When head coach Larry Blakeney hired 27-year-old Neal Brown last spring, he made Brown the nation’s youngest offensive coordinator. But don’t be surprised if Brown turns prematurely gray, since Troy is devoid of experience at a lot of skill positions.

The task of replacing two-time Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year Omar Haugabook at quarterback falls to sparsely used Tanner Jones, Jamie Hampton or Jonathan Chandler, with Richmond transfer Levi Brown also in the mix. Jones threw 27 passes in eight games last year and is the most experienced, although Hampton was named No. 1 coming out of the spring. Brown threw 132 passes in two years with the Spiders.

The story at running back is more of the same, with no returnee finding the end zone in his career. In fact, 21 of Troy’s 22 rushing touchdowns from last year are departed, and Jones had the other one. DuJuan Harris rushed for 372 yards in 2007 and is considered the favorite to start, while converted defensive back Xavier Moreland is the backup.

The offensive front, though, is outstanding with six regular starters and seven other lettermen returning. Tackles Dion Small and Chris Jamison head up what is easily the Sun Belt’s best offensive line, while center Danny Franks and guards Wesley Potter, Tyler Clark and Will Chambliss are all solid.

Brown is expected to continue Troy’s wide-open spread offense, meaning that veteran wideouts Kennard Burton and Mykeal Terry and surprising 2007 freshman Jerrel Jernigan will all have plenty of passes thrown in their direction.

Defense

Troy allowed the fewest points in the Sun Belt last year, mostly because of a solid secondary. How solid? Even with the loss of national interceptions leader Elbert Mack and NFL Draft first-round pick Leodis McKelvin, it’s still a stellar unit. Safeties Tavares Williams and Sherrod Martin each had over 50 tackles last year including 11 for negative yardage. Martin will likely see time at corner this year.

A learning curve is also in place at linebacker, other than for Boris Lee, the Trojans’ defensive surprise of last season. Lee earned all-league honors and led Troy in tackles as a sophomore, but the rest of the linebacker corps is filled with question marks.

Kenny Mainor and Cameron Sheffield return at end in an experienced front wall, one made even better with the return of Brandon Lang after season-ending knee surgery last September.

Specialists

No Trojan who put a foot on the ball last year returns, and that was one of Blakeney’s biggest concerns in spring practice. The return game should be solid with Jernigan providing the big-play ability on both punts and kickoffs that McKelvin gave over the past few seasons.

Final analysis

The Trojans have been solid for nearly two decades under Blakeney (136–68–1 over 17 seasons) and should be the same this year. But there’s a big fear lurking. Troy depended heavily on the talented Haugabook in its first two years in the spread offense, and his departure leaves a gaping hole that won’t be instantly filled.

It’s not like Troy’s blessed with experienced running backs to carry the early offensive load. Development in those two positions is crucial, since as talented as the Trojans are defensively and on the offensive front, they will still need to score points against a Sun Belt schedule that has more than its share of offensive standouts.