CEDAR FALLS (KWWL) – Todd Stepsis knows his first year in the Valley is going to be anything but easy.

“From the first game to the 8th conference game, it doesn’t matter what order it is, it’s going to be a fistfight every single game,” Stepsis said during Wednesday’s media day, his first as head coach of he UNI Panthers.

With starting jobs up for grabs the fist-fight battles have started early on the Panthers’ practice field.

“Everyone’s getting a chance to compete and so the competition is at a super high level right now,” said UNI senior tight end Derek Anderson, “Nobody’s got a locked in spot. It’s the mentality of everybody that you’ve got to earn it because it’s a new start.”

“Guys are used to going against really good competition,” added Stepsis, “and there’s a lot of positions.

See Full Page