Head coach Neal Brown and members of the Troy University football team wrapped up the Sun Belt Conference Media Day in New Orleans on Monday.

With now just 38 days until Troy’s season opener with Austin Peay, Brown along with quarterback Brandon Silvers and linebacker Justin Lucas met with the media to discuss the upcoming season y.

“There is a lot of optimism at our place: it’s football season, ready or not,” Brown said. “I don’t know where all the time went … our kids report a week from today and practice starts a week from tomorrow, we are really looking forward to it.”

In Brown’s first year as head coach the Trojans finished the season with a 4-8 record. Now with a veteran group and a more favorable schedule, Brown believes there is a reason for all the excitement.

“We return several key guys from last year, several starters and we played well down the stretch last year with our best football game coming in our last football game against ULL. (Our) schedule is friendlier than last year,” Brown said. “We have two national televised games this year that we are excited about and we are excited to have six home games on the schedule this year.”

Silvers enters the 2016 season as Troy’s starting quarterback for the third season in a row and he believes his team, especially the offense, has came together during the offseason.

“I think this is the most excited I have been going into the fall even though it’s my third year as a starter. That is how confident I am about this team. There is a lot of excitement going through our offense right now,” he said. “We came together over the summer as we worked real hard and had the opportunity to really connect with one another.”

The Trojan defense will be relied on to become the strength of the team in 2016. Last season Troy let up 391 yards per game on defense including 208 passing yards. Brown hopes the combination of a better offense and veteran core will lead to better numbers in 2016.

“Starting the season, our defense will be our strength. Once our playmakers on offense mature, it will take some pressure off the defense. But early in the year defense has to be our strength. We have a ton of experience coming back and I am excited.”

One area of the defense the Trojans hope to improve is being aggressive when the ball is in air. Last year Troy finished with nine interceptions.

“In my eyes I say making plays on the ball, especially when the ball is in the air. That was a big thing that we missed a lot of opportunities in big games last year when the ball was in the air and we didn’t make plays, so the big improvement on that was in the spring; making plays on the ball in the air.”

Troy will begin the season at 5 p.m. September 3 when they host Austin Peay.