Q&A with Troy offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield

TROY — As a player, Kenny Edenfield was a part of Troy’s 1987 national championship team. Now three years into his coaching tenure with the Trojans, Edenfield will be calling the shots in an offense that was entirely different than the one he played in.

Edenfield was recently named Troy’s offensive coordinator after spending two seasons as the inside receivers coach. He’ll continue to coach that same position with the hire of Chip Lindsey to coach quarterbacks and Jeff Beckles to coach running backs.

Edenfield was the offensive coordinator at North Alabama with great success for six seasons before coming to Troy. He spoke with the Dothan Eagle last week.

Is this a position you’ve wanted since you got to Troy?

Not really. I basically wanted to be at Troy. I’ve been wanting to be at Troy for a long time. I’ve known Coach (Larry) Blakeney for a while and have had friends on the staff. When Tony (Franklin) got hired (in 2006) I was hoping maybe I could get on that the first time. That ended up being a good hire for Coach and bumping Neal (Brown) up (in 2008) was a good hire and I ended up being able to come on board then and hit it off with these guys pretty good.

It’s just been a really good mix. I just think that there’s a lot of guys Coach probably thought about and I’m just real honored he thought I could get the job done and other guys on staff thought I could get the job done. I’m real excited about it.

What’s different about this offense than what you ran at UNA?

From the outside looking in, nothing. Basically terminology, whether you call something trips or trio. Basic plays are all the same, beliefs are the same.

Utilizing personnel is the most important thing. If you watched Middle Tennessee last year, they didn’t look like us. Everybody has their own tweaks based on personnel and if you look at us, Neal did a great job deciding who needed to get the ball, how they had to get the ball and making sure they got the ball in critical situations.
Will you stay in the press box?

I will continue to be in the box. I prefer being in the box. You have greater vision and you’re able to separate yourself a little bit from the action. Having a guy who is going to coach the quarterbacks on the sideline is a good thing, but I’ve always felt that the guy calling the plays can separate himself a little from the action by being in the box.

The last two offensive coordinators have coached quarterbacks. Why won’t you be?

I felt like were able to get a guy who is very capable and really understands the quarterback play, been in this system before, understands the terminology so that he can focus on the fundamentals and the little things and I can continue to work with the wide receivers.

How much influence did you have getting the new assistants in?
I knew them. I don’t know if I had any influence.  Coach Blakeney makes all the decisions. I knew them a little bit and some of the other guys knew them a little bit so we felt like they’d be a great fit.

Tell me about the quarterback battle.

It looks like we’ve got four guys (Jamie Hampton, Dantavious Parker, Corey Robinson, Greg Jenkins) who are going to battle for the spot. You’ve got to limit it at some point to how many reps they get and who gets certain reps but we’ll discuss that as a staff. They’re all great kids, that’s the thing about it. They’re excited about the competition, maybe between now and spring, seeing who does what maybe gives them a little edge, but until we get on the grass, we won’t really know. I think all four of them are capable of doing some great things. They ought to be excited, because it’s wide open.

Top memory as a player?
Playing for the national championship. Losing the first game of the season, tying the second and rolling off 12 straight. Everybody had given up on us except ourselves and we just brought our hard hat every day and went to work. That’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.