Spring practices kick off
Hope springs eternal at spring football practices.
Utah State took the field for the first time this year Monday. Practices will culminate April 16 with the Blue-White Spring Game.
With the weather warming up and the sun shining, Utah State quarterback Travis Cox said he’s excited to be taking snaps instead of reading his playbook inside.
“It feels great,” Cox said. “We’ve been stuck inside for a while, so it’s fun to get out and play.”
While the players were excited to get outside, Aggie Head football Coach Mick Dennehy and his staff have 15 practices to evaluate where his players are at.
“When we come in in the fall, we’ve got a depth chart that’s set based on what’s happened in the spring,” Dennehy said. “We’ve got to get a depth chart established so that everybody knows where they’re at and where they’ve got to go. It’s more of a roadmap than anything else.”
The team will practice in full pads for the first time on Friday and Saturday. While the team hasn’t done enough to give more than a general idea of its ability, Dennehy said he’s pleased with what he’s seen. While it’s too early to tell where this year’s team stands after just two days of practice, Dennehy said the team is “miles and miles” ahead of where it stood last year after spring practices ended.
The biggest reason for this is already having a defensive scheme in place, while last year’s squad had to start from scratch to learn then-new defensive coordinator David Kotulski’s scheme, Dennehy said.
“I’m really pleased with where we’re at and the way the kids are flying around defensively,” Dennehy said. “I like where we’re at athletically.”
One area of focus for Dennehy will be replacing starting offensive linemen Greg Vandermade, Trevor Hutton and Aric Galliano.
“The key thing for us this spring, as I look at it right now, is going to be for our offensive line to gel,” Dennehy said. “We’ve got to get some of those new guys enough reps where they understand what they’re doing. Right now, they’re a little bit hesitant because they don’t know all their assignments.”
USU also loses first-team all-Sun Belt Conference tight end and SI.com honorable mention All-American Chris Cooley and running back David Fiefia, who was a first-team conference all-purpose back.
Cox was a second-team all-conference quarterback who led the Sun Belt in passing and total offense in his first year as a starter. Having a year under his belt gives him an advantage, Cox said.
“The best thing about it is I’ve been able to see myself on tape for a year now,” Cox said. “Now I know exactly what I need to work on. Before, I didn’t really know where I was at.”
Getting the team to come out of hibernation takes some work, Cox said.
“Obviously, you’re going to have a little bit of rust, between not doing as much as you usually do [during the season] and the new guys,” he said.
The experience of being a starter allows him to give pointers to the newer players to keep them from getting overwhelmed by the system.
“I’ll just give them tips to try to make it as simple as they can, so when they get out there they’re not thinking about eight million things at a time.”
-royburton@cc.usu.edu