Fall Check-In: Long Beach

Our next stop in the Fall Check-In series keeps us out West as we check on Long Beach and Head Coach James Otto.

To read the prior installments of our Fall Check-in Series click here:&nbsp;<a href="https://mcla.us/articles/fall-check-in-virginia-tech-di">Virginia Tech (DI)</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://mcla.us/articles/fall-check-in-florida-atlantic-owls">Florida Atlantic</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://mcla.us/articles/fall-check-in-chapman-panthers">Chapman</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://mcla.us/articles/fall-check-in-montana-grizzlies">Montana</a>, <a href="https://mcla.us/articles/fall-check-in-washington-huskies">Washington</a>

<i>You all beat or were competitive with several DII teams last year, have you all considered moving from DIII to DII?</i>

<b>James Otto:</b> We have considered it, and definitely&nbsp;are planning on it. Obviously, the overall end goal for us is to win an SLC DIII championship. However, our schedule will include a lot of DII programs as we are looking to move DII after the 2026 season.&nbsp;

Nathaniel Amidon and Nick Johnson are both slated to return giving you all a formidable starting point at attack, do you expect the offense to run through them again this year?

<b>JO:</b> We are definitely&nbsp;mixing things up on offense this season. Nathaniel, and Nick will still be a very key part of our offense this year. Our roster this year definitely&nbsp;got a big boost. Which will allow us to spread the responsibilities&nbsp;around and take pressure off some guys. Plus, with our offensive coordinator Will Beaston, our offense will be ready to go for the spring season.

<i>What does Fall Ball look like for you all?</i>

<b>JO: </b>The fall ball schedule is definitely a bit tougher.&nbsp; We believe that to be better every season, you have to play some good teams early. Through playing a good fall ball game we will be ready for the spring season. For us, we start off playing against USC, and then have the annual UCI tournament in early November.&nbsp;

<i>What are the schedule highlights?</i>

<b>JO:</b> Our spring schedule highlights this season is really going to be the amount of DII teams we play this season. Like I mentioned, our goal is to get better each and every day. On top of that it is to strive to be ready come playoffs, and winning a championship come mid April. This season a big schedule highlight will be our Arizona trip this year. We are going out to play Arizona Christian, and Colorado School of Mines. That should be a great trip for the boys.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<i>Are you doing anything differently this year to catch Moorpark and SBCC who finished ahead of you in the SLC last year?</i>

<b>JO: </b>This year we definitely changed some things. Losing to Moorpark in the Semi-Final definitely left a bad taste, but we got to taste what being in the playoffs are like. Just being back in the postseason for the first time in a while got the guys going. Our coaching staff will be growing as we have our offensive coordinator Will Beaston, who carries a lot of knowledge for our offense. On top of that, our defensive coordinator Brett Fink who has been with us now for 2 seasons. Lastly, our roster has definitely&nbsp;grown not just in numbers but experience as well, which is super exciting. This will be an exciting&nbsp;year for us.

Thanks to Coach Otto for taking the time to answer some questions.&nbsp;

Coaches, if you'd like your program to be featured in our Fall Check-In series, please email info@mcla.us to receive your questions.