Lemme tell you a story about the late Don Brown era of Northeastern football.

Days before last season’s Atlantic-10 opener against Rhode Island, I attended practice to chat with the coach about a story. While I (patiently) waited, receivers coach Eddy Morrissey tracked me down from across the field, steam piping out of his ears:

Morrissey: Hey, do you write for The News?

Me: Yup.

Morrissey: Are you the guy that gave my receivers a C?

Me: Mighta been.

Morrissey: Are you kidding me? That was the worst grade on the whole team!

Morrissey (to nearby players): A C!? You believe that, a (expletive) C? Two hundred and fifty yards (for Cory Parks, against the University of Albany), and he gives us a C.

Based on initial impressions, that scene would never occur under new head coach Rocky Hager. It remains to be seen whether or not that is a good thing.

At the senior banquet last spring, I sat with Hager and new defensive secondary coach Jim Salgado – both kind, articulate and respectful fellas. Brown’s gang, by contrast, was more akin to make crotch adjustments, spit and invent dirty words – not that there’s anything wrong with that. They just didn’t come across as, well, intelligent.

“I’m more laid back,” Hager said at football media day in August, a seemingly unintentional barb tossed at Brown and Co. “I’m not a yeller and screamer and don’t cuss.

“I coach.”

There are a number of other differences heading into 2004:

Like the preseason hype, or lack thereof. Whereas the prior team was brimming with a National Championship prediction courtesy of Street ‘ Smith’s Magazine, the current group has only a seemingly token spot in the Sports Network Top 25 poll.

Like the lack of a downhill, bruising running back. Thanks to the departure of Tim Gale, the Huskies now have more jitterbugs than a 1950 soc-hop.

In addition, this Northeastern team has to deal with offseason turmoil. And lots of it. The surprise departure of Brown has been well documented, as has the passing of former teammate Joe Gazzola. What isn’t known yet, is how all of this will affect Northeastern this season. Here’s a safe hunch: it probably won’t help.

And so, to borrow a tired phrase, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Last year (as correctly predicted in this column) Northeastern didn’t exactly set the world on fire. Why should this year be any different? Little has improved.

Don’t be fooled, this football team has issues — issues that will keep it mired in the mediocrity of last season and out of the playoff picture for a second straight season.

I’m not entirely convinced the new coaching staff has conquered the Don Brown issue and the rest of the offseason obstacles.

A few media day quotes that demonstrate this:

“[The coaching change] is different. (Sigh) And it’s difficult, but the guys are still intact and we try to hang in there together,” senior All-American linebacker Liam Ezekiel said. “It’s (sigh) a different style of coaching and everyone is just adapting to it.”

“We’re all ready to stick together, we believe in this coaching staff,” quarterback Shawn Brady said. “It’s been here and there we’ve been arguing, but we’re starting to come around.”

“I have to be honest with you, lately I’ve been sleeping like a baby, I wake up every two hours crying and worrying about those kinds of things,” Hager said. “I personally have to have empathy and understanding for what they’ve gone through and I’m hoping that in time I will be able to seize their trust and capture their intensity. It was a devastating thing, it wasn’t just a single event that happened to them. There was the Joe Gazzola deal and then it’s just been kind of a tumultuous winter for them.”

To be fair, a month has passed since these statements were made. They’ll tell you everyone is getting along now. They’ll tell you that the trials of an offseason gone awry have brought them closer together.

But how much time is needed? More importantly, how much time do they have?

Ignore (for now) question marks like a “lack of focus” (Brady’s words) last year, too many penalties and four new defensive starters. This team responded well to Don Brown’s coaching. In truth, they loved Don Brown. And they were hurt more than any of us can imagine by his departure.

“You just gotta deal with the haters,” said injured cornerback Jeremiah Mason. “We’re trying to avoid too much of the media hype about coach Brown leaving. A lot of people are just saying, since coach Brown is gone, we’re not going to be who we used to be. Coach Brown is a good coach, but we gotta play. I hope that people in the media start to realize it. Hopefully we’ll shut some people up.”

Actually, I agree with this statement. They’ll be exactly who they used to be: an 8-4, non-playoff, non-conference championship team. I sincerely hope you do shut some people up, Jeremiah. I just don’t think you will.

— Jack Weiland can be heard every Wednesday from noon-1 p.m on WRBB. He may be reached at sports@nu-news.com