Huskies Back on the Field, As Spring Practice #1 is in the Books
Photo credit: Ian Bethune – SOX & DAWGS
The UConn football team took step number one in righting the program ship as spring practice got underway this morning inside the Burton Family Football Complex. There was one change from the pizzazz of last year’s practices; no music. Head coach Bob Diaco purposefully made it that way for one particular reason.
“The guys have a different swagger,” he said. “You guys have been to practice and we’ve had music on. Today? No music and I instructed the coaches, ‘I don’t want you guys to bring the energy right now.’ I want to see if these guys are going to bring the energy. Let’s see and evaluate who’s going to take some leadership and ownership for the energy of this group. It’s 180-degrees different than it was a spring ago.”
With practice only open for the initial twenty minutes, a session that included stretching and drills, not much is known on the performances of the players at the key position this spring, quarterback. However, taking in drills, it was evident that Tim Boyle, who started the final three games of 2014, was noticeably technically sound. His speed in drop backs also stood out. Diaco shed some light on Boyle after practice concluded.
“I think there’s a couple of things happening, he’s catching on to the coaching and really working the small pieces,” he said. “But I think, right now, the biggest thing is kind of a healthy Tim. He was significantly hobbled since I met him. I don’t know how long it goes back, but he hasn’t been healthy since the day that I met him. I think we finally have him at a healthy point. He’s not as physically strong right now because he just kind of ended a rehab component, but you are seeing a healthy Tim.”
Boyle, Bryant Shirreffs and true freshman Tyler Davis are all competing for the starting spot. How the competition began today is not yet clear, but they are all clearly in the running.
“I’m going to say good,” Diaco said when asked about how all three performed today. “I need to watch the tape because I’m so deeply entrenched in other areas. As it relates to quarterback evaluation, we’ll do that the rest of the day today, we’ll watch the tape. They had a science to how they rotated today and how they are going to be evaluated. They all got the same amount of everything, an even shake. As the evaluation begins and the separation starts, we’ll start to separate them.”
For Davis, this was his first practice at UConn since getting on campus in February.
“I think he handled it great,” Diaco stressed. “I don’t have to look at the tape to know that. He wasn’t in the corner crying like a baby, he didn’t try to quit and leave the field. Anything above that, is awesome. He was just in high school history class, walking with his tray in the cafeteria getting tater-tot surprise and an apple sauce cup. So he just went to a college football practice and it didn’t crack him. Special guy. Now he may have skipped fifteen balls off the turf, I don’t know, but he did a great job today.”
For Diaco and the rest of his staff, today was a relief for the group working to get this program back to winning ways.
“[It was] exciting to get back on the field,” Diaco added. “This is what the coaches and essential staff members that surround our program love to do; get on the field, work with the players and teach football. The team responded well, was excited and have a long way to go, but we’ve come a long way. You were all out there, saw the action, so you know that for sure.”
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