Let’s get straight to it-

1. Overall, I felt it was a good day. Not perfect, but a good day. There were over 600 kids that showed up to Junior Day preview right before the Spring football game, and that shows something. A lot of people were in the stands and the intensity level was much higher than it was last year. I see improvements in places where there needed to be improvements and there is progress being made in turning us into a competitive Division I program. The way the scrimmage was set up as breaking the team up into two teams was something I really liked. I was never really a fan of the Offense vs Defense games, but a truly intrasquad scrimmage. It was run like a real game mostly and I really liked that approach. The best thing was that AD Jim Curry, while on the radio during the scrimmage said last season we would not have been able to field two full teams like we did this year, and that is a certain in the right direction. We are not where we need to be in a lot of areas, but overall I feel we are going in the right direction.
2. In the trenches there was noticeable improvement from the offensive line. I felt like they had better blocking schemes along with overall a bigger set of guys. You have to have beef up front that can block and create holes or you are sunk and I think everyone knows that, but the defense also needed to prove that they can get penetration in the backfield and they did that at times. There is still a desperate need for depth at this position, especially on offense, but I really liked the better product that is on the field. I am not saying we will rush for 2,000 yards next year but if this group stays healthy and improves every week, I think you will see an improvement from last year. Major improvement.
3. The running game was the best part of the offense to Me. There were 2-3 runners that really made their splash and one was BK Jackson. Guy reminds Me of EJ Thompson but a little bit more slender and faster, but still a true power back who can run over you and also around you. EJ Oakmon was also very impressive, but he suffered an injury that ended his afternoon and it looked like he will be out for a while, which is a bummer. The good news is that two big parts of the running attacks from previous years in Spencer Long and Reggie Branch, were on the sidelines but did not play for precautionary reasons. Better safe than sorry, I suppose. Lion Football color commentator Brock Callaway made an excellent point that last year we had a very small set of backs with a weak line up front, which made for disaster. That is not what you will see this year, and bear in mind, this is just a spring game. If we can get a running game going, that is half the battle.
4. I was curious to see what Clint Dolezel would be doing now that he is the play caller and Quarterbacks coach, and He did not disappoint Me. It was great to see Eric Rodriguez back in action, and rust was the biggest factor as he had not played in nearly a year and a half, but we got to see some new guys and younger guys and I really like not only this new set of QB’s but what Dolezel has them doing. Ron Peace from Trinity Valley showed a lot of good stuff, and I was happy to see Lake Bennett and Montana transfer AJ Abbott get a lot of reps. Thomas Landry, God bless that guy. He has been here since day one of his college career and just continues to play and compete as hard as he can and that is the kind of guy you want going to war with you. Newcomer Jahrik Jones got some time to show why he was a winner at Summer Creek High in Houston and former Mater Dei (yes, THAT Mater Dei High) and South Garland QB Mirko Martos showed that his playing time last year was no fluke as he led the offense to a scoring drive in the final possession making some big time throws. Back to Dolezel as OC, he has streamlined the playcalling by using hand signals and giving his QB’s some latitude to relay what they are reading on defense. I spoke with Dolezel after the game and basically he wants the communication between the QB’s and Him to be a one to one kind where they are talking to each other and agreeing on what they both see. You can tell by the way he was operating on the sidelines with the playcalling sheet and his focus this is what he should be doing and wants to be doing. We hired him to turn the offense around and keep the defense at a high level, and He is making strides there.
5. The down side to the offense was that the receivers dropped WAYYYYY too many catchable passes. You saw a lot of good passes from the QB’s and a lot of bad drops. That has to be corrected. You hope maybe it was just a bad day but you can’t have too many of those if you are a receiver in this offense. The one thing that I loved to see was that Dolezel was attacking the middle and moving the chains with that approach. The recievers got a bit better as the game went on, but this still has be to corrected before the season starts.
6. The defense was what I would call a net plus. They obviously still have a penchant for picking the ball off and putting pressure on the Quarterbacks. I have some concern about about the line, but that isn’t to say they did not impress me at times because they did. Secondary and Linebackers are still going to be the strength of this group, but if there can be some depth added to the D-Line, the Defense will be as good as they have been the past few years. Not really much to say other than the defense did was the defense does, which was force turnovers and kept it low scoring.
7. Special teams I saw some new faces and some old ones. I was happy to see Jack Welch tell Mitchell McGarry to just let it rip and get some good kicks into that prairie wind and he dropped some real bombs. Overall I felt he did well and nobody is going to be taking his spot. As far as kickoffs, I feel like Aiden Martin is still the guy because you want leg strength and he has that better than anyone, however newcomer Andy Gallegos from Kaufman looks like he will be the extra point and short range field goal kicker for now, but as far as long field goals, well that looks to be a toss up because one has the better leg and the other is more accurate. That one looks to still be up in the air. As far as who holds, it will either be Lake Bennett or Mitchell McGarry.
8. With only 2 practices left before the spring workouts end, I have to say some, if not most of the things I was hoping for improvement were there. Much better running game. More guys back and healthy. An improved offensive line, and a salty defense as usual. We won’t know until August 31st in San Diego, but for now, we will see what all transpires and who else we pick up for the fall.