Coaches key in spring football development
With spring comes a chance for football players and coaches alike to learn and gain experience.
“That’s the great thing about spring ball,” said wide receivers coach Eric Kiesau. “The guys get a good chance to actually develop.”
Kiesau, who switched from coaching running backs last season, was one of five coaches whose positional responsibilities changed. On the other side of the ball, defensive coordinator Kraig Paulson switched his defensive line responsibilities to the defensive backfield. So Tom McMahon moved from linebackers to defensive line to fill in the gap. And now Carl Franks will assist the linebackers instead of assisting the secondary.
Head coach Mick Dennehy said he made the changes to get a better mix of experience in key areas.
“I’ve seen improvement everywhere, so I think it will end up pretty good for us,” Dennehy said.
Assistant coach Mike Trevathan was moved from wide receivers to running backs because Dennehy wanted someone with more experience to work with the Aggies’ young wide receivers. Trevathan coached running backs in Dennehy’s final year at the University of Montana.
“The transition has been great,” Kiesau said.
He has a different coaching style than Trevathan, Kiesau said, but all coaches are on the “same page” and the wide-outs have been learning and are now “average.”
Kiesau hasn’t coached wide receivers since coaching high school, so he has attended clinics and watched several videos to prepare. Offensive coordinator Bob Cole has also helped.
“He’s kind of my mentor,” Kiesau said.
Defensively, the transition has been smooth, said McMahon – the only Dave Arslanian assistant hired as part of Dennehy’s staff.
“I love it,” he said. “A position change is never negative; it’s always a learning experience for all of us.”
McMahon had coached defensive line before in 1995-97, but he still had to re-learn a lot of the techniques. He also has a lot of help from graduate assistant Travis Baker.
“With us, he’s not a graduate assistant,” McMahon said. “He’s a coach. I’ve learned a ton from him.”
He said a lot of the D-line is young, but they are really willing to learn.
“I don’t have a bad apple in the bunch,” he said.
Meanwhile, Carl Franks had an easy transition moving into the linebacking corps because assistant head coach David Reeves is still there.
Both Kiesau and McMahon said the moves were not about someone not doing his job – it was more of a strategic move by coach Dennehy.
“There’s no egos,” McMahon said. “If we don’t have egos, then our players don’t have egos.”