When you're coming off a 1-10 season and you've just hired an entirely new coaching staff, chances are you're going to be picked near the bottom of your league in the pre-season polls. That's exactly where Idaho State was when the conference released its pre-season voting last week: 12th and last in the media balloting, tied for 11th in the coaches' poll. Not surprisingly, new Bengal coach Charlie Ragle had an emotional reaction to those predictions.

"I've never finished last in my life in anything, and I don't plan on finishing last this fall," Ragle told a local television station. "I'm (irritated), but I understand why they picked us last… Our players should be (irritated) too… We're not finishing last, that I'm sure of."

You have to give Ragle credit for generating the right amount of righteous indignation, and for sharing that with his players. At the same time, emotion only lasts so long in football. Right through the opening kickoff, maybe…

So let's be honest: Ragle probably has the toughest coaching job in the Big Sky Conference. Not only has the new Idaho State football coach inherited a program that has historically struggled, but he also got a roster without any proven playmakers.

Now, before we get too far into this discussion, let me make two points: 1) There is nothing preventing any of ISU's returning players from developing into playmakers, and 2) There is nothing preventing Ragle's incoming recruits from being impact players. But…if you asked me to identify one Bengal who is a likely first or second-team all-conference performer this season, well, there really isn't an obvious choice based on performance to date.

I printed off the ISU roster this week in anticipation of football practice starting on Saturday and put it side-by-side with last year's statistics. Of course, coming off a 1-10 season, the stats weren't very pretty to begin with. The transfer portal and graduation also took its toll on the roster, removing productive players like Tanner Conner, Jayden Dawson and Tyevin Ford. I am not the only person to make this observation, of course, thus the results of the pre-season polls.

To be competitive in the Big Sky, typically you need a couple of key elements on each side of the football: A highly productive quarterback and a couple of playmaking wide receivers and/or running backs on offense; a few athletic defenders who can rush the passer and create turnovers, preferably an edge rusher and an outside linebacker or safety or two, on defense. If you want to win a conference championship, certainly you'll need some more components, but you can field an interesting football team with these basic elements.

Naturally, quarterback is where it all starts on offense. Tyler Vander Waal, who was Big Sky newcomer of the year during the COVID-abbreviated spring season of 2021, returns after missing most of last fall's season with injury. Ragle hasn't announced who his starting QB will be, and Vander Waal's ISU tenure has been decidedly inconsistent. In his three-game performance last fall, the Wyoming transfer completed just 46 percent of his passes and threw three picks vs. two TDs.

His backup, freshman Hunter Hays, had his ups and downs as well, tossing six TDs, but also seven interceptions and he completed only 54 percent of his passes. Hays was the only quarterback in the Big Sky's top 12 passers to complete less than 60 percent of his throws.

Whoever Ragle and staff select to be the starting QB, there will have to considerable improvement over past performance if Idaho State is going to be consistently competitive this season. Making that an even more imposing task is an offensive line that gave up 39 sacks last year, and a receiving corps and running back stable lacking proven playmakers. The Bengals' top two wide receivers, including the incomparably athletic Conner, are gone, leaving behind Shane Dailey Jr. (23 catches, no TDs), Xavier Guillory (20 catches, one TD), Benjamin Omayebu (12 catches, two TDs) and Christian Fredrickson (9 catches, no TDs) as the most productive returners.

In the backfield, the departed Ford was ISU's top rusher, leaving Raiden Hunter, who gained 239 yards on a 3.6 yard per carry average, as the leading returning runner. Ragle and his staff have brought in a couple of transfers at running back — Damir Collins from Oregon State and Keoua Kauhi II from Mount San Antonio Junior College.

Collins, a 5-7 scatback, appears to be Idaho State's best bet as an immediate contributor among the offensive transfers. He was rated one of the top 25 backs in the country at his Portland high school but never saw the field for the Beavers.

On the defensive side of the ball, two statistics from last fall stand out: ISU recorded only seven sacks last year, less than one a game, and the Bengal defense forced only 13 turnovers (vs. 23 TOs by the ISU offense). Idaho State, a program that used to regularly churn out all-American pass rushers like Josh Hays, Jared Allen and Jeff Charleston, hasn't had a firstor second-team all-conference defensive lineman since Tyler Kuder in 2015. The lack of turnovers and sacks can be directly linked to a lack of pressure from the defenders in the trenches.

Of Bengal returners, the most sacks and tackles for a loss belong to defensive lineman Terrance Jones (two sacks, three TFLs in six games). ISU is bringing in transfers Josiah Sagale (defensive tackle, El Camino College), Chester Geffrard (defensive end, Butler Community College) and linebacker Kris Sanchez (Palomar Junior College). Geffrard, who started his career at FBS Western Carolina, had 3.5 sacks and six tackles for a loss at Butler Community College last year. He appears to be the most likely difference-maker among defensive recruits.

The Bengals lost their top two tacklers at linebacker in Darian Green and Oshea Trujillo, who led the team in tackles for a loss as well. Dawson, who transferred to conference foe Montana, topped the team in interceptions and pass breakups. Defensive back Josh Alford, who started as a freshman last year, is the one returner who stands out right now on the defensive side of the football.

And, of course, a lack of depth on both sides of the football can also translate to problems on special teams, where you need athleticism to make plays.

So Ragle and his staff certainly have their work cut out for themselves as practice gets underway. Motivation, hard work and strategy can all help you win some football games, but there's no substitute for talent over the course of a season.