What a difference a year makes.

Last August, head coach Jack Cosgrove had high hopes for his young but talented University of Maine football team, but his fellow coaches did not.

In a vote of Atlantic-10 coaches, Maine finished eighth among 11 A-10 teams in the preseason poll with nary a first-place vote.

Four months later, the Black Bears were looking back on a season in which they compiled a 9-3 record, won a share of the A-10 title, advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA national quarterfinals, and finished 10th and 12th, respectively, in the Sports Network and USA Today/ESPN I-AA national polls.

Now, 12 months later, the Black Bears are garnering the respect they talked about earning all last season as they have been selected second in the 2002 preseason poll with eight first-place votes.

“That word is a key word in our program… Respect. Earning it is one thing and continuing to earn it is another,” Cosgrove said. “We’ve got more respect than last year and that’s great, but the ultimate goal is to do what we did last year on a fairly regular basis.”

Maine trails only fellow 2001 A-10 titlist William and Mary, which received 18 first-place votes.

“The team in front of us deserves to be there,” Cosgrove added. “They were also champs and we’ve never beaten them. It’s just nice to be mentioned along with a program of that caliber because they’re solid year in and year out.”

Four Maine players were selected to the A-10 preseason all-conference first teams: Stearns of Millinocket graduate and junior offensive lineman Pete Richardson, senior wide receiver Stefan Gomes, senior linebacker Stephen Cooper, and senior defensive back David Cusano.

Gomes went from three receptions in 2000 to 81 last year for a total of 1,069 yards and 11 touchdowns. Richardson helped UM average 5.2 more yards per game in rushing last year. Cooper led the Bears with 115 tackles and was named the A-10 co-defensive player of the year. Cusano was second on the team with 62 tackles.

Two other Black Bears – junior Marcus Walton and senior Brendan Curry, both defensive ends – were second-team picks.

Another surefire first- or second-team pick, sophomore linebacker and 2001 team rookie of the year Lofa Tatupu, opted to transfer to a West Coast school last month and weakened a still-potent UM defensive lineup. Cosgrove said Maine’s steady improvement and development the last few seasons should help the Bears absorb his loss better.

“This is one of those things where I can point out a difference in Maine football we’ve made the last few years. He’s not here now and Rob Keirstead gets plugged right in there,” he said. “He’s in there and we don’t blink. Matt Dibiase and Gene Robinson will also see a lot of action and have to step up, too, as we shuffle our linebacking positions, but it’s not like we’re reaching for players.”

And that’s not accounting for some freshman making an unexpectedly strong, Tatupu-like bid for playing time.

“I think we have an understanding about the importance of hard work here and it’s always been a trait for us to find the under-recruited guy who just works hard to prove all the experts wrong,” said Cosgrove.

The Black Bears’ 10-year head coach said Maine’s success last year has noticeably elevated the program’s profile and he hopes to be able to cash in on that interest and excitement through recruitment and further team success.

“We see that across the campus with the hockey program and it starts with success,” he said. “Continuity is key and that helps our recruiting. The coaches said the eyes were a lot bigger when we visited recruits and talked to players and the game tapes were getting sent in a lot quicker, too.”