The first of 15 spring football practices is in the books at Chadron State.
Outfitted in shorts and practice jerseys with helmets the 2018 Eagles hit the fields on a cold, breezy Monday afternoon in the lower 40s. The team broke out into positional groups and worked on technique and mechanics among the day-one duties.
Senior receiver Matt Reader will be part of a strong pass-catching unit downfield this fall but is mostly forced to sit out spring drills after having surgery to repair his right shoulder after basketball season. So on the first day of spring camp Matt says he’s focusing on helping the younger players at the position develop.
“All these young guys are on the learning curve right now so I want to spend some time with them. I’ve been through it, I’ve learned everything before so I hope I can help them out a little bit.”
Defensive Coordinator Jeff Larson may have the biggest challenge of any coach on staff in having to replace such a dynamic cast of leaders and playmakers from a CSC defense that was as good and explosive as it’s been in several years last fall.
“It feels really good, I’m always excited to get back out and get rolling,” Larson said. “The winter seems to drag on and everything else that goes in there. It’s nice when we finally get to this point and start running through some actual football again.”
One of Larson’s early practice drills Monday involved the defensive line and hand positioning out of a variety of stances up front.
“The big thing that we’re always going to do is we always have to instill a sense of urgency. No matter what it is, we want to run around on the field, we want to be involved, we want to be active with everything we do, that’s the number one thing across the board,” Larson said.
He added with a day-one chuckle, “The next thing, a pretty dang important thing, is to make sure we line up right. So, we’re going to run and we’re going to fly around and I told them in these first couple days if you’re going to make a mistake you better make it a hundred miles an hour, but then we’re going to refine that and make sure we’re lining up right.”
The special teams unit brings back kicker Will Morgan and punter Zack Kozlik.
Kozlik said Monday, “It feels good to get the leg swinging again, have the whole team out here, everybody together and practicing.”
Kozlik made an eye-catching impression to start the spring and hit a massive punt that left plenty of hangtime Monday. He’s added strength and says at 345 pounds he set a bench press record and came up 10 pounds shy on hang clean and squats, but broke the all-around lifting and vertical records.
“Just a lot of weight lifting,” Kozlik says about his off-season work. “I punted a few times to get my leg back into it before we came out here. After spring ball I’m just going to keep punting probably three to four times a week, probably 50-to-100 balls (daily).”
After position meetings on Tuesday the Eagles will be back on the fields for its second practice in helmets Wednesday afternoon at 3:30. Practices are open to the public and a few fans withstood the cold and wind Monday to get their first glimpse of the team.
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