First Day of Spring Practice in the Books for the Eagles
3/14/2013 1:27:00 AM | Football
VIDEO: Post-practice comments from Coach Jeff Monken
PHOTO GALLERY: First Day of Spring Practice -- March 13, 2013
STATESBORO, Ga. – Spring practice for the Georgia Southern Football team is about teaching and learning and the first day of 2013 spring ball today on the banks of "Beautiful Eagle Creek," was focused on just that. For the veterans and starters, it was a day to be a leader and be an example for their teammates. For others, it was about translating what has been learned in the classroom and from film to the field.
Day two on Thursday will have a similar practice structure with 23 periods of work, roughly two hours, in shorts and helmets again. After special teams, the Eagles participated in position and one-on-one drills before option and skelly periods, finishing with offense vs. defense and team interaction.
"We are just looking to improve our football team, find out who our leaders are and develop toughness," said Coach Monken when asked about the objectives for spring practice. "What we are going to do offensively, defensively and in the kicking game isn't going to change a whole lot from what we have done. I believe in our system and the advantage for us is that we do believe it in and we're going to do the same things over and over and over again and try and get really good at it."
Georgia Southern again this spring enjoys the advantage of the extra practice time earned last fall as the Eagles advanced to the NCAA semifinals for the third-straight year and extended the season to mid-December. The extra repetitions on the field for the team – practice time that puts the Eagles ahead of the game in terms of experience and preparation – pay off now as Georgia Southern can get right to work on critical areas.
"We have a lot of guys coming back, we have some positions where the depth is pretty good, where guys who have played and we have some where it is pretty thin, with very few guys who have played, and that is a concern," Monken said about personnel. We have to build some depth in those areas."
PRO DAY FRIDAY: J.J. Wilcox, who participated in the NFL Scouting Combine last month, and Darius Eubanks stopped by practice briefly Wednesday afternoon before going to work out in preparation for Georgia Southern's Pro Day. Dion DuBose, Eubanks, Willie Maxwell, Brent Russell, John Stevenson and Wilcox will be among the Eagles participating in Friday's testing and drills. Fans may watch Pro Day activities from the stands at Paulson Stadium beginning at approximately 10 a.m.
ROSTER TRANSACTIONS: Eagle quarterback/safety Ezayi Youyoute has decided to forego spring 2013 practice to dedicate the time to his academic work. Sophomore Antwione Williams, who played in all 14 games last year, starting three at linebacker, will move to the safety spot. Eagle freshman Montay Crockett moved to T-back from the wide receiver position.
ONE DOWN: Spring practice dates are few in number and the first of 15 is now history. The Georgia Southern Football team will practice Thursday at 3:45 p.m. before final classes on Friday and then adjourn for the University's semester break. The Eagles return to the field on Tuesday, March 26th and close out that week with their first scrimmage at Paulson Stadium. Weekday practices begin at 3:45 p.m.
2013 SPRING PRACTICE DATES
Thursday, March 14
Tuesday, March 26
Thursday, March 28
Friday, March 29
Saturday, March 30 (scrimmage at Paulson Stadium)
Monday, April 1
Tuesday, April 2
Thursday, April 4
Friday, April 5
Saturday, April 6 (scrimmage at Paulson Stadium)
Tuesday, April 9
Thursday, April 11
Friday, April 12
Saturday, April 13, 1 p.m.
Blue-White Spring Game
Allen E. Paulson Stadium
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.
