LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – Sam Houston head coach Chad Davis is building this season\u2019s identity up front, leaning on a veteran offensive line to set the tone for the Broncos.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing a team that people are scared to play because of how physical we are,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n
Davis said the continuity along the line gives the unit an edge heading into the season, with four starters returning from a year ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe only lost one O-lineman from last year, so we returned four starters on the O-line,\u201d Davis said. \u201cObviously, they had a great offseason. They\u2019ve gotten bigger. They\u2019ve gotten stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leading that group is 6-foot-5, 300-pound Notre Dame commit Albert Simien, who is playing his final season as a Bronco. Simien said the weight of the moment is not lost on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it\u2019s my final year, kind of getting overwhelmed by all the emotions of it,\u201d Simien said. \u201cIt\u2019s like the last go-around of it. You know, growing up, you\u2019re thinking like, high school\u2019s high school. Then you get here, it\u2019s like, I got three years left, two years, one year. Now it\u2019s like, okay, it\u2019s for real. You got to take this seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simien said expectations are high for the group but that the unit\u2019s familiarity is an asset.<\/p>\n
\u201cExpectations are high for this group, but we\u2019ve been around each other for way too long,\u201d Simien said. \u201cThey know what\u2019s on their shoulders. They know that we\u2019re leaning on them, and they\u2019ve taken it in and took off with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophomore running back Hudson Anderson said he has full confidence running behind the Simien-led line.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, they create lanes for me as a running back that makes me feel like I can go score five touchdowns a game,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n
After a 3-7 finish last season, Anderson said the team used the offseason to reset.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur summer was one of the best summers I\u2019ve ever been a part of in my life,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cOur work ethic is going to get us farther than a lot of people think.\u201d<\/p>\n
Linebacker Ian Meche echoed that sentiment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been putting in work all summer,\u201d Meche said. \u201cWe\u2019ve just been fired up, excited for this season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis said this group stands apart from others he has coached.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis team\u2019s just different. I\u2019ve been around a lot of teams in my career,\u201d Davis said. \u201cThis is a very talented team, but a balanced team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meche said the bond within the program goes beyond football.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have heart. These guys die for each other, fight for each other. We love each other. This is a brotherhood. This isn\u2019t just a football team,\u201d Meche said.<\/p>\n
Simien said the team\u2019s goal is clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where we see ourselves going, really,\u201d Simien said. \u201cAnd just putting that mindset into dudes, there\u2019s nowhere else we will accept going besides the Dome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 KPLC. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – Sam Houston head coach Chad Davis is building this season\u2019s identity up front,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-403228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}