University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagle Football Spring Work Starts Wednesday
3/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Golden Eagle Football Spring Work Starts Wednesday
Hattiesburg, Miss. ? Coming off a ninth straight winning season and a fifth bowl invitation in six seasons, Southern Miss opens 2003 spring football workouts Wednesday with the first of 15 NCAA-allowed practices.
Head Coach Jeff Bower?s squad is scheduled to work four times each week for the next three weeks and then three times during the April 6-12 week, including the April 12, Black & Gold Spring Game that will count as the 15th workout.
Tentative times set for spring workouts include Wednesday and Saturday sessions starting at 3:30 p.m., Saturday?s at 1:30 p.m., and Sunday?s at 2:30 p.m.
Bower and his staff will greet eight defensive starters and six offensive starters. Forty-eight lettermen return from last year?s 7-6 season.
Key returning players include All-Americans Rod Davis (linebacker) and Etric Pruitt (defensive back), All-Conference performers Michael Boley (linebacker) and Terrell Paul (Bandit) along with veterans Alex Ray (defensive back), Greg Brooks (defensive back), Ronald Jones (defensive end) on defense, and James Walley (running back), Jim Hicks (center), Chris Johnson (wide receiver), Marvin Young (wide receiver) and Jeremy Parquet (guard) on offense.
Since last season, the coaching staff has undergone a significant change on the offensive side of the ball. Rip Scherer is the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, David Warner is the new wide receivers coach, Jay Johnson is the new tight ends coach and Mitch Rodrigue moves from tight ends coach to offensive line coach.
As offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Scherer will look at a QB depth chart that lists Micky D?Angelo (r-Jr.) at the top of that list, followed by Dustin Almond (r-So.), Zac White (r-Jr.), and Chris Crumpton (Fr.). D?Angelo started last season in the top spot, lost it during the season to Almond and then moved back into the starter?s role late in the season. D?Angelo finished his 14-game season with 122 completions in 232 attempts and threw eight interceptions and seven touchdown passes. Almond hit on 63-of-138 and threw three interceptions and three touchdowns.
Bower says the coaching changes make the spring workouts even more important. ?We have objectives on both sides of the ball,? he said. ?Most importantly, we?ve got to install a new offense and get players familiar with that offense. We, as coaches, have to learn to work together as a staff, and our coaches have to find out about our personnel and get the best 11 on the field on both sides of the ball. Then, we work on finding the best backups.
?Defensively, we?ve got to work hard at not giving up big plays. That hurt us last season. We also have to work at getting better this year fundamentally, and we have to do a better job of stopping the run.?
On the defensive side of the ball, coordinator Tyrone Nix can count nine of last season?s top 10 tacklers among his returning players, including Davis, who led the group with 168 total stops. That number included 23.5 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, a pair of interceptions and three fumble recoveries.
Bower says playing in the Houston Bowl was a plus, especially so for the defense, less so for the offense. ?When you go to a bowl game you get to have what coaches like to call a mini-spring practice,? Bower said. ?You can use that time to give your younger players a lot of extra work and that helps when you start work in the spring.
?From a defensive standpoint, the game was good for us because we will be much the same in that area. Offensively, it won?t help as much, since we?ll put in a new offense during the spring.?
Of the 15 spring practice days, the NCAA mandates three with no equipment, other than helmets. Twelve of the 15 days may involve contact, but only eight can involve tackling and no more than three can be full contact scrimmaging.
The complete spring practice schedule follows:
| Workout No. | Date | ? | Day | Time |
| 1 | Mar. | 19 | Wed. | 3:30 p.m. |
| 2 | ? | 21 | Fri. | 3:30 p.m. |
| 3 | ? | 22 | Sat. | 1:30 p.m. |
| 4 | ? | 23 | Sun. | 2:30 p.m. |
| 5 | ? | 26 | Wed. | 3:30 p.m. |
| 6 | ? | 28 | Fri. | 3:30 p.m. |
| 7 | ? | 29 | Sat. | 1:30 p.m. |
| 8 | ? | 30 | Sun. | 2:30 p.m. |
| 9 | Apr. | 2 | Wed. | 3:30 p.m. |
| 10 | ? | 4 | Fri. | 3:30 p.m. |
| 11 | ? | 5 | Sat. | 1:30 p.m. |
| 12 | ? | 6 | Sun. | 2:30 p.m. |
| 13 | ? | 9 | Wed. | 3:30 p.m. |
| 14 | ? | 10 | Thu. | 3:30 p.m. |
| 15 | ? | 12 | Sat. | Black & Gold Spring Game |
