Spring Practice News

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Texas A&M: The Aggies allowed 28 touchdown passes and 46 passes that covered at least 20
yards during 2017. The main problem for the secondary was erratic cornerback play. Through
the first six practices, HC Jimbo Fisher said he finds encouragement in the height of the corner-
backs that includes 6-foot-5 Clifford Chatlman, 6-4 Myles Jones and 6-2 Debione Renfro and
Charles Oliver. Fisher said the players were learning to use their size, their length with their
arm reach. The Aggie cornerbacks may be the tallest group in college football...any football!

 

[CoachCB]

no doubt barn's DL is very strong but Clemson might have one of the best in history. Right now, 3 of their dlineman are projected in top 20 in the draft....that's just silly

no clue how venables is still a DC ...

Yeah, Clemson's DL is sick! Agree on Venables. He is making a shit-ton of money. He's probably holding out like Smart did at Alabama, for the perfect fit/job.

UF had it's first scrimmage yesterday.....and Franks still stinks. I've said over and over, he seems 'uncoachable' - he makes the same stupid mistakes over and over, things that any HS level coach would tell him not to do (like running out of bounds behind the LOS rather than tossing the ball away). He had 3 INTs and a fumble and completed 7 of 22 passes. WTF?? The OL still looks like shit...w/ all 5 returning starters (one is out for spring w/ injury). Trask, the 2-star HS back-up QB (never started a game in HS), looked the best of the 4 QBs. McElwain left this program a complete wreck.

Anyone watch the USCe game today?

Here's Spurrier:

https://twitter.com/mrhutch24/status/980122615883943936

 

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Yeah, I watched parts of the South Carolina spring game. Dropped passes seem to be the pattern
of the day...including Spurrier's drop. The QB looked decent but his receivers were not very impressive
to me. Number 89 had 6 catches but there were just too many dropped balls. It didn't help that
the teams No. 1 receiver didn't play in the game. Forgot his name. Plenty of work to do before the
offense is ready for the season opener. Muschamp better hope that Brantley stays healthy because
there is no one behind him who is SEC ready.

 

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Alabama: After the team's fifth of 15 spring practices Thursday, the players were given
the weekend off for the Easter holiday. When they return to practice Tuesday, the team
will turn its attention toward the first of three spring scrimmages. Alabama's five weeks
of spring practice will culminate with the A-Day game April 21 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Auburn: Tiger redshirt freshman Anders Carlson made a 62 yard field goal in the second
scrimmage of spring practice. While it wasn't a live rep, it was still impressive. Malzahn
said it would have been good from 70. Carlson will take over the kicking duties from his
older brother Daniel, who became the SEC's all-time leading scorer in his four years with
the Tigers. The younger Carlson may prove to be just as good as his brother and that
would be a tremendous weapon for Auburn the next four years.

 

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LSU: Coach Ed Orgeron said over the weekend that he would be OK with a potential two-quarterback
system for the fall. He seemed to be saying he'd be fine allowing one quarterback be the primary
passer and using another as a change of pace runner. Why not...LSU's offense certainly hasn't been
very good the past three or four years, especially the quarterback play. By the way, the Tigers will
have their third offensive coordinator in three years as Steve Ensminger takes over.

Baylor: As the Bears are going through spring drills, it was announced former coach Art Briles
received a $15.1 million settlement from the school after being fired in May, 2016. $15 million
and he doesn't even have to coach spring practice. Briles has yet to land a coaching job even
though Nick Saban was willing to bring him in as an analyst. That was stopped by the SEC
Commissioner's office.

 

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Florida: The Gators are adjusting to a 3-4 defensive alignment under new coordinator Todd Grantham.
Grantham came with Dan Mullen from Mississippi State and brings a wealth of experience from both
the NFL and the college game. He prefers a 3-4 defensive set, and Florida's defense this decade has
been a 4-3 unit, and the transition this season may not be smooth because the Gators lack proven
depth at linebacker. Regardless of that, though, expect more pressure on the quarterback. Grantham's
defenses the past eight seasons have produced 265.5 sacks. In the same time frame, Florida had 223
sacks. How quickly the front seven players adapt this spring will go a long way toward determining
how disruptive they will be this fall.

 

[CoachCB]

Saw today that Bear Bryant's great-grandson committed to Bama. Tyson Bryant, a 4-star QB. Pretty neat. Bo Nix (Auburn legacy) is also committed to his grandfather's school. He's the top rated pro-style QB in the country.

 

[lolz_69]

Florida: The Gators are adjusting to a 3-4 defensive alignment under new coordinator Todd Grantham.
Grantham came with Dan Mullen from Mississippi State and brings a wealth of experience from both
the NFL and the college game. He prefers a 3-4 defensive set, and Florida's defense this decade has
been a 4-3 unit, and the transition this season may not be smooth because the Gators lack proven
depth at linebacker. Regardless of that, though, expect more pressure on the quarterback. Grantham's
defenses the past eight seasons have produced 265.5 sacks. In the same time frame, Florida had 223
sacks. How quickly the front seven players adapt this spring will go a long way toward determining
how disruptive they will be this fall.

Good info here

 

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Arkansas: New Razorback coach Chad Morris uses a drone to film spring practices. Morris
used drones while at SMU and will do the same at Arkansas. "It's been a great teaching
tool for us and so we'll do a whole lot of video study with our drone." Arkansas plays its
annual Red-White game in Little Rock on Saturday (Apr. 7) at 1 p.m.

West Virginia: The Mountaineers have cancelled its annual Gold-Blue game schedule for
Saturday because of weather. Snow is predicted for much of the state and because of
safety issues for both the players and fans, the game will not be played. West Virginia
opens its 2018 season on September 1, against Tennessee in Charlotte, NC.

Clemson: As spring practice nears an end, Dabo Swinney is not happy with his team.
He says the team has a long way to go before the opening game. Too many discipline
and mental mistakes has him calling the team very average at this time. "We have
a lot of work to do over the summer." If I'm not mistaken, Dabo called his team very
average during last year's spring drills. We all know how that turned out!

 

[MackDonald]

'Wow !!!!!! All these "grandson commitments" .......And now there's hope for us Great-Grandparents......!!!!!!!

 

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Auburn: Starting quarterback Jarrett Stidham hasn't progressed far enough in his recovery
from offseason shoulder surgery to participate in the A-Day game today at Jordan-Hare Stadium,
but he will participate. Gus Malzahn said the Tigers will start with a 10-minute 7-on-7 period,
which Stidham will be a part of. It is progress for the rising junior after he was limited to just
footwork drills and very light throwing at the start of spring last month. Stidham completed 66.5%
of his throws for 3,158 yards last season.

Arkansas, Ole Miss and Mississippi State will join Auburn with spring games today.

 

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Auburn: While primarily watching The Masters, I had another TV on Auburn's spring game. Probably
an understatement to say the Tiger defense dominated the offense. With the starting quarterback on
the sidelines, the second and third team signal callers did little to get excited about. Neither were
particularly effective combining for 15 of 39 passes for 90 yards. Second team Malik Willis completed
8 of 20 for 45 yards while third teamer Joey Gatewood went 4 of 14 for 0 yards. One bright star for the
offense was kicker Carlson who went 4 for 4 on field goals with makes of 38, 41, 45 and 53 yards. This
kid is a weapon and has a bright future if he can stay healthy the next four years. Auburn has two more
practices before the end of spring drills.

Sidenote: The offensive passing game was pitiful but keep in mind the starting QB, WR and center were
all out with injuries. Tiger defense will be strong again this season.

I did not watch any of Arkansas, Ole Miss or Mississippi State's spring game.

 

[lolz_69]

Same issue as last year for auburn- offensive line. Cant go far without it

 

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Colorado: The Buffaloes have concluded spring practice after a glorified scrimmage instead of a
spring game. After winning ten games in 2016, Colorado took a step back in 2017 going 5-7
overall and 2-7 in the conference. Much of the decline last year was because of the poor play
of the defense that was 108th against the run, 102nd in sacks; and 109th in total defense. The
defensive line, a big problem last year now has better depth to challenge the current starters
and a new DL coach to improve overall results. Coming out of spring practice, three former JUCO
players will be starting on the line opening day. After the 2016 season, Mike Macintyre received
several National Coach of the Year honors. He enters his sixth season with the Buffs with a 25-38
record. I'm thinking he needs to show a ton of improvement this season...especially in Pac play.

 

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Southern Cal: The Trojans won the Rose Bowl two seasons ago and the Pac 12 title last season.
The next stop in the minds of USC fans is the College Football Playoffs. For a playoff appearance
to happen, the Trojans will need to get off to a hot start in September when they play Stanford,
Texas, Washington State and Arizona with three of those games on the road. In other words; USC
must be ready to play early, which makes spring practice and summer workouts essential. Finding
a good quarterback will also help.

 

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TCU: The Horned Frogs ended spring practice Tuesday and now must settle on a new quarterback,
some new starters at wide receiver and running back and replace three of its top four tacklers. HC
Gary Patterson has proven he finds good players every year and gets them in the right spots to be
a successful program. TCU has won a total of 40 games with three 11 win seasons in the last four
years. Even with the recent success, the Frogs don't seem to get the respect its earned and deserves.
TCU gets Ohio State, Texas, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Oklahoma State all at home.
A winning record (4-2) with that schedule will ensure another successful season for Patterson and
his team.

 

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San Diego State: It was good to see the school sign HC Rocky Long to a contract extension
that runs through the 2022 season. Financial terms were not disclosed. Long is 64-29 in
seven seasons at SD St., including a 32-9 mark with two Mountain West Championships in
the past three seasons. The man deserved a raise on his $828,000 salary. Hell, I say he
is a real barging when compared to what many other coaches are making.

 

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Alabama: Quarterback Tua Tagovailio was again sidelined after re-injuring his hand during Friday's
practice. Tagovailio, who is trying to win the starting job, did not participate in Saturday's scrimmage
after suffering another injury to his surgically repaired throwing hand. Tua has been limited since
suffering a broken bone in his left throwing hand during the team's first spring practice. Despite
the injury, Tagovialio had progressed over the last several weeks and played about 20 snaps in last
weeks scrimmage. Heavy rain and winds force the Tide inside for its second scheduled scrimmage.
The A-Day game will be next Saturday (April 21) in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

 

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LSU: Maybe its just me I have little faith in Ed Orgeron, or maybe its that the Tigers can't
put a representative offense on the field no matter who is the coach. The Tigers have a new
offensive coordinator, might start a freshman quarterback and may be without their best
player to start the season due to injury. Oh, and they play five SEC road games. An opener
with Miami, plus trips to Auburn and Florida, along with Georgia rotating onto the schedule
could make for a long year in Baton Rouge. It could get hot for Big Ed this season. Stay
tuned.

 

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Texas Tech: Kliff Kingsbury will be entering his sixth season leading the Red Raiders with
a 30-33 overall record. During his tenure, he has just two winning seasons and has yet
to finish higher than fifth in the Big12. Some believe Kingsbury would have been fired last
year if he hadn't beaten Texas late in the season. Bad defenses have been a trademark for
Kingsbury teams. His defenses have given up at least 5,769 yards and allowed at least 40
points per game during his time at TT. This year the defense has ten returning starters so
you would think this is the year when there are no more excuses.

Ole Miss (Houston), Lamar, Houston, @Ok St., W. Virginia, Open, @TCU, Kansas, @Iowa St.,
Oklahoma, Texas, @Kansas St., @Baylor