Editor’s note: This is the first in a five-part series examining the biggest questions the NIU football team needs to address during its spring practices.

When something has been around a long time, it often becomes stale.

Eventually, the time comes to change things up and add a new flavor.

The 2008 NIU football team, for example, will feature a different offense than they have had in years past, and players are getting used to the change.

The biggest change in the offense from the Joe Novak era is the addition of the fullback. Another difference is the shotgun offense.

“We’ve taken a little of the two-back offense and incorporated it into the shotgun part of it,” offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover said. “We kind of took a big pot and put it all together and we’re about 50-50 between the two, and we feel like we give defenses tons of problems.”

Junior running back Justin Anderson feels the new offense will be successful. He said it is more simplified than in years past, but it allows the offense to be more diverse.

However, after running a singleback offense for so long, lining up behind another runner can take some getting used to.

“[Running back coach Rob] Reeves tells us we’ve got to get accustomed to the person in front of us,” Anderson said. “We’ve got to know them and know what they’re thinking and who they’re going to block. We have to read that and get behind that block.”

Players also have to learn new on-field calls and signals in addition to the new playbook.

“It’s a bunch of new plays and a whole new system to learn from last year,” junior wide receiver Greg Turner said. “A lot of the routes are totally different and with their terminology, it’s completely different. But their names and calls are pretty easy to catch on to.”

Turner said the receivers are watching a lot of film and practicing running their new routes. The same goes for the running backs.

“I was kind of slow with it, but they just told me to go out there and play,” Anderson said. “They said, ‘Don’t think too hard and just do it.’ To me, it’s pretty easy now.”

While it won’t happen overnight, the NIU coaching staff feels players are catching on to the offensive changes pretty quickly.

“It’s different from what they’re used to, but at the same time, they’re a good group of kids that love the game,” Limegrover said. “It’s important that we let them know what they did before us was good, it’s just different from what we do. It’s the way we know and we have a lot of success with it. They understand that and are really buying in and learning at a faster rate than we thought they would.”