By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – From the day he arrived on campus in January as Tennessee Tech football head coach, Marcus Satterfield has looked forward to Tuesday.
Not that he has let any grass grow underfoot in the past two months, or allowed the Golden Eagle players to slack off.
Quite the contrary.
The Tech football program has been going 200 miles per hour since the former Temple Offensive Coordinator pulled together his coaching staff and established the direction of his program.
On Tuesday, the Golden Eagles will be on the turf of Overall Field for the first day of 2016 spring drills, a month of workouts that will culminate in a for-the-fun-of-it Spring Game on April 14 and a final workout on April 19.
The new coaching staff is taking the team headfirst into a month of rigorous workouts and high-level learning. As the first session approaches, the first-year head coach isn’t concerned with depth charts and past history.
Everything is up for grabs, insists. Instead of looking at a list of returning letterwinners or stats, or talking about strengths and concerns, Satterfield has specific goals for the Golden Eagles over their 15 sessions.
“Competition is king,” Satterfield says. “The two most important skills that can and should be improved upon are mental and physical toughness.”
The staff plans to work with each player and help recognize any flaws.
“We will give the player one thing to improve and help create excellence within each player,” he said.
One of the over-arching themes of spring drills will be to develop a rock-solid running game on offense, and create a defense that stops the run. The staff also hopes to continue to instill a positive mindset in which the team makes fewer and fewer mistakes, and eliminates missed assignments. Execution, repetition, fundamentals and consistency are all watchwords in Satterfield’s plan.
With the departure of 16 seniors following a 4-7 season last year, the roster of returnees heading into spring drills includes 92 players.
Those who were starters on offense a year ago and are back in 2016 include Brock McCoin (WR and QB), Chandler Nelson (OT), Joel Forrester (OG), Charles Mouton (C), William Chatmon (OG), Dorian Carter (RB), Dametris Watson (TE), Jordan Smith (WR) and Krys Cates (WR).
On the defensive side of scrimmage, players who started games last year and return in 2016 include Mike Cain (DL), Brady Bose (DL), Kevin Robinson-White (DL), Tim Collins (DL), Maleek Hall (CB), Johnny Anderson (FS), and Anthony Flemister (CB).
Tech’s practice sessions during spring drills will be closed to the public, but Satterfield said that approved members of the media, high school football coaches and former Golden Eagle players are welcome to attend by checking in advance with the football office.
Generally, the team will practice on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Some practices will be on Overall Field in Tucker Stadium, and some will be on the grass practice field next to Eblen Center.
Here is the schedule of spring practices:
Tuesday, March 15, 7 p.m.
Thursday, March 17, 7 p.m.
Friday, March 18, 4:25 p.m.
Saturday, March 19, 11 a.m.
Tuesday, March 22, 7 p.m.
Thursday, March 24, 7 p.m.
-- Break for Easter --
Tuesday, March 29, 7 p.m.
Thursday, March 31, 7 p.m.
Saturday, April 2, Scrimmage at Alcoa High School, 11 a.m.
Tuesday, April 5, 7 p.m.
Thursday, April 7, 7 p.m.
Friday, April 8, Friday Night Lights and Alumni Practice, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, April 12, 7 p.m.
Thursday, April 14, Spring Game in Tucker Stadium, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, April 19 , 7 p.m.
