In less than three weeks (August 13), the defending NCAA Division II national champion University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs will begin preseason camp and among the 45 returning lettermen expected to be on hand is the anchor of UMD's last line of defense, Cody Eich. The senior strong safety and 2010 All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division first team pick is entering his third year of starting activitiy in the Bulldog secondary and recently sat down with umdbulldogs.com to give his insight on the upcoming season:
You and the Bulldogs have gone an incredible 41-2 over the past three seasons – the best three-year run in school history – and have won a pair of national titles along the way. What kind of mental edge does that give to your team?
We don't expect anything but to win and do our best. We know that if we do our best we will win. That's our attitude each and every Saturday.
Defensively, as a team, what do you think are your strengths and what do you think are areas that need to be worked on?
I think our strengths will definitely be our defensive backfield and I think our D-line is right there too. Inside linebacker is the position we need to fill the most especially after losing Kiel Fechtelkotter and Robbie Aurich (the 2010 and 2009 NSIC Defensive Players of the Year, respectively).
Statistically, you are coming off your most productive season as a Bulldog. What do you hope to do even better this year?
I just want to keep improving and doing what I can to contribute to a winning team.
Last year UMD won the school's second national championship in three years despite being beset with a number of injuries to some key players. Were you surprised?
Our team faced adversary all year. I feel like we just kept going. A guy would go down one week and another guy would step up in his place. That's just how our team was, I guess.
When you look at the NCAA II championship clubs of 2008 and 2010, how does the 2011 version compare ?
I think it has a chance of being even better. I think were returning more starters with experience this year than we did in '09 after the '08 season. I feel like we know what happened in '09, we've been there before, we can learn from that, kind of a mental lapse…or a hangover – I don't think we'll let that happen this year.
You come into your final season with eight career interceptions – four each in the past two years. Have you always been somewhat of a ballhawk or is it something you have worked at during your college football career?
Well I actually came in to college as a receiver so I got changed to defensive back and wasn't expecting it. I definitely acquired the skill during my college career.
Of your eight career interceptions, do you think there is any one bigger than the one you came away with in last year's championship game that led to the winning touch down?
I don't think so…
How did it feel to intercept that pass late in the fourth quarter against Delta State?
Well I was actually mad that I didn't get a 15-yard facemask penalty at the end of that. I thought we would just go into overtime. I didn't really know how much time was left. (smiles) After, it felt good.
Lastly, what would you like to see from the fans this year?
I would love to see the energy we had at the last home game, the NCAA II semifinal against Northwest Missouri State in sub-zero temperatures. I thought that was really cool. Hopefully, that's just a glimpse of what we're going to see all year this year.
