Notes Before the start of Spring Practice

Spring practice begins this Wednesday. Once the pads start popping we'll be able to talk more Xs and Os, until then it's more bookkeeping.

BeamerBall.com announced James Hopper's football career is over. He's taking a medical redshirt and will student coach in the secondary this spring, then transition to a graduate assistant this fall. Future head coach at Virginia Tech in 2060, best of luck James.

With BRUUUUUUCE, Tariq, and Telvion (permanently) out, there will be a lot of inexperienced, yet promising players along with new-to-the-position defenders getting the majority of reps at Mike and Backer. Derek DiNardo (Whip/Rover/Safety) and Josh Trimble (Rover) will mover over to Backer. Chase Williams, who's finally healthy, is going to rep at both Backer and Mike. Brian Laiti will have an opportunity to distinguish himself at Mike. I hope we get to watch Jack Tyler and Chase Williams on the field at the same time. They could be the linebacking tandem of the not so distance future, and it would be great to see their on-the-field chemistry.

Martin Scales will line up a few yards deeper in the backfield this spring, he's moving to tailback. That means Joey Phillips and Riley Beiro will handle the duties at fullback. I like this move. By all accounts Phillips is as strong as an ox, giving him an opportunity to show what he can do carrying the ball before the freshman class comes in is smart. With the talent at tight end, and more three and four receiver sets, I wonder if fullback will have a bit of a diminished roll this fall.

Coach Wiles had previously mentioned there'd be deep rotation at defensive line. Bud added that in addition to Corey Marshall they're going to take a look at Zack McCray inside. That's an interesting thought. McCray is 6-4 and could be growing into a "tweener". It makes for the possibility of a four-end look; from left to right there's Gayle, Marshall, McCray, and Collins.

The Frankinator told BeamerBall.com there are fourteen kickers ready to try out. 14! I closed my critical piece on the kicking game with the following sentence, "He needs to fix BeamerBall, not only because he's responsible to, but because he's the most capable coach in college football to do so." I don't expect us to be fundamentally flawed in the kicking game again.

Shane Beamer was a guest on The Clubhouse with Kyle Bailey (listen here), and this is what I found interesting. Joel Caleb will have a chance to practice his way out of a redshirt year. The STRAIGHTBURNER won't return kickoffs. Offensive line (Shane previously said we could take up to six on the o-line) and linebacker are recruiting priorities. This 2013 class will only have 15-16 signees, with at most one running back.

Please leave any thoughts you have on any of the notes from above, or anything else on your mind.