Lumberjacks Hold First Spring Practice Wednesday Afternoon
3/23/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Practice One Photo Gallery (March 23)
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The 2016 spring football schedule officially got underway Wednesday as Stephen F. Austin held the first of 15 spring practices.
"It was great to be out there," said head coach Clint Conque. "I thought the energy was good. We were practicing with more tempo as our offense will be a higher tempo offense. It was a blustery day with a lot of wind, so that provided some distractions and made it more challenging for throwing and catching. But certainly I thought the energy was there, the tempo was good and I thought our coaches did a great job of being prepared."
Practice number one got underway at 4 p.m. on a windy Wednesday afternoon as the `Jacks donned their white helmets for the first drills of 2016. Special teams and fundamentals dominated the 21-period practice while the SFA also began to instill its new offensive game plan under new offensive coordinator Gary Crowton.
Spring Break Previews:
Offense - Monday, March 21
Defense - Tuesday, March 22
Special Teams - Wednesday, March 23
There will be little rest for the weary, however, as the Lumberjacks hit the practice field once again on Thursday, getting practice number two in at 11 a.m. Following that practice, the team will be released for Easter weekend leading up to a busy week that will include four practices and a scrimmage, getting underway Tuesday, March 29.
SFA will hold 12 practices with three scrimmages during the spring season, beginning with scrimmage one on Saturday, April 2nd at Homer Bryce Stadium. Scrimmage two will be Conque's traditional "road scrimmage," being held this year at Marshall High School on Saturday, April 9th, leading up to the 2016 SFA Spring Game on Saturday, April 16th, kicking off at 6 p.m.
Head Coach Clint Conque Following Spring Practice One
On his thoughts after the first day of practice:
"It was good to get back out on the field with a football. I thought the eight weeks of offseason was very productive. (Strength coach) Dan Eason and his staff did a great job of increasing our strength level and really worked hard on our flexibility. Now comes the process of transitioning that eight weeks of work to the practice field. It was great to be out there. I thought the energy was good. We were practicing with more tempo as our offense will be a higher tempo offense. It was a blustery day with a lot of wind, so that provided some distractions and made it more challenging for throwing and catching. But certainly I thought the energy was there, the tempo was good and I thought our coaches did a great job of being prepared."
On the health of the team:
"We're fairly healthy, which is a bonus. Chance Barney will be non-contact recovering from shoulder surgery this offseason. He'll go through individual work but no contact drills. Kijana Amous, our junior college running back, is about five months post foot surgery, so we're limiting him a little bit, but he actually looked really good today. Other than that, all 85 are on the field and bouncing around. I saw a lot of speed and a lot of effort today, and I go back to the culture that we're trying to develop, and that's how we practice. There were your missed assignments with new schemes and such but I thought the players were really locked in."
On how both the offense and defense are adapting to the new offensive scheme:
"Offensively, what we've done is melted coach (Gary) Crowton's background to the things that we do well here already. We kept some of the terminology the same, but obviously we've allowed him to expand some things schematically. The terminology is a little different, and if you want to play fast, you really need to narrow some things down. I thought for the most part, we were prepared and ready for that today. Defensively, there is a little bit of a different mindset. Nobody huddles anymore, and pretty much every team in our league plays fast, so it will be a great preparation for them. What it forces you to do is to coach and teach off the film, so we're trying to get as many reps in in practice and then use that to make them better."
On the primary goal for the spring season:
"We need to solidify all of the front line positions. But it's about your depth. We understand that help is on the way with our recruiting class, but we know we need to solidify those positions and then create substantial depth at as many positions as you can. We've got young linebackers that we need to sort out, we've got some new transfers in the program that we need to identify what they can and can't do, and then address the kicking game - figuring out where we are in that regard. I saw some pretty positive things today out of the kicking game, especially from Troy Duran in both punting and kicking the ball. We have an awful lot of work to do. It was just day one, but our young men were excited to be on the field, I thought the coaches had them prepared, and I was pleased with how we bounced and moved around and with the tempo of practice."
On how you try to temper expectations on the first day of practice:
"All in all, I was very impressed. Our coaches were organized and we hit our spots most of the time. With the wind, which was around 20 miles an hour the entire time, there were some issues with execution in the throwing game, but I know that execution will come. Unfortunately for us, it's a short week this week - we get them for two days then will send them home for Easter break. It's our hope that we get two quality days this week and there is some retention when we come back. There's a lot of competition at a lot of positions. We've made some position moves, and I think those guys have embraced that from a selflessness standpoint. Hopefully we can build from day one and have another sharp practice in the morning."
2016 SFA Spring Football Practice Schedule
Practice One: Wednesday, March 23 - 4 p.m.
Practice Two: Thursday, March 24 - 11 a.m.
Practice Three: Tuesday, March 29 - 4 p.m.
Practice Four: Wednesday, March 30 - 4 p.m.
Practice Five: Friday, April 1 - 4 p.m.
Scrimmage One: Saturday, April 2 - 4 p.m. (Homer Bryce Stadium)
Practice Seven: Monday, April 4 - 4 p.m.
Practice Eight: Wednesday, April 6 - 4 p.m.
Practice Nine: Friday, April 8 - 4 p.m.
Scrimmage Two: Saturday, April 9 - 4 p.m. (Marshall High School)
Practice Eleven: Monday, April 11 - 4 p.m.
Practice Twelve: Wednesday, April 13 - 4 p.m.
Practice Thirteen: Thursday, April 14 - 4 p.m.
Practice Fourteen: Friday, April 15 - 4 p.m.
Spring Game: Saturday, April 16 - 6 p.m. (Homer Bryce Stadium)
All practice dates and times subject to change
-SFA-
