A pair of Ohio Valley Conference head coaches will lead a team out of the tunnel and into battle for the first time ever Thursday night.

University of Tennessee-Martin head coach Matt Griffin and Eastern Kentucky head coach Danny Hope are beginning to feel the anticipation about opening up their coaching careers.

“It’s been more hectic than I expected around here in the past couple of days, ” Griffin said. “it’s exciting and new ground for me.”

Griffin looks to turn around a Skyhawks program that has compiled a record of 8-70 over the past seven years and has failed to win a conference game in six years. As an assistant at Maine for four years, Griffin will attempt to bring a winning attitude to a school where he served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

“I want our kids to compete for 60 minutes every game,” Griffin said. “I want to eliminate the tendency of turning tail and running away.”

One of the first acts Griffin addressed in summer drills was naming sophomore Brady Wahlberg his starting quarterback who will lead a more opened-up pro style offensive attack.

“It’s been a battle, but Brady Wahlburg will start for us simply because he knows the system better,” Griffin said.

Griffin feels more comfortable about opening up the 2003 campaign in the home environment of Graham Field against the Governors of Austin Peay.

“It’s tremendous to have the opportunity to start at home,” Griffin said. “It’s certainly nice to be in our own playground.”

In Richmond, Ky., the 39-year tenure of hall of fame coach Roy Kidd ends and the Danny Hope era begins.

Eastern Kentucky is coming off an 8-4 season but Hope will be looking to end the five-year playoff drought, he is attempting the almost impossible task of making a name for himself in a stadium named after his predecessor.

“I like what I see so far in practice,” Hope said.”The kids are showing a lot of want to and an incredible amount of fire.”

The Colonels will be traveling to make their season debut at 1-A Bowling Green from the Mid-Atlantic Conference. Hope enjoys the challenge of competing against higher level competition.

“A lot of it has to do with the type of team you have returning but I like it,” Hope said. “I anticipate our schedule getting tougher as we go along.”

Hope has stated he will open the offense to more frequent passing formations and has tabbed junior Matt Guice as the starting quarterback. The transfer from Massachusetts started as a true freshman and feels more comfortable than all the other signal callers on the depth chart.

“It was a tough call because it has been a neck-and-neck race but Matt has looked a little more poised in the pocket.”

Hope couldn’t have asked for more of a fight to start his coaching career but that’s exactly how he would’ve wanted it.

“(Bowling Green) is an excellent football team and if I had a young squad it would be a task,” Hope said. “But I feel my kids can handle it.”

Associate sports editor Matthew Stevens can be reached at [email protected]