Last year, things had a habit of spiraling out of control for the DeKalb football team.

This year, the focal point of offseason workouts is what the team calls the BBA, or bounce-back ability.

“After a bad play no one is hanging their heads,” senior wide receiver Jack Rosenow said. “We just take the next play even harder. That’s what I love about this team this year.”

The Barbs went 1-8 last year, missing the playoffs for the second straight season. The last time they missed consecutive postseasons was in 2011 and 2012.

The BBA branding started in the summer, and Rosenow said the team took to it immediately. Senior linebacker Logan Schmittle said he can see a difference.

“It started off early in summer camp, someone would get down on themselves,” Schmittle said. “’We don’t want what happened last year, you know...’ Then we’d get down, and bad stuff would spiral on. I feel like as a defense that’s a really big thing and that helps us build on the good stuff.”

Derek Schneeman, entering his fifth season as head coach of the Barbs, said he can be apprehensive of acronyms because there are so many of them in education.

When current assistant and former head coach Matt Weckler came up with BBA, Schneeman said he liked what he saw.

“The kids have really taken a liking to it,” Schneeman said. “And I hear it all the time in practice. The defense gives up a big play, you hear them say BBA. Offense, have a tackle for loss, you’ll hear them say BBA. They seem to have really taken to it. It goes into what we preach about resiliency, and we feel last year we lacked consistency and we lacked resiliency at times. So whatever works, we’re willing to do it.”

The Barbs open the season against Sycamore at 7 p.m. Aug. 29 at NIU’s Huskie Stadium. In last year’s contest, the Barbs led in the fourth quarter but lost 35-28. They’d break 20 points only one more time before Week 8, although they scored 80 points combined in their final two games, a 42-39 loss at Bradley-Bourbonnais and a 41-0 home win to close the season against Stagg.

The Barbs ended up playing two of their seven games against teams that missed the playoffs, going 1-1 in those games - losing 35-12 to Neuqua Valley in addition to the win against Stagg.

This year’s schedule features just two teams that missed the postseason last year - Stagg and Phillips (3-6).

“We all want to win and we’ve all been working really hard,” Schmittle said. “We all have the same goal in mind. First off, win [the First National Challenge against Sycamore] then go on to have a great season. I feel like we’re going to be able to accomplish a lot.”

The Barbs return a lot on offense, with four linemen, four receivers and starting quarterback Cole Latimer back. Owen Sisson will anchor the line while Brayden Ryder, Jamarie Lymon and Josh Mathley also return.

Davon Grant is back as Latimer’s top target. The third-year starter made 67 catches for 1,016 yards, plus will find time at safety as well, where he had 39 tackles and four tackles for a loss last year. Rosenow, Derrion Straughter and Braylen Anderson all return.

The biggest turnover is at running back. Travis Moore, a 6-foot, 230-pound senior who also plays on the D-line, is the only player who had varsity carries last year.

Dior Cannon and BJ Williams will also be in the mix for carries, as Schneeman said it will be more by committee than a featured back situation this year.

“Our strength is in the guys on the perimeter, we have to be able to get the ball to those guys,” Schneeman said. “But we also saw last year without a consistent running game, if defenses can play us with five or six guys in the box, it makes it awfully tough to throw the ball if our running game isn’t respected.”

Defensively, Sisson and Moore provide a strong 1-2 punch on the line. Schneeman called Sisson a difference maker in the trenches. Schmittle has become a leader off and on the field, Schneeman said. He’ll anchor the linebacker group with Mason Weber and Pat Davis in the mix.

Grant returns to the secondary as does Vincent Gandara. Schneeman said the whole group has a good balance of coverage and open-field tackling.

“I like how we’re able to play more downhill,” Schmittle said. “We’re a very physical team, and I like that. It’s a very simple defense we’re running so you don’t have as much of a burden on you.”

Schneeman said he is really proud of the seniors on the team and the resilience they’ve shown in wanting to bounce back from last year.

“It makes you play harder knowing it’s your last year,” Rosenow said. “Us seniors are letting the younger guys know we have to play harder and play faster this year to change the outcome of last year.”