Editor’s note: Part of a continuing series examining the Power 5 and top Group of 5 teams for the 2019 college football season.

If there’s a free square inch of space on the walls inside Troy football’s end-zone facility at Veterans Memorial Stadium, it probably has a not-so-subtle reminder of what the program has accomplished.

Images from three national championships, 21 conference titles and five bowl wins in the last dozen years line the halls. Giant pull quotes from national media outlets following Troy’s biggest upset wins stretch from the floor to the ceiling. Trojan battle helmets with NFL logos plastered on the side represent the alumni who have gone on to the league from the small south Alabama school.

Some coaching staffs might not want their players to focus on past glories. At Troy, there’s literally nowhere to hide from it — and that’s exactly how Chip Lindsey likes it.

“The reality of it is that Troy’s been really good for a really long time,” Lindsey told The Athletic. “We’ve got a lot of tradition here. With the recent success, along with five straight Sun Belt Conference championships and two Division II national championships, we talk about all those things. … So what I really want our players to understand is we still have to have a blue-collar approach. Every day, we have to improve.

“It’s not going to be easy. We’re going to have to fight every single game, because now we tend to have a target on our back again. And that’s where Troy is usually at its best.”

That target was freshly painted by Neal Brown, who inherited a program that had gone from winning five straight conference titles to four straight non-winning seasons at the end of the Larry Blakeney era. Brown went 4-8 in his first year at Troy in 2015, then he reeled off three straight 10-win seasons.

Troy football was back to where it felt like it belonged — competing for the Sun Belt crown and scaring the daylights out of any Power 5 team that put the Trojans on its schedule. Troy’s last three years have been highlighted by a conference title, a division title, three straight bowl victories, a near-upset at eventual national champion Clemson, a win against LSU in the other Death Valley and a victory against Nebraska in Scott Frost’s second game in charge.

Although it might have been a year later than expected, Brown got his opportunity at the Power 5 level this past offseason when West Virginia came calling late in the carousel. Lindsey, who spent a year as a quarterbacks coach under Blakeney, left his new job as Les Miles’ offensive coordinator at Kansas to return to his home state and be a college head coach for the first time.

“A lot of times in this profession, you’re getting hired on a new staff or under a new head coach, and you’re getting hired to fix something,” said Ryan Pugh, Lindsey’s offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. “This is just one of those unique opportunities where it’s not that you’ve got something that’s broken, you’re trying to improve upon what has already been done and really help take it to another level.”

Being a first-time head coach in the FBS is never easy, but this job seems tailor-made for Lindsey.

His Air Raid background fits the offensive talent already in place, which includes a quarterback with starting experience, a 1,000-yard rusher and four returning starters on the offensive line. Troy developed a strong defensive reputation under Brown, and that should continue in 2019 with key playmakers back at every level.

Chip Lindsey enters his first season as an FBS head coach after spending the last five seasons as offensive coordinator at Southern Miss, Arizona State and Auburn. (Troy Athletics)

Troy’s recruiting area is where Lindsey spent time as a high school head coach and, most recently, a two-year stint as Auburn’s offensive coordinator. The schedule has its challenges, but the big Power 5 road trip doesn’t happen until October and the best teams in the Sun Belt have to come to the Wiregrass.

The table is set for success in Year 1, and Lindsey is quite familiar with what it takes to reach it.

“Sometimes we forget, you know, how lucky we are — including us coaches — to play at a place that has this tradition, and I think our players buy into that,” Lindsey said. “There’s a lot of guys that played before our guys that have put us in this position. They know you have to earn it each year, and 2019 will be no different. We’ll have to earn everything we get and, hopefully, we will continue to put a product out there that our people will be really proud of.”

Biggest on-field question

Lindsey has inherited a talented roster that has at least a leader or two at almost every spot on the depth chart. The lone exception is at wide receiver, where the Trojans lost their top three receivers from last season — Damion Willis, Deondre Douglas and Sidney Davis — to graduation. The trio was responsible for more than 60 percent of Troy’s receiving yards and 20 of the team’s 24 receiving touchdowns. Willis had nearly a third of the total receiving yards by himself in 2018, and Douglas posted 177 catches in his four-year career at Troy.

That’s a lot to replace, especially for an offense that wants to spread the field and be confidently two-deep at four different wide receiver positions in 2019.

Junior Tray Eafford, who made a successful spring move inside to the H-slot position, is the only returning receiver who had at least 20 catches last season. Sophomore flanker Luke Whittemore is the only other one who had double-digit receptions.

“We’re still trying to figure out exactly where everybody fits,” Lindsey said. “We lost some really productive players there.”

In anticipation of the seniors’ departures, Troy hit the junior college transfer market hard this offseason. Reggie Todd, a 6-foot-5 Alabama native who started five games at Mississippi State in 2017, was impressive in spring practice and could become the No. 1 option by the fall. Khalil McClain, another big-bodied target at 6-foot-4, was a former quarterback at Tulane before moving to wide receiver at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. Lindsey believes McClain can be a key player as he starts to settle into life as a wideout.

Troy also brings in Kaylon Geiger, a slot receiver and potential return man from Navarro College in Texas, this summer. Geiger led all junior college receivers with 70 catches in 2018, and he finished second nationally with 954 yards.

There’s plenty of upside for this fresh-faced group, but all that inexperience naturally comes with plenty of question marks — especially alongside a quarterback who is coming off a significant knee injury.

That’s why the coaching staff is preaching the importance of the next couple of months for the new and rising talent at receiver.

“Summer is a huge opportunity for those guys to get a lot of work and do stuff on their own,” Pugh said. “Get out there and really work on your timing, work on your routes. It’s a lot easier to throw and catch the football in the summer than it is to get out there and, say, run block if you’re an offensive lineman.”

Depth chart analysis

Quarterbacks: Troy needed two starting quarterbacks last season, as Kaleb Barker suffered a knee injury in Week 6 against Georgia State. Sawyer Smith filled in for the rest of the season, going 5-2 as a starter with 11 passing touchdowns and just four interceptions in those seven games. Barker returned to limited action in spring practice, working mostly in seven-on-seven drills. In early May, Smith announced his intentions to transfer, and he landed at Kentucky a few weeks later.

Barker is now unquestionably the guy at quarterback for Lindsey. But even though he is a senior returning starter, he doesn’t have a huge amount of previous experience. He backed up Brandon Silvers in 2016 and 2017 before his injury-shortened junior season in which he completed 73 percent of his passes for 1,013 yards, 10 touchdowns and two picks.

“Kaleb is proven, and he’s played,” Lindsey said. “But really, in theory, he’s played five and a half games. So, you know, he doesn’t have the snap count of a guy that’s come back as a returning starter. And in the spring, he was limited. … We still feel really good about him. I think I’m excited to get him in a full team setting and see, but I think he made some progress.”

Kaleb Barker started Troy’s first six games last season before suffering a season-ending knee injury. (Steven Branscombe / Getty Images)

Even with Smith’s departure, Troy still has plenty of depth behind Barker at quarterback. Redshirt freshman Gunnar Watson was mentioned by coaches as one of the most improved players of the spring. The strong-armed, 6-foot-5 former Vanderbilt quarterback Jacob Free has potential once he gets adjusted to the newness of Lindsey’s offense, along with early enrollee Gavin Screws.

Running backs: The Trojans might have a well-established reputation as a passing team, but with the transitions at quarterback, they arguably got more done on the ground last season than through the air. Even with Lindsey’s Air Raid roots, that could continue in 2019.

“Our offense is about getting the ball in the playmakers’ hands at the right time,” Pugh said. “It’s not always about scheme. It’s about players. We feel there’s four or five guys at running back that can really help us be a complete offense.”

Senior B.J. Smith rushed for 1,186 yards and 13 touchdowns, and the first-team All-Sun Belt selection had a streak of five straight 100-yard games during the middle of the season.

Sophomore DK Billingsley raised his stock in Lindsey’s eyes this spring after limited touches as a freshman. Junior Jabir Daughtry-Frye, a 5-foot-7 speedster, averaged 7 yards per carry behind Smith in 2018 and is the team’s No. 2 returning receiver in terms of yards and catches. Troy is still waiting to hear whether Texas A&M transfer Charles Strong will be immediately eligible this season. If he is, he’ll bring good size to the position at 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds.

Wide receivers/tight ends: Add the returning double-digit catchers (Tray Eafford and Luke Whittemore) to the instant-impact junior college additions (Reggie Todd, Khalil McClain and Kaylon Geiger), and that’s only five of the 10 reliable receivers Troy wants in 2019.

Another top name to watch is 6-foot-3 redshirt freshman Demontrez Brown, who the staff hasn’t decided whether to play on the outside with Todd or as a bigger slot option. Sophomore Bret Clark will provide depth behind Eafford at the H. Redshirt junior Sam Letton is the early leader at the big Y position, with 6-foot-4 senior Richard Hallman also in line to contribute over the middle.

In the traditional tight end role, redshirt freshman A.J. Lewis could be an X factor for Lindsey, who used the position to create big plays during his stops at Arizona State and Southern Miss. Former walk-on and senior Zacc Weldon will provide an experienced blocking presence in his fourth season as a starter at the fullback or “S” back spot.

Offensive line: Outside of wide receiver, center might be the only position that is a true question mark right now for Troy’s offense. The Trojans lost Deontae Crumitie, a two-time second-team All-Sun Belt pick who started 44 games in four seasons, to graduation. Troy has several linemen still competing to replace him, most notably junior Dylan Bradshaw and redshirt freshman Jake Andrews.

“In any offensive line room, that guy’s got to be the voice for those other four guys,” said Pugh, who was an All-SEC center during Auburn’s 2010 national championship season. “You’ve got to be the leader not only amongst your group, but amongst the whole offense. You really dictate a lot of things for us up front. It’s kind of like playing quarterback, in the sense that you got a kind of ‘it factor’ that goes with it a lot of times.”

The good news for the Trojans is that whoever replaces Crumitie will be surrounded by experienced talent. Redshirt sophomore left tackle Austin Stidham, senior left guard Kirk Kelley, senior right guard Tristan Crowder and senior right tackle J.L. Gaston are all returning starters. Kelley and Crowder have been named to All-Sun Belt teams twice, with Kelley taking home first-team honors in 2018. Every returning starter but Gaston missed some time during spring ball with minor injuries, which allowed Troy to focus on building depth behind them.

Defensive line: Troy will continue to run the same type of defense that was successful under Brown — a versatile scheme that uses a three-man front and a “Bandit” linebacker. The leader there will be senior tackle Marcus Webb, a third-year starter who didn’t have excellent traditional stats due to missing some time in 2018 but was still one of the best pass rushers on the team. While senior Travis Sailo missed the spring, he’ll still be a valuable contributor inside.

Sophomore Antonio Showers has moved from Bandit to defensive end, along with junior Zo Bridges, who missed all of last season. Will Choloh Jr. made a splash last year in his debut season with a dominant performance against rival South Alabama and is a top name at nose guard.

“To me, Choloh is an impact player in our league,” Lindsey said. “He’s a true sophomore who did a lot for us last year. We’re counting on him to be one of our best players out there. He and Marcus Webb inside could be a really good combination.”

Linebackers: Troy’s top tackler from the last two seasons, Tron Folsom, left the program as a graduate transfer to Colorado State this spring. But the Trojans are confident at linebacker, and a lot of that has to do with sophomore middle linebacker Carlton Martial. He finished second to Folsom in tackles last season, and he reminds Lindsey of former Auburn All-SEC middle linebacker Deshaun Davis — another undersized native of Mobile, Ala., who excels with his instincts and high football IQ.

“He’s earned everything that he’s got,” defensive coordinator Brandon Hall said. “He walked on here, redshirted a year and then he earned a scholarship. I mean he literally forced you to put him on scholarship. … He plays every snap like it’s his last, and I think he’s such a great leader.”

The Will linebacker spot is a question mark right now for the Trojans, but sophomore KJ Robertson and senior A.J. Smiley turned some heads this preseason. At the Bandit, versatile senior Jarvis Hayes is eyeing a big season after missing spring practice with a shoulder injury. Junior Kevin Nixon suffered a hamstring injury during camp but is expected to be a factor at Bandit as well.

Defensive backs: Hall describes part of Troy’s secondary situation as “corner by committee” after losing All-Sun Belt selections Blace Brown and Marcus Jones from last season’s roster. Senior Will Sunderland, a 6-foot-4 former four-star Oklahoma signee, has the potential to be a standout starter this season. Terence Dunlap and Jawon McDowell are two other names to watch at corner, along with incoming three-star freshmen Reddy Steward and Dell Pettus.

Junior Tyler Murray returns as a highly productive starter at the Spear, or nickel, position. Last season, he was sixth on the team in tackles, seventh in tackles for loss, fourth in pass breakups and second in interceptions.

Fifth-year senior Melvin Tyus is back as the starting strong safety, and JUCO pickup Koby Perry has impressed in his first few months at the position. Junior Kyle Nixon, Kevin’s twin brother, is the early leader at free safety. Sophomore T.J. Harris impressed as a special teams player last season and will provide additional depth.

Special teams: Junior Tyler Sumpter has been a busy man for Troy, as he’s been the starter at both kicker and punter over the last two seasons. He averaged a school-record 45.1 yards per punt a season ago and hit 18 of his 24 field goal attempts. Lindsey would like to see someone take over at kickoff specialist in order to lighten Sumpter’s load, and underclassmen Evan Legassey and Kyle Coale will be the ones to watch there.

Marcus Jones was a top kick returner in the Sun Belt, but Daughtry-Frye has experience there. Whittemore has worked at punt returner, and speedy newcomer Geiger is expected to compete for both positions during fall camp.

How the Trojans have recruited from 2016-19

According to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings, here is how Troy’s recruiting classes have fared nationally and within the Sun Belt over the past four years:

Lindsey credits another first-year man on campus, new men’s basketball coach Scott Cross, with the assist on a phrase he’s come to adopt in the football program.

“We want OKGs — Our Kinda Guys,” Lindsey said. “We want people that fit Troy. There are certain guys in certain parts of the country that don’t fit here at Troy, and we don’t want them to come, because you only play your best where you’re happiest, right? We want guys that are excited about being here, that want to be at Troy and that will fall in love with Troy. And I think Neal and the previous staff the last three years have done a really nice job of creating that kind of culture.”

Troy is the definition of a small college town. It has a population of a little more than 19,000 people and sits in the Wiregrass, a largely rural area in south-central Alabama. The beach is less than two hours away, but there aren’t many more entertainment options in and around the area. Hall says he likes to see recruits visit two or three times before they commit, because those are the ones who will know what being at Troy is all about.

“They see there’s a football tradition,” Hall said. “It may not be the biggest community, but on Saturday nights, there will be 20,000 to 30,000 people who come out of nowhere to be here.”

And the Trojans haven’t had a problem getting talent to come to town. From Brown’s first full recruiting cycle in 2016 until now, Troy ranks first in average recruiting class ranking in the Sun Belt despite never having the conference’s No. 1 class. It’s a consistent, tried-and-true model for recruiting, and it’s one that ensures — at least on paper — Troy has the talent level to seriously compete for the conference title year in and year out.

Troy benefits from being in the talent-rich areas of Alabama, south Georgia and north Florida. It searches for players who might have slid down SEC teams’ boards or under-the-radar athletes who fit the program’s small-town, blue-collar mentality. The Trojans are traditionally active on the transfer market, and they’ll widen the scope for JUCO and former Power 5 talent. But most of their players are close to home.

“Within a six-hour radius, we can usually get to all the players we want,” Lindsey said. “We want to build our team on high school guys, specifically from Alabama. If we can’t get them all from there, we’ll go into Georgia and the panhandle of Florida, all the way over to Jacksonville.”

Impact of coaching changes

Lindsey arrived at Troy with the goal of keeping as many of Brown’s assistants as he could, and he retained two on each side of the ball. Wide receivers coach Cornelius Williams retained his position, while Brian Blackmon moved to running backs and added special teams coordinator to his duties. On defense, Hall was promoted to coordinator, and Bam Hardmon now coaches both outside linebackers and Bandits.

The first-year head coach surrounded himself with familiar faces in who stayed and who he added to the staff. Lindsey coached with Pugh’s father in the high school ranks and gave Pugh his first coaching job out of college. Lindsey and inside receivers coach John Carr worked together at Southern Miss. Hall, Blackmon and tight ends coach Cole Weeks worked on staffs with him under Gus Malzahn at Auburn.

“This staff knows what (Lindsey) is like, and they know what he wants, and what he’s about,” Hall said. “And I think any time that you do that, whether it’s your football team or really any organization, it gets everybody in line, on the same page and going in the same direction.”

Additionally, Lindsey brought back Troy alumnus Davern Williams — you may remember him from the two East Mississippi seasons of “Last Chance U” — to coach the defensive line. Former Jacksonville State defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach Andrew Warwick, like Hall, comes from the Brent Venables coaching tree. New cornerbacks coach Ray Brown coached one of the FCS’ best units for forcing turnovers over the last three seasons at Abilene Christian.

Lindsey will call the plays on offense and work closely with the quarterbacks as the head coach, while Pugh will concentrate on the offensive line and the running game.

“I have a title of being offensive coordinator, but I can tell you, when I walk up and down this hallway and work with these guys, there’s no hierarchy within our staff,” Pugh said. “We’re all no-ego, high-output guys. And I think that’s what makes us a really special group to work with.”

Schedule analysis

One of those walls of constant reminders is near the new weight room, where a sign reads “ANYBODY, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE.” Plaques below it commemorate some of the program’s most-famous giant slayings — Mississippi State in 2001, Missouri in 2004, Oklahoma State in 2007, LSU in 2017 and Nebraska in 2018.

This year, Troy will get a shot at pulling its first double knockout of a Power 5 program as it travels to Missouri in early October. The timing of this year’s marquee matchup might work out well for Troy, as it’ll have an entire month to get things rolling for the trip to Columbia.

Before then, Troy will open the season at home against FCS program Campbell. After a bye in Week 2, the Trojans host Southern Miss before a trip to Akron. Troy avoids defending West division champion Louisiana this season but opens Sun Belt play with preseason favorite Arkansas State. Another bye week comes before a Wednesday night home showdown with in-state rival South Alabama.

All those early home matchups flip in the second half of the season, as the Trojans will hit the road four times in five weeks. Fortunately, the two biggest challenges in the East division — Georgia Southern and Appalachian State — have to come to Veterans Memorial Stadium. The regular season finale against Appalachian State, which has been moved to Black Friday, could very well determine who goes to the Sun Belt Championship Game.

Final assessment

Between the talent coming back and the way the home-away draws sorted out, Troy could be favored in all but two or three games during the regular season. The Trojans will have time to jell on both sides of the ball in September, and the road-heavy second half features trips to face several rebuilding teams. If Barker can get back to what he was prior to the knee injury and click with the newcomers at receiver, there’s a lot of reason to believe Troy can have a top-notch offense in 2019.

There are inherent challenges in the first season after a coaching change, and the Trojans still have to sort things out at several defensive positions that lost star power. However, Troy has the pieces to make a serious run at another Sun Belt title and a possible fourth straight year of double-digit wins. Even with a new regime, these Trojans aren’t going to shy away from the reestablished expectations.

(Top photo of Chip Lindsey: Troy Athletics)