Even when starting anew, as the Troy football program is doing this season with new head coach Neal Brown and several new staff members, it’s a good idea to have a connection to the past. For the Trojans, one of those connections is senior Brandon Burks.
 
The 5-foot-9, 201-pound running back from Daleville, Ala., has embraced the newness of the program, led by Brown, who previously served as offensive coordinator at Troy as well as at Texas Tech and Kentucky. Burks said he and his teammates are eager to get started, and hopefully post the team’s first winning season since 2010 when the team won the fifth of its five consecutive Sun Belt Conference crowns (outright or shared).
 
“It sort of is a new start,’’ Burks said. “With a new coaching staff and new weight-training staff, it does feel like everything’s new, which it is. It feels like a fresh start. The new guys that came in, the freshmen, everything feels like a fresh start.
 
“The new coaching staff is trying to get us all coming together as one – working out together, hanging out together. This is my last go-round but I feel like I can be, with a new coaching staff, part of flipping something around. If we flip it around and make this something great, I can look back – even if I don’t make it to the next level – and feel like I was part of something.’’
 
That’s the goal of each student-athlete on the Trojans’ roster, Burks said. Last season’s 3-9 mark in Larry Blakeney’s final year as Troy’s head coach left a sour taste, he said. The new approach and feel will only be enhanced, he added, with a touch of the old – returning to the Trojans’ winning tradition in Sun Belt competition.

 

If the Trojans experience a turnaround this season, Burks is expected to play a key role. Last season, he was the Trojans’ leading rusher, carrying the ball 96 times for 584 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught 23 passes (third on the team) for 181 yards and another score.
 
Brown said he believes Burks, who enters his final season at Troy tied for 11th in school history with five career 100-yard rushing games, will have a greater impact – and greater presence – in Troy’s offense this season.
 
“I think Brandon is really sitting on what I think will be a breakout year,’’ Brown said. “(Quarterback Brandon) Silvers’ growth and Burks’ growth is going to go hand-in-hand. The better that Silvers can play and we can create plays down the field, the better our running game is going to be. You’re going to see a different running attack than when we were at Troy the first time.
 
“Going into the Big 12 and the SEC, we’ve evolved what we’re doing and we’ve put more emphasis on being a physical team. There’s this misnomer that if you’re a spread offense that you can’t be a physical team, and nothing could be further from the truth. Physical is a mentality. It’s how you go about your work every single day, whether it’s practice or offseason workouts. Being physical is not a system, it’s a mentality and we have a mentality that we want to be a physical football team.
 
“We’re going to be physical and we’re going to run the football and Burks, who I think has had two really good years in a row, he has the opportunity to be the only Troy Trojan to lead our team in rushing for three years in our long history. If he can stay healthy, I think you’re going to see a big jump in his production this year.’’
 
That all sounds good to Burks, who averaged 6.1 yards per carry a year ago.
 
“Last year I ran the ball and caught a few passes out of the backfield,’’ he said. “This year, I’m looking to be moved around more and used more, maybe be used on special teams more. This is my last year and I want to be as involved as much as possible and as much as coach needs me.’’
 
He said more than any personal accomplishments, he wants Troy to experience success again and push to contend for the league championship. After all, that’s why he decided to sign with Troy out of Daleville High School, where he rushed for 1,530 yards and 27 touchdowns as a senior – the Trojans’ winning tradition.
 
He wasn’t heavily recruited out of high school, where he played at Northview-Dothan as a freshman before transferring to Daleville. He was a wide receiver at Northview but was moved to running back at Daleville, and found his comfort zone.
 
“My 10th grade year, I was just running around and didn’t know what I was doing really,’’ he said. “The next year was pretty much the same but I had a better feel. By 12th grade, I really watched a lot of film and watched a lot of players – (LeSean) McCoy from Philadelphia (Eagles), I watched him a lot – and watched the things they did and put that in my game.’’
 
He said transportation was an issue, which eliminated some colleges that expressed an interest in him from consideration. “I couldn’t get to camps for a lot of schools and if you can’t get to the camps you usually don’t get recruited,’’ Burks said. “I was raised on my mama teaching me no matter where you go you can be successful. And my mama is a sports fanatic, so I didn’t want to go too far (from home), so I picked (nearby) Troy.
 
“People said to me, ‘You could have gone here or someplace else.’ I really looked at Troy’s tradition and decided it was a place I could go and win a (championship) ring. I’ve never won a ring and all of my friends have rings. … I ended up choosing Troy and I don’t have any regrets about it.’’
 
Burks heads into his senior season looking to help Troy return to its winning ways and maybe pick up that elusive ring along the way. He added he likes the atmosphere Brown has created with the team and the buzz that surrounds the program heading into the team’s season-opener at North Carolina State on Sat., Sept. 5.
 
“I’m excited to see what (Coach Brown) knows,’’ he said. “Everybody’s excited.”