Garden City picked to finish second in the Jayhawk

By Mike Pilosof

Photo by Adam Shrimplin

Wichita, KS-After a fourth-place finish in 2021, the Broncbusters are reloaded for 2022.

For the second straight season, Garden City was picked to finish second in the Jayhawk Conference during the annual media day at Century II Theatres. It was the third consecutive year that the Broncbusters were selected top two in the league coming in as the coach's pick to win the conference in 2020.

"We want to win a national championship," said offensive coordinator, Ryan Felker, who was filling in for Head Coach, Tom Minnick who was not in attendance on Friday. "I know it's a high standard and a high goal, but if you're going to coach in the Jayhawk you have to have high standards."

With a new outlook in 2022, the sidelines got a bit of a refresh. After Aaron Cheatwood departed for an assistant job at New Mexico State, Minnick hired longtime defensive coordinator, Chenelle Jones, who has more than 20 years of coaching experience. They also added former Utah State assistant Jumanne Robertson to coach defensive backs and brought in Vaughn Van Dame, who will tutor the wide receivers.

"Going through this league last year, I realized how deep this conference really is," Felker explained. "Now, I think all these teams are in the same spot, so it's hard to figure out exactly where everybody will fall." 

Though Garden City is four years removed from its last conference title, the Broncbusters have battled towards the top of the league ever since. They punched their ticket to the Jayhawk Championship Game back in November after a one-loss spring campaign that had them right in the middle of the national title hunt. In 2019, Garden City fell just one win shy of reaching the NJCAA's biggest game.

"It's going to be a tough season because of the schedule," Felker added. "But it's an awesome challenge, and an amazing opportunity. 

Hutchinson was picked to win the league for a second straight year with Independence coming in third. Coffeyville, Butler, Dodge City, and Highland rounded out the rest of the preseason poll.

The Broncbusters open the regular season Saturday, Aug. 27 at Butler.