If you thought 8-3 was good, take a look at this NSU squad

When Pete Adrian says his current Norfolk State football team has more talent than the one that went 8-3 last season, he isn't making a grand pronouncement or violating the sacred Coach's Code by predicting an even better run for the Spartans this fall.

It just stands to reason, though, that the program is on sounder footing entering the fourth year of Adrian's massive rebuilding project. He has given the Spartans something they hadn't had in years: continuity.

And it's paying off.

"We're going to be more athletic," he said Thursday. "We've improved."

The Spartans were the MEAC's biggest surprise last year, but their season turned on a delicate balance, with 8 of 11 games decided on the final play.

"I'm not saying we're going to win nine, 10, 11 games," said Adrian, who will lead the Spartans into Price Stadium at 7 p.m. Saturday for the spring game. "But this looks to be the best team we've had."

He reached out a hand and rapped on his desk. "Knock on wood," he said, before inserting the obligatory comment about the importance of avoiding injuries.

The team already lost one projected starter when linebacker Marcellus Jackson tore an ACL on the third play of the spring's first scrimmage. He'll be missed, but the Spartans are more resilient than they used to be.

"We've been able to build depth, and when I say depth, I mean quality depth," Adrian said.

More proof of the program's improved stability: nine members of Adrian's freshman class for next year come from Virginia's first or second all-state teams.

In recruiting, "we are certainly established now in the state, in Richmond and Hampton Roads," he said.

Last season got him over the hump. Adrian said it eliminated "all those ghosts from the past that said you can't win at Norfolk State."

The recruit counted on to have the biggest impact is quarterback Dennis Brown. After three unfulfilled seasons at Connecticut, the redshirt junior chose Norfolk State sight unseen - he hadn't visited the campus when Adrian signed him as the replacement for Casey Hansen.

Adrian can't hide his excitement for Brown, who is a mobile 6-feet-3, about 200 pounds and can throw the ball 70 yards.

"He was well coached at the University of Connecticut," Adrian said. "He understands coverages inside and out. He sees the whole field. He's got very good football instincts. And he's a good team leader."

One of the goals of Saturday's glorified scrimmage is to identify the player most likely to serve as Brown's backup and heir apparent. Dexter Merritt a redshirt freshman from Oscar Smith High; Brian Jackson, a sophomore from Tallwood; and Rakeem Kersey, a redshirt freshman from Menchville are in the mix.

Throughout the team this spring, Adrian said, "there is competition, so the kids have had to work for their positions."

When Adrian got to Norfolk State, the pipeline for prospects was dryer than a C-Span seminar, and the players he inherited just didn't get it.

Recalling his first spring practice, Adrian said, "I was looking into blank eyes. You'd talk to a player and it was like, 'What?' "

Now, he said, they understand the schemes and what's expected of them.

If many of the players expect a MEAC title, you can't blame them. The unheralded Spartans came so close, blowing a big fourth-quarter lead to Delaware State in November to lose out on the automatic NCAA tournament bid.

"There's not a day that I don't think about that game," Adrian said. "I can be on the golf course and I think, 'Damn.' "

For Adrian and his team, a dramatic sign of continuity would be another big game at the end of the coming season.

Knock on wood, the Spartans might get their chance.

Bob Molinaro, (757) 446-2373, bob.molinaro@pilotonline.com