ORONO, Maine — Bruce Johnson had a busy 2014 football season for the University of Maine.
There was very little experience surrounding the Black Bears’ veteran center.
The quarterbacks, Dan Collins and Drew Belcher, were unseasoned, and the offensive line had to be rebuilt after the 2013 Colonial Athletic Association championship year that earned the Black Bears a berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
The Black Bears took their lumps early last fall, getting off to a 2-5 start and scoring fewer than 20 points in five of those seven games.
But behind Johnson’s play and the maturation of the quarterbacks as well as the offensive line, the Black Bears won three of their last four and scored 20 or more points in all three wins.
Johnson was named to the All-CAA first team and has already earned several preseason accolades, including a selection to the All-CAA preseason first team.
He and the Black Bears opened preseason training camp Monday at Alfond Stadium and are focused on the goal of returning to the NCAA playoffs.
“We have a lot of guys who have grown up in the past year, and I’m really excited to see what they’re going to bring to the table,” said Johnson. “We have six guys coming back [in the interior line] including three seniors in me, [Dan] Carriker and Benedict [Wezel]. We should be able to lead [the offensive line] to a successful season.”
He also expects the more-experienced Collins and Belcher to be significantly improved.
Johnson will be making his 25th consecutive start at center when Maine opens Sept. 5 at Football Bowl Subdivision team Boston College.
“Bruce has played a lot of football for us,” head coach Jack Cosgrove said. “He has grown from an undersized 18-year-old to a veteran all-conference performer.
“He is very much an influential person on our team. The game itself is very important to him,” he added. “He has improved tremendously. He is our most experienced, talented and looked upon guy for leadership on the offensive side of the football. He is somebody you can count on. He has been very true and very faithful.”
Maine line coach Jeff Ambrosie said Johnson has always been “athletic” and that his work ethic has molded him into an All-CAA performer.
“When he first came here, his body composition wasn’t that great,” said Ambrosie. “But he worked his butt off in the weight room to change his body. He changed his diet. He has done all the things he needed to do to be successful.
“When you tell him what to do, he does it, and he does it quickly. He’s very accountable and very professional in the way he conducts himself,” he added.
“He always works hard,” said starting sophomore left tackle Jamil Demby. “I try to mold my work ethic after his.”
Johnson also has “made tremendous strides as a vocal leader,” Demby said.
Centers make the calls pertaining to the offensive line’s blocking schemes.
The 6-foot-3, 295-pound Johnson has always been an offensive lineman.
“I had always been a baseball guy because I could never make weight to play peewee football. I was too heavy,” grinned Johnson, a native of Rochester, New York. “They put me on the offensive line when I began playing in seventh grade, and I’ve loved it ever since.
“I love the physicality. Offense is the place for me to really shine. That’s where I can use my talents,” he said.
He had never played center until he came to Maine.
“When they told me I was going to play center, I was nervous,” said Johnson. “First of all, I had to learn how to snap the ball. Once I got over that hump, everything fell into place for me.”
He also had to learn how to call signals, which caused some anxiety.
“It’s like being a second quarterback. The quarterback and I have to be intertwined. We have to know what’s going on. But I love it now,” he said.
Johnson’s all-conference accolades haven’t come as a complete surprise to him “because I’ve always set very high standards for myself.”
“But I take them as a grain of salt. I just want to keep getting better every day until I make the first team USA Today All-American,” said Johnson, who added that he worked hard in the offseason on blocking linebackers and defensive backs downfield.
He admitted that he didn’t know where Maine was when he first first recruited by former Maine assistant Frank Giufre.
“But once I got up here, I fell in love with it. Bangor is like Rochester in a lot of ways. That’s what got me to come here. And I’m glad I did.”
In addition to Johnson, Demby and right guard Carriker, sophomore right tackle Isaiah Brooks is another returning starter in the offensive line. Wezel and sophomores Daniel Burrows and John Reddington received plenty of snaps at guard last year.