This is a welcome sight at Grinnell -- not just a football practice, but one featuring more than 50 players. Grinnell athletics photo

By Brian Lester
D3sports.com

Prescott Miller recalls a game in 2019 at Grinnell where he never stepped off the field because there simply wasn’t the depth in place to allow for a breather.

The offensive lineman’s body ached. He was exhausted. For Miller, the cancellation of the season after just three games was a welcome sight.

Eleven injuries left the Grinnell roster at 28 players. Health and safety were the biggest concerns moving forward in a season where the Pioneers had already been outscored 114-3.

“It was a struggle, and at the time, we had no O-line rotation,” Miller said. “I was banged up. It was hard to keep going like that. It hurt to cancel the season, but it was a blessing in some ways.”

Fast forward to 2021, and a new era in the history of the program is about to begin.

It is an era where optimism has been renewed and the roster is up to 57 student-athletes; the goal was 55-60. The total is the most in the history of the program, according to head coach Brent Barnes, who was hired in December 2019 to get the Pioneers back on their feet.

There have been challenges along the way without a doubt, including no season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Barnes likes where things stand as his team prepares to play its first football game since a 42-3 loss to Macalester on Sept. 28, 2019.

“We’ve hired new coaches and we have our largest team in terms of numbers. We have done a lot of positive things in the last 20 months,” Barnes said. “I told our staff we really haven’t had a chance to look back yet and realize how far we’ve come. But we’ve come a long way since the winter of 2019.”

As one can imagine, Miller is thrilled about the state of the program now and looks forward to not having his body take so much of a toll in a sport that is already tough enough to play even with depth on the team.

“It feels good to know that if I do come out of the game, there is someone to fill the spot,” Miller said. “It’s been intense in camp, and it’s been over a year since I’ve played football, but we’ve jumped back into it and have gotten the ball rolling.”

Recruiting immediately became the focal point of Barnes’ mission in the days after he was hired, but selling the program to recruits wasn’t going to be easy, especially with the cloud of doubt hanging over it after the way 2019 went down.

“It was tough and we did lose some interest because of 2019, but I told recruits to think of it like an expansion program,” Barnes said. “We were getting support from our administration and we were putting money into the program. We got new road uniforms, we have new home jerseys and have redone the locker room a little bit. I told recruits that if there wasn’t going to be a program, the school wasn’t going to give me money to do those types of things.”

Recruiting is and will continue to be a focus, with Barnes pointing out that “recruiting is never far from the mind of a college coach.”

But now the actual football part of this whole process is finally in front of the Pioneers, who begin their season Saturday on the road against Rockford.

“We have spent 20 months on recruiting and putting the structure in place to have a successful program. Now we get to focus on the fun stuff,” Barnes said. “We get to focus on offense, defense and special teams, and it’s rewarding to see the returners and newcomers blend together in this very unique group and embrace each other.”

Miller has been at Grinnell since 2018 and has won a total of two games in his career. His level of hope is higher than it’s ever been.

“I’m proud of where the program is and I hope Grinnell does well this season,” Miller said. “I think we can do well, but at the end of the day, the team is rebuilding and it’s special to be a part of it. I think we can have a special program here down the road.”

Barnes does as well, though he jokes with his players at times that even Rome wasn’t built in a day.

“We’re going to have rough moments, and that’s okay,” Barnes said. “It’s about getting better as we go into the future.”

Barnes is asked about the stability of the program, and he quickly points out that stable fits when it comes to talking about Grinnell.

“After 20 months, that’s a great word to describe it,” Barnes said. “We’re going to play 10 games and we’re excited about the schedule. Stable doesn’t mean that’s the goal. It just means we have reached a point where we can put our focus on something other than recruiting day to day. We can focus on our game plan and focus on getting our players better at their respective positions, and we can focus on our team culture and team building.”

Grinnell will play its first football game in more than 700 days on Saturday when it battles Rockford. Miller can’t imagine what that moment is going to be like other than it’s going to be great to play the game he loves again.

“I don’t know what it will be like. I really don’t. I’m looking forward to hitting somebody,” Miller said. “I’m excited for the first game and excited to be back on the field again. That’s all I can say. I’m ready to play.”

Barnes figures at some point before the game kicks off it will hit him that he’s taken this program a long way in nearly two years. Of course, he didn’t do it alone.

“It’s been a team effort,” Barnes said. “Our administration, our parents, alumni, our players, our coaching staff, they’ve all had a part in this. Everyone is excited to see us play again.”