Rob Ambrose is ready for football season.

“I want to throw my laptop out the window,” the 12th-year Towson coach said with a laugh. “I swear there’s going to be a point in my life where when I don’t have to do another Zoom meeting I’ll throw a party.”

Beyond the return to normalcy everyone in the country craves, Ambrose has strong reasons to be optimistic about this fall.

The Tigers narrowly missed out on a second straight trip to the FCS postseason last year, tallying a 7-5 overall mark and 4-4 record in Colonial Athletic Association action, in spite of one crippling injury after another to integral players on the 2019 team.

Among them was All-American running back Shane Simpson, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last September, but is on track to return to Towson for his sixth year this coming campaign. In 2018, Simpson racked up 2,058 all-purpose yards – 711 rushing, 887 via kick return, 356 receiving and 104 via punt return.

“If you ask him he’s ready to play a game today,” Ambrose said. “He’s been a beast in his rehab. He’s completely focused and I don’t think I’ve seen anybody work as hard to return as I’ve seen him.”

Towson’s offensive production from two years ago to last year dipped – 34.5 points per game to 30.25 points per game and 465 total yards per game to 396.1 total yards per game – but that was with Simpson, fellow running back Kobe Young, wide receiver Jabari Allen in action in 2018 and then those three sidelined for the most part in 2019.

Ambrose said he hopes mixing those who missed out on last year with younger players who benefited from being thrust into game action last fall will only push Towson to have one of the more hard-to-defend offenses in the CAA while contending for a conference crown along with a playoff spot.

James Madison is scheduled to play against Towson at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Maryland on Oct. 17.

“It was a hot start, a great start last season and then I lost six guys to knees [injuries] in one season,” Ambrose said. “I’ve never been involved in anything like that. I’ve had season-ending injuries, but not the same one and not all in the span of three weeks, so we had to reinvent ourselves as a team.

“I think it’s one of our best coaching jobs, having to overcome. Everyone gets injuries, but not like that. It was basically taking our starters and throwing them away. That’s just to begin with, so I thought my staff did a great job and that our kids did a great, great job. I think it’s something we can build on. I think that part of our character is ingrained in who we are, so now it’s forward thinking and using that as a springboard for what we’re trying to do this year.”

Featured in the backfield alongside Simpson will be a noticeably different quarterback, following the graduation of former CAA Offensive Player of the Year Tom Flacco. Ambrose said he’ll hold an open competition for the job, but that the program recruited Weber State transfer quarterback Jake Constantine with purpose.

Constantine, who began his career at Boise State, led Weber State to the FCS quarterfinals two years ago and to the FCS semifinals last season. JMU knocked Weber State out of the postseason last December in a game Constantine threw for 186 yards and two scores.

In his two seasons with Weber State, Constantine completed 61 percent of his throws for 4,428 yards and 33 touchdowns compared to 22 interceptions. He will battle with senior Ryan Stover and sophomore Jeff Miller for the role.

“I’m pleased with those two,” Ambrose said, “but with not having spring ball, the ability to evaluate those guys is tough. They could workout and do whatever, but there is no substitute for 11-on-11 football. Seven-on-seven doesn’t get it done and neither one of them have enough snaps under center to give me a whole bunch of confidence to say we want to go that way right now, so we had some spots to fill and got hold of Jake Constantine.

“And he’s a winner. I watched him play in the playoffs,” Ambrose said of Constantine, “and for a Southern California kid, that’s pretty impressive, because when you’re playing playoff ball and you’re from Southern California, it’s not easy. … Every week you go somewhere where the weather is worse and the weather is colder and if you don’t have guts and toughness, it’s hard. You can throw the ball all around how you want in September and October, but when it gets to November and December, you better be able to play in the cold. And that kid has already has done it and he’s won. He’s got a great, great personality and a great head for the game.”

The combination of Constantine, a mature quarterback, and Simpson, an electrifying running back, along with the other high-caliber offensive standouts the Tigers have should create problems for opposing defenses, Ambrose said.

“[Simpson] is a threat to score all the time,” Ambrose said. “And a guy like that changes how a team defends you, and having that bullet in the gun changes how dynamic your offense can be.”

Ambrose is high on his defense, too, which is anchored by senior defensive end Bryce Carter, junior linebacker Christian Dixon and sophomore defensive back Jamal Gay. Linebacker Ricky DeBerry, another sufferer of a season-ending injury in 2019, was granted a sixth-year of eligibility like Simpson, too.

Carter had 53 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks as a junior.

“Bryce might’ve said 20 words in the last three years,” Ambrose said. “He just doesn’t speak, but he plays his face off. He’s not the biggest defensive lineman we’ve got, but damn if he don’t play it. He gets underneath everybody and everybody hates playing against him.”

Towson is scheduled to open its season on Sept. 5 at FBS Maryland.