Since 2007, Morgan State football has been picked to finish no better than fifth place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference preseason poll. Even after capturing a share of the MEAC championship in 2014 and representing the league in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, the Bears were voted to finish fifth the following year.
So Friday's unveiling of the poll at the conference's football media day in Norfolk, Va., at which Morgan State was predicted to finish seventh, came as no surprise to interim head coach Fred Farrier.
"I think generally these last few years, there just hasn't been a lot of respect for what we've done on the field in the last 10 years or so, and I think people are relying on what Morgan was and not necessarily where Morgan is going in terms of making their preseason predictions," he said.
Asked if the lack of respect is frustrating, Farrier replied, "For me personally, I could care less. My goal for those guys is to put a structure and plan in place to kind of take care of ourselves and worry about what we can control. ... I'm not going to go in before the first game and say, 'Hey, let's go, they ranked us eighth. We've got to prove them wrong.' I'm not going to take that approach."
While Farrier might not plan to use the snub as motivation, senior inside linebacker Greg Gibson practically reveled in the opportunity to prove the critics wrong.
"We look forward to spoiling everyone's season, and we look forward to being the outright champions," he said. "… As long as we win the MEAC, it's all worth it."