can plug in a lot more of the details now where we don't have a whole bunch of freshmen that we have to grow up in a hurry and get them to figure it out, that they have some time to develop and learn from the older guys, whether it be on or off the field. We can plug in some different things here a little more other than just the big picture of getting a degree and winning football games.
 
Last season, Notre Dame had its best season ever, finishing 7-4 overall, and a lot of that success was due to your high-flying offense, which averaged over 33 points per game. Now you've lost key players like Ray Russ, Ray. J. Brown and Doniel Gambrell to graduation. How do you have that same offensive production this year without those guys?

BR: I think that already started this past off-season with these guys working extremely hard. When you're a good football program, every year you're going to have great players that finish their career. And it's a matter of beginning that culture, where guys know what's expected. We weren't very good on offense when we first started, with freshman everywhere it took us a while to put it all together and essentially build that culture of where we are now. The guys that have been in the program understand what it took to get to this point, and the work you have to put in individually, as a team, as a unit, and all those different steps. And you would hope – what I think is happening is – "here are the expectations, here's how to get there, here's the blueprint," now you have to go out and make it your own. Every year is a different team. It doesn't matter if you win a championship or don't get enough wins like you wanted to, you've got a new group of guys coming in and you've got to figure out how to put it all together and make the most of it.
 
Speaking of new guys stepping up and stepping in to new roles, who are some names Falcons fans should keep an eye on this year?
On the quarterback situation…

BR: Whenever you graduate a three-year starter like Ray [Russ], you're not going to replace that right away. We have some guys that we're really confident in, that have been a part of our program now for a year or two years in Malik [Grove] and Ryan [Fallon]. They've done a good job with our quarterback competition and we're fully invested in those guys. We've got some other quarterbacks coming in too, but with those guys being here for the past couple of years and running our offense, they're maybe a step ahead. At the same time, there will be some good competition there. Either one of those guys can run this team and help us win, so it will be a good competition to help them grow and to make our team better.

On the wide receivers corps…

BR: Most all our wide receivers are coming back. They're our best, most experienced unit on offense. They do a really good job, and Coach Mental has done a good job with them. They keep pushing each other, and the best part about that is we have a lot of good ones. There's great competition in that room, that if you want to play, you've got to get yourself ready to go and find your role to help the team.

On the offensive line…

BR: On offensive line, we're a little thin from a depth standpoint. Jeremy Glass, who's done a great job, will be back for his senior year and he needs to help lead there. Michael Koch has been here and played all the games last year. So as a unit, we need to put that all together and figure out who's where and how to pencil them all in to be most successful. We do need more depth there and continue to grow, but there are some good players there.

On the running backs…

BR: Running back is the same thing. If you were on our team last year as a running back, it seems like you were injured, we went through pretty much everybody we had. This year, knowing that we're bringing in some really talented running backs that are freshman that are going to be in the mix. We have a good mix of guys that are coming back. We have a lot of good players, but who knows what we'll be especially on offense, we're a different team.

On the defense…

BR: Defensively, that's the one that's most intriguing. Coach Gray and Coach Jacobs have been doing a fantastic job as they transition into their new roles [as co-defensive coordinators]. I think the players love playing for them, and we have a lot of good players coming back on defense. We have pretty much everybody back, and the guys that have been productive and really done a great job are all back. The thing with that is, they've been together now, and we've worked extremely hard in building that system of how you do things and what's expected. They've done that now on defense, and have gotten to the point where I expect to see great things out of them. There are too many talented players and good coaches over there for them to not continue to improve and be really good.

On the defensive line…

BR: I think we have the best defensive line in the conference. We practice against them all the time, and I'm glad we don't play against them. We had a crazy amount of sacks last year [led the MEC with 35 sacks], and it's not because we were bringing linebackers and blitzing all the time. It's because those guys are that good that they win those one-on-one battles. Claudy Mathieu, Derrick Bavol. We're expecting Derrick to have a great senior season, and Claudy has been a great addition for us, he's worked extremely hard and he's putting in the time now to be even better. Jonah Harper was a young freshmen last year for us who has been great, Jalon Avent, same deal. Darius James has been a solid guy throughout his career here. He's a character guy who can really help those guys grow.

On the linebacker corps…

BR: Linebacker, again that's another position that we were pretty banged up at [last year]. Two of our best guys – if you want a guy who's going to be a straight-A student, and you want him to date your daughter and everything else, two of those upperclassmen at linebacker are fantastic people and fantastic athletes and football players. So that will be a strong core for the middle of that defense with Jake Chestnut and Zach Chatlain that they do a fantastic job. We have two young guys that are hungry to get better, two freak athletes that can add a lot of different things to our mix too with Shaun Jones and Keshun Horton.
 
On the secondary…

BR: The back-half, I think the biggest thing is that we've struggled a little bit at corner. We really have to solidify that position, and we've got a lot of good guys in that room that can contribute. Some of them have to step up and do what they need to do, somebody has to take over that position. There's going to be a lot of competition as to who's going to play there. Aykee Henderson has been in the mix and we need to keep him healthy and he needs to solidify his spot as one of the best defensive players in the conference. Andon Ware is another guy but was banged up a little bit [last season]. The biggest thing with that back-half is a lot of them made it through the season, but a lot of them were hurt after the season. We didn't have a huge spring ball with those guys because some of them had shoulder injuries and those types of things. Andon Ware and Cedric Hill can play multiple positions back there, which will be extremely valuable, and they'll be a big part of the competition this season. Safety is the strong spot back there with two All-Conference players coming back in Marlon Oden and George Berry. We have some good depth there at safety, and those guys have to continue to develop and play within the system and make our team better.

In general…

BR: I think if you look at it, with a lot of the success we had on offense, we graduated some major pieces of the puzzle, and there's maybe a few more question marks there as far as who's where and how we're going to look. When you graduate your quarterback, I don't care what you've done and who you are, there's some things there that change your offense. Change it for the better, and some things are going to be harder and there's some things you have to do better to let that quarterback to get game ready. Defensively, I feel that we're stacked with guys coming back. I'm excited for them and think they should have a blast out there. They've been playing together a lot right now, and they're young guys that have been growing up together within the program. I really think you'll see some huge things from our defense.
 
The team opens on the road this year with a big Thursday night game at Charleston on September 3. NDC has lost to Charleston each of the last two years in MEC play, so what will need to be done differently this time around for the third time to be the charm?

BR: We just have to prepare and do what we do. They're a good football team, though. They're coached well and they're good athletes. We go into the season expecting to win every game, and we're capable of winning every game. It's a matter of the preparation by the guys and the focus to come out and have a great camp is where it starts, and then prepare to win. It doesn't matter who we're playing week one. Really, when you look at it, it's about us. It doesn't matter if we're playing some of the top teams in our conference, which Charleston is, or some of the teams that are still fighting to grow into the conference and become better competitors in there. If we play well, we're capable of beating anybody. If we come out there and don't execute and don't do the little things you need to do to win in this conference, anybody is going to beat you. It doesn't matter if it's Concord, Shepherd, Wise, or whether it's week one or week 11, if we handle our business and focus on what we need to do to continue to improve throughout the season, we'll be fine.
 
You have a few weeks left until Fall camp begins, so a little bit of time to relax and enjoy any remaining free time you might have. What are some things you like to do outside of football to keep yourself busy?

BR: There's not too much of an off-season. If I'm not here doing work in the office, I'm spending time with my family. I don't have a ton of hobbies – I'm not a golfer, I don't go out there and fish – I don't do those things. I have four kids and they keep me pretty occupied. It's kind of whatever they need to do and whatever they want to do. For these next couple of weeks, we got to get ready to go and make sure we're all prepared for when the guys show up on August 12. We'll start our coaches meetings next Monday and kind of really focus in on the schedule for preseason, and make sure all the t's are crossed and i's are dotted, that we're not missing anything and everybody knows what's going on in every practice and every meeting. But in the time being, it's just making sure that I'm home a little bit to spend some time with them and see them before stuff gets too crazy. I'm sure it will be a lot of swimming for them, and if you ask them what they want to do every day now, it's probably they want to go swimming. We'll probably get some school shopping in there and get that done so they're ready to go for back to school stuff, and that's about it. Spend some time with my family is about all I do beyond this.
 
How supportive has your family been with in the process of you becoming head football coach at Notre Dame College? What have they been like as a support group?

BR: My kids don't know anything different, really. I guess they kind of understand what head coach means compared to what I used to be. My wife has been great. What we really want here – and she knows what we value is family – so she's all for being as involved as possible. Making sure, too, not only from me and our other coaches, but we get all of our families involved as much as possible. Not only for our own well-being, knowing how much we do during the season and during recruiting, as much as we can get our families involved so we can see them as much as possible at times when you really can't. So it's nice to have that part from your personal life, but also to have them around our players. Our players know them and know how much we value that, and what it means to have that, so my wife has been extremely supportive and she has been throughout my whole career. She kind of signed up for this, and God bless her. We expect to have our families involved, my wife has been great, and everybody is excited. Not necessarily excited just because I'm head coach, but just excited for another season to see how good we can really be, and how much we can really affect these kids' lives, and how well we can serve the College.
 
Is it safe to say you come from quite the football family then?

BR: Yeah. My brother and I both played in high school, and my parents were there all the time. Throughout playing in college, they were there and had a lot of fun with that. We're kind of a sports family anyhow. Between my brother, my Dad and myself, they're probably a little more so than myself, but Browns, Cavs and Indians is how it operates. We enjoy sports in general, so they're excited because they like the atmosphere of college football and everything else, so they'll be at a lot of the games and some of the away games.
 
Will your family be at Charleston for the season opener to see your debut as head coach?

BR: My parents probably will. I know we've talked about it a little bit, but a Thursday night game with school the next day, I know my wife claims we're going to get the kids down there somehow. I love having them come and wish they could come to every game, but I'm more concerned with them being in school on a Friday rather than going to the game on Thursday night.
 
On the team motto for this season, "relentless"

BR: With relentless, it's just a mindset of "whatever it takes," that's the attitude you have to have. I don't care if you're a coach, administrator, faculty member or student here, that's something that applies to everyday life. What we expect out of our guys is to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Whatever it takes to win a football game, whatever your role is, however you have to pursue that, you have to be relentless if it's really important to you. And it's the same thing in the classroom, that we expect our guys to be great students and you have to be relentless in the classroom. Nobody wants to get up at 6:50 in the morning to go to practice and go to meetings and stuff. We get a long practice, and nobody wants to go straight from practice to class all day. But you have to have the right mindset that you have to be crazy passionate about what you're doing and to be the best at what you want to do.
 
Any specific expectations for the upcoming 2015 season of Falcons football?

BR: We expect to win every game. If you're a player or a coach who doesn't expect to win every game, then you shouldn't be playing or coaching. We're gonna go out there and do our very best to win every football game, we'll see how it shakes out in the end. What I can say is I expect us to get better every week. We're gonna do our best, we're gonna focus on this upcoming camp here, and do everything we can to be the best possible team we can be against Charleston. Once we get through that Charleston game, we'll look at it and do whatever we possibly can to be the best possible team that we can going into week two. There's a book by the title of "Every Week Is A Season," that I've read before, and that's exactly what it is. Every day is a practice, every drill is a drill, and you have to really narrow your focus when you have a long season and you're playing all these different opponents and really good teams in a great conference. Our expectation is for this practice, for this game, for this week, to be the best possible team we can at this point. And if we do that, we'll have a good shot to win a lot of football games.
 
The 2015 season of Notre Dame Falcons football kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 3 on the road against Charleston at 7 p.m. The Falcons will look to avenge consecutive losses to the Golden Eagles in each of the last two seasons and bring home a victory in Coach Rychel's head coaching debut.

The full 2015 season schedule can be found here. Student-athletes will return to campus on Wednesday, August 12 to prepare for another exciting season of NDC Falcons football.