Spring of Change : Northridge Will Have a New Coach and a New Look as Burt Tries to Get Matadors on a Winning Track

A spring of change for the Cal State Northridge football team ended Saturday night at the North Campus Stadium.

The Matadors, under first-year Coach Bob Burt, made their informal 1986 debut against a team of alumni and won, 18-0.

CSUN players said before the game that regardless of the outcome, the results of their five weeks of spring practice have been encouraging.

“There was a better attitude among the players this spring,” said quarterback Chris Parker. “Everyone wanted to practice and we were working hard all the time.”

It would have been understandable if Parker wasn’t so enthusiastic.

When Burt was hired in January, the first announcement he made at his introductory press conference was that he was scrapping CSUN’s pass-happy run-and-shoot offense.

“I’m not exactly sure what we’ll run on offense, but I can promise it won’t be the run-and-shoot,” Burt said.

Parker had flourished in the offense, passing for 2,658 yards and 19 touchdowns.

But he said he will gladly trade in some of those passing statistics if CSUN can reverse its 4-7 record of last season.

The Matadors will use a pro set on offense this season and try for a more balanced attack.

“I like our offense,” Parker said. “The way our running game sets up the pass, we should be just as successful passing even though we won’t be passing as often. If we only pass five times a game, fine, then let’s complete all five.”

On defense, CSUN will also have a new look. Under Burt, defensive coordinator at Cal State Fullerton for the past six seasons, the Matadors will play with three down lineman and four linebackers. Last season, CSUN played four down lineman and three linebackers.

An important player in Burt’s defensive scheme is senior nose guard Darrell McIntyre, a converted defensive end.

“This spring has been a learning experience for me,” McIntyre said. “I feel like a freshman starting all over again, but that’s good.

“We have confidence in the coaching staff and the changes they’ve made. We also have confidence in each other. Coach Burt instilled that.

“I remember the first meeting he had with us. The whole team walked away ready to put on uniforms and go out and practice. The atmosphere reminds me of my freshman year when we won the conference, only we’re even more excited.”

Of course, there is a lot of work to be done before CSUN can think of winning a Western Football Conference title.

The regular season doesn’t begin until Sept. 13 when the Matadors travel to Sonoma State.

“We met the goals we set for the spring,” Burt said. “We’ve evaluated our personnel, we introduced our offense and defense and we’ve taught these guys how we want them to play and practice.

“We’re not going to work any miracles. We have a long way to go. We just want to improve every day. If we make the same strides in the next 20 days of practice than we made in our first 20 days, we’ll do just fine.”

Notes

CSUN has started negotiations with San Jose State to play a football game there in 1987. San Jose is a member of the Division I Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. CSUN has already secured a game with Division I-AA power Boise State for ’87. . . . More than 80 coaches attended a football coaches’ clinic hosted by CSUN before the spring game. . . . CSUN assistant football coach Scott Norris played for the alumni team. A starting offensive guard on the Matadors’ 1981 and 1982 teams, Norris played mostly defense in Saturday’s game. Why? “I want to show those guys what they’re going to be up against when the regular season starts,” Norris said. “I also want to show them that the old coach can still play a little.”. . . . How serious was the alumni team? Not very, at least not before the game started. Tony Powell of the alumni team wore a helmet with a message on it. He taped the word HAS on the one side of his helmet and the word BEEN on the other. . . . Pat Cerrutti of the alumni team wore a white head band on which he had written KEELE in bold black letters. Tom Keele was fired as CSUN coach last fall. . . . Troy Broadland, who played strong safety on CSUN’s Western Football Conference championship team of 1983, wore white pants with red Playboy bunny insignias on them. Quarterback Dave Johnson, also from the 1983 team, went with basic red polka dots on his. . . . Members of the alumni team had reason to be in a good mood. In previous years alumni players who wanted to compete in the game were required to make a donation of $50. This time, it was free. “They’re doing us a favor by playing,” Burt said. . . . CSUN is scheduled to play home games against Cal State Hayward, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, St. Mary’s, UC Davis and Portland State next fall. The games will be played at North Campus Stadium and will begin at 7 p.m. The season finale on Nov. 22 will be an away game at Sacramento State, the defending conference champion.