HELENA -- Carroll College football's reputation speaks for itself with 43 conference championships and six national titles. The Saints' reputation of being a powerhouse in the NAIA hasn't been as prevalent as of late, though.
Head coach Troy Purcell inherited a team that hasn't put up a winning season in the past three years, which is why when the Saints were picked to finish second-to-last in both the Frontier Conference media and coaches preseason polls, he didn't scoff at the result.
"I don't know why would we be ranked any higher. What made us that much better?" said Purcell.
Purcell said, like the preseason polls, he's not placing too much weight on the end result of the season, but knows he and his players do have to prove themselves. He wants to do that by letting their work on the field do the talking.
"We just got to go out there and prove ourselves, and we just got to get better each day, let everything else take care of it," Purcell said. "There's some things we can do to get better, so as long as we're doing that and we end up 0-10, it is what it is, as long as we're getting better. If we end up 10-0, as long as we're getting better."
The Saints will get their first opportunity to prove themselves when they travel to Dillon to take on the 25th-ranked Montana Western Bulldogs on Sept. 7.
