After leading the Hornets to their first winning record since 2000, Sacramento State football coach Jody Sears and his staff are committed to building off this past season going into 2015.

“Our expectations are going to stay the same in terms of our commitment to a championship attitude, a championship effort and a championship commitment level,” Sears said. “That’s what we’re doing right now in the offseason, researching the things we’re good at, researching the things we weren’t so good at and how we could make those things better.”

The Hornets’ 2014 campaign ended with a 7-5 record, and they were victorious in the final three games including the 61st Causeway Classic against rival UC Davis. It was Sac State’s first win in the series since 2009.

Sac State Interim Athletics Director Bill Macriss was impressed with how Sears turned around the program last year.

“He was very deliberate in the way he worked to create a culture amongst the team, the coaching staff and [he] tried to create a certain mindset and attitude in the locker room,” Macriss said. “He gave ownership and leadership responsibilities back to the student-athletes.”

Macriss remembers one of the first practices he attended last season and recalled that when the first-team defense allowed a goal line score against the first-team offense, he started to notice changes in the mindsets of the players.

“When he called, ‘First-team defense get over here,’ the players looked at each other in the eye and a couple of them said ‘That’ll never happen again,’” Macriss said. “I stepped back… and said ‘This is a little different,’ and sure enough throughout the year I observed that ownership that was being taken by the young men.”

Sears also made a connection with the university’s alumni.

“I heard from so many former student-athletes and former Hornets [about] how much they appreciated him, reaching out and connecting with them,” Marciss said. “It resonated with the alumni base and the Hornet family.”

After having success on an interim basis last season, Sac State and Sears reached an agreement on a three-year contract last December, signing him through 2017.

“It’s not about me getting a three-year contract, it’s [about] we getting a three-year contract,” Sears said.

Linebacker Darnell Sankey was thrilled when he heard the news.

“I was ecstatic when I heard about it,” Sankey said. “He will definitely help this program; he’s an amazing coach, a true genuine man and is probably one of the best coaches I had in my life.”

Sankey leads a list of players coming back this season, which includes receiver Nnamdi Agude and running back Jordan Robinson.

Former Hornets’ receiver DeAndre Carter was elated when he heard the news about his former coach.

“I was excited for him and his family,” Carter said. “He has a way of getting the players’ attention and people should see more wins than losses the next few years.”

Carter leads a list of players leaving after last season, which includes quarterback Garrett Safron, who finished the season with 3,781 yards of total offense which set the school record; defensive lineman Jaycee Totty, who led the team with 6.5 sacks; and linebacker Henry Fernandez, who had a team-high 106 tackles. Fernandez is joining the coaching staff this upcoming season as a defensive assistant.

In Sears’ first year, the offense carried the team while the defense gave up big plays late in games. With the production of Safron and Carter gone, Sears said the defense needs improvement to help fill the void.

“How do you replace those guys?” Sears said. “Defensively we have to get more stops, we have to get more turnovers and we got to pick up the slack and give our offense more opportunities.”

Last season, the defense allowed 466.2 total yards, 276.8 passing yards, 189.3 rushing yards and 36.1 points per game.

Not only does Sears think the team needs improvement defensively, but he also said they have to be a better team overall to improve from last season.

Going into the offseason, building depth at the defensive line position was the main focus. Sears and his staff recruited nine defensive linemen out of the 29 players in this year’s signing class. Four of the Hornets’ defensive linemen will be seniors this upcoming season, which played a significant factor in adding youth to the position.

With the defense underperforming for most of last season, Sears saw improvement from the secondary in the last few games against Southern Utah, Portland State and UC Davis.

“We were making more plays on the ball, especially in the corner spot,” he said. “Our secondary got better but collectively towards the latter part of the year, we weren’t giving up as many big plays.”

With the loss of a large portion of offensive production from Carter and Safron, Sears thinks 2015 is a reloading year instead of a rebuilding year.

“The furniture is not broke; we don’t have to completely renovate the house, we may have to find a new couch and a new entertainment center but everything else is set,” Sears said. “We have 18 seniors coming back, we got a 1,000 yard receiver, a close to 1,000 yard rusher, we probably have one of the best linebackers in the country in Sankey and we got a secondary that’ll be back.”

Last season, the offense averaged 481.7 total yards, 303.0 passing yards, 178.7 rushing yards and tied for third place in the Big Sky Conference with 38.2 points per game.

With Safron leaving, the quarterback position is a question mark heading into this season. Sears expects a heated competition between all quarterbacks on the roster. Heading into spring, quarterbacks on the roster will include Daniel Kniffin, Nolan Merker and mid-year transfers Kolney Cassel and Alexis Robinson. Incoming freshman Nate Ketteringham could also have a chance to compete when he joins the team for training camp this August.

“The best quarterbacks I’ve ever been around had the intangibles, they had the things you can’t coach, the pocket presence, the ability to feel the rush, anticipation of guys getting open and the ability to extend plays,” Sears said. “A lot of it comes down to toughness; you have to be tough, a fierce competitor and you can’t coach that.”

The Hornets begin spring practice March 10, and will kick off their season Sept. 5 at home for the first time since 2008, hosting Eastern Oregon.