By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
Tech football spring practice calendar
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Class is about to be back in session.
With the recruiting season in the books, the Tennessee Tech football team will hit the turf at Tucker Stadium for its annual spring practice, starting on March 12 and running through April 5th and 6th with the Spring Game and Letterman's Breakfast.
And while this begins the second spring practice for head coach Dewayne Alexander and his staff with the Golden Eagles, this one is just as important.
"The key word you use about the spring is evaluation," Alexander said. "It's an evaluation of your Xs and Os. You've had a season under your belts now, so you evaluate what you're doing offensively, defensively and on the kicking game. Is there anything you need to add or subtract? To adjust your schemes? It's a great time to do that and to evaluate your players.
"We have a lot of guys who redshirted last fall that did not play in games, some young men who may have been injured and ended up on the practice squad or scout teams. Now they're healthy and you have a chance to evaluate those guys. These guys are a year stronger, faster, bigger."
The spring session is very much a classroom setting with the coaches serving as instructors.
The best thing is you're not playing a team and you can focus on yourselves, so it's really just working on fundamentals," Alexander said. "Quite honestly, it's my favorite time of year to coach, because it's all about football. You don't have the preparation, so it's just focusing on catching properly, lining up properly, blocking and tackling and all those things.
"You do that during the season, but there's so much other preparation that goes into a game week. In the spring, you're competing with yourself – how good can I get? I want to catch better, I want to block better, I want to get my stance better. The opportunities are there, because we balance the practices where guys get an equal opportunity for reps and we can truly evaluate who can help us."
Alexander continued, "When we leave spring practice, we want to know who can help our football team going into the fall. There will be that group of guys where there's no doubt, but there will always be some surprises. There's always a few guys who catch our eye during the spring and show us they can do it."
That time to shine is crucial as the Golden Eagles add 24 more players with the signing classes in December and February. Two of the signees – Justin Oden and Kail Dava – are already enrolled in classes and will be able to participate in spring practice.
"In late July, we're adding all of these guys in, so, as coaches, we have to be able to slot these newcomers," Alexander said. "With the spring, we'll know if we need to take looks at some of the newcomers if we feel like we need immediate help or depth at certain positions."
With practices on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Alexander sees advantages to the setup.
"The big thing is it doesn't interrupt the weightlifting and conditioning aspect," he said. "That is very important. We have a young team and we need to be physically stronger, have a physical presence and the weight room is where you do that. (Director of Athletic Performance Matt) Hewett and his staff is doing a tremendous job, and they're on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday lifting cycle that we started in January and we're going to continue that all the way through final exam week. We're going to practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, then we'll use Friday afternoons as our class schedules allow us to do that. Saturdays, you don't have to worry about classes or weights and it allows you to do more team stuff.
"Tuesdays and Thursdays will be more fundamental in nature and be more separate with the offense and the defense working on their own tasks. Friday afternoons will be more 7-on-7 and 1-on-1 competitive situations, then Saturdays will be a lot of 11-on-11 situations. There will be some scrimmage time, some time to work on kicking stuff, offense versus defense, as well as some situations."
The best part for Alexander is where it falls on the calendar.
"Easter is later this year," Alexander said. "Spring Break is before we start and you have to factor that in when you're scheduling. The way the weather has been, I'm not sure where we would have practiced if we started before the break. We're fortunate to have the availability of Tucker Stadium this season after the renovations last year. It's a three-, four-week period where it's six days a week of football, then it gives us plenty of time to conclude spring practice, get them back in conditioning and the weight room and let them finish strong academically. It also allows us to get back on the road recruiting on April 15 as the high school teams start practicing."
The practices wind to a close on the weekend of April 5th and 6th with the Spring Game and Letterman's Breakfast. The game will be held on the grass practice field south of the Hooper Eblen Center and adjacent to the Tech Soccer Field at 6:30 p.m. on April 5th. Following the game will be an alumni gathering at John's Place at approximately 9 p.m.
The next morning, at 11 a.m., will be the Letterman's Breakfast at the Athletic Performance Center behind the baseball and softball fields.
"We had a great turnout last year," Alexander said. "I was so pleased and proud to see all of those guys out at the Spring Game. I really enjoyed that and we're trying to turn that into a really nice event, where it's not just a big deal for our current players and families, but also for the alumni and recruits who have signed with us. We'd love to have their families join us. It was really neat scene last year after we were finished with the scrimmage to have everyone out on the field together.
"With the breakfast, I'm aiming to have our former letterwinners there, as well as our award-winners, the guys who have won postseason honors for us, like the Robert Hill Johnson Award and the Sonny Allen Award, all-conference recognition."
High school coaches interested in observing practice sessions can schedule their visits by contacting football administrative associate Debbie Parker at (931) 372-3930.
The complete schedule can be found here. Times and locations are subject to change.
