Spring ball

Spring ball starts Monday!



Did Bronco have a Spring ball presser today? It appears so, does anyone have an more info on what he talked about?



I was looking at the twitter feed and noticed that we have a kid named McCoy Hill, as a QB. What is his story? Walk-on, preferred walk-on? Just curious. Also I noticed the position change of Austen Jorgensen from LB to full back and it said that Pritchard wouldn't be back until fall ball. If there are any Dr's or experts out there, how long does it typically take to recover from the injury that was sustained by Iona?

Hill got off his mission and transfered from Standford.

Wrong Hill. Taysom Hill transferred from Standford after his mission. McCoy Hill grey shirted last year. 6'5" QB out of Jordan High School. http://byu.scout.com/2/1044807.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I am only familiar with Stanford and possibly Samford - where is Standford.



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A lot of guys are out from surgeries. KVN, Iona Pritchard still out as mentioned, I think others are out as well due to surgeries.



OC is back for spring, but still not 100% for 2012 season. Still hoops.



Lark is #2, per Bronco. Said worked too hard to not have it. And I agree with him.



Spring ball this year sounds as if it will be more about developing young guys, and getting RIley some wrinkles with his O.



Scrimmage is March 24 at LES.

Loved this quote from Bronco about Riley:



“Our team and our coaching staff trust Riley because of who he is. If you happen to be trailing and there's a long field, I think the program itself just believes he's going to find some way to help you win the game.”

Ross Apo stated that after first day of practice he felt there are several things he needs to work on: catching balls in traffic, foot work (getting into breaks quicker - for short game). He noted the competition is fierce, lots of fights broke out and Bronco is treating this like fall camp as far as the intensity goes. Expectations are high and players are supposed to know the plays and the spots they should be in. I like the way the attitude is focused on taking it to the next level.

Mike Hague stated that August is geared more towards opponent preparation while Spring is position mastery and learning about the players that you will be working with. Trust in teammates and becoming assignment sound is the primary focus on both sides of the ball and apparently carries over into the Fall which can lead to great things if everyone is on the same page. Apparently not the case last year. He thinks that there is a lot of depth in the defensive backfield - and there is a battle everyday for the position. Hague played boundary corner with Preston Hadley being out while Joe Sampson played Free Safety.

Riley was disappointed that he felt the players weren't as prepared as he anticipated so that he had to intervene and make sure things were run correctly. He is trying to impress upon the players that they should know the plays and step up. He is very vocal and letting the players know what is expected of them. I see a lot fire in him and he is pushing everyone hard. Love his approach - this is his team to lead. He said the teammates are very cohesive and although there were fights - nothing carried over into the locker room. His number one goals are high percentage passes, efficient disributor, and completion rate with minimal turnovers. Plans on letting the players (RBs, WRs) get the ball and make the plays. He is focused on becoming the best he can be and he feels the pressure to perform and feels that he could be benched if he doesn't perform - doesn't feel entitled and wants to get better not coast as a senior.

Lark stated that he supports Riley in every way but that he will push him as hard as he can in order for both to improve. He stated that the talent level is out the roof over the last five years he has played - expects great things from the team. He is practicing hard so that if he does have to come in - he will have the mindset of a starter.

Love reading this stuff. It's great.

Bronco stated that he could feel that Riley is very competitive and spurs everyone to be that way - including the defense. They all want to be good - and he is a very good leader. He is hoping is senior year will be similar to past successes.



Looking to establish two deep coming out of Spring. Key is to develop chemistry over 15 practices and develop a program that will leverage this competitive nature. Lots of time is spent teaching and working on execution (3 days teaching - change should occur on Friday). Trying to close the gap between experienced and inexperienced players.



Likes the ability to travel with Independence - says that 2013 will be a very fun year with great teams scheduled and coming to Provo.



Cody Hoffman is in good shape and playing well. Juice Q. and Alisa are taking on leadership role without the OL experienced players there for Spring Ball. Likes the way they are leading team as well.

Interesting news in camp:



1. Unexpected return of fullback Iona Pritchard after he suffered a season-ending broken leg and dislocated ankle during fall camp last year. Pritchard ran drills with the team on Monday, and caught a very difficult pass out of the backfield and headed up the sideline with confidence. He is looking good and was expected to originally return by summer.



2. Devin Mahina also returned to action following a neck injury in fall camp last year.



3. O'Neill Chambers returned, and is playing safety.



4. We have two rugby players: Paul Lasike (RB) and Forrester (NG). Both are talented, strong and quick.

First day position alignments (interesting combos):



Defensive Line:



LE: Eathyn Manumaleuna, Mike Muehlmann, Michael Doman



NT: Romney Fuga, Marques Johnson, Ray Forrester (rugby player)



RE: Ian Dulan, Moses Kaumatule, Simote Vea



FBs: Michael Alisa (combo back), Zed Mendenhall, Austen Jorgensen, Iona Pritchard



RBs: Juice Quezada, Adam Hine, Paul Lasike (rugby player)





Linebackers:



SLB: Alani Fua and Spencer Hadley, Seth Probert



MLB: Uona Kaveinga, Zac Stout, Manoa Pikula



BLB: Brandon Ogletree, Tyler Beck, Riley Bushman



WLB: Ezekiel Ansah and Kevan Bills, Tanner Cox and Connell Hess



Defensive Backfield:



FC: Jordan Johnson, Cameron Comer



KAT: Daniel Sorensen, Chase Pendley, Jray Galea'i



FS: Mike Hague, Joe Sampson, Skye Po'vey



BC: Robbie Buckner, DeQuann Everett

Something else that made me take notice. With all of the coaches returning back (sans Morris as GA), there appears to be more continuity and carryover of experience from last year which was translated to the players.



Key point: The first day of Spring practice had a faster tempo than what was seen a year ago. The overall energy was high, and when coupled with the tempo, that led to a feistier first day than what’s normally expected. This team seems to have a different attitude than last year - little more swagger, fiestiness, ultra competitive. I think Riley has something to do with this and certainly Bronco encourages him to lead with his same attitude.

I loved this quote from Riley:

When asked if he feels more at ease knowing that there is no QB controversy heading into this year's season Nelson responded, "who says there's no question about it, I could stink it up. I didn't complete a ball today in team and if that trend continues, I'll be on the bench as quickly as anyone else."

byucougar1 wrote:
I am only familiar with Stanford and possibly Samford - where is Standford.



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You guys really need to get out of the bubble more often:



http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&ix=sea&ion=1&biw=1680&bih=925&q=standford,+hampshire,+england&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x487433fd51b23a25:0xf1a74feea4eee88c,Standford,+Hampshire,+UK&gl=us&ei=aCJWT8a3MpPAtgeg762BCQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCEQ8gEwAA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

SpiffCoug wrote:
I loved this quote from Riley:

When asked if he feels more at ease knowing that there is no QB controversy heading into this year's season Nelson responded, "who says there's no question about it, I could stink it up. I didn't complete a ball today in team and if that trend continues, I'll be on the bench as quickly as anyone else."

Love Nelson's statement as well but it brings up this uneasy feeling in the back of my mind that Lark could outperform Nelson moving the ball which would be horrible in my opinion because I don't think I can take a qb controversy again. Lark moved the ball better than Nelson on day one. Lets hope that doesn't continue. I really hope that Nelson has some serious separation between him and Lark.

Did any of you Utahns see the news last night with the Riley interview? He was looking pretty scruffy--here's to hoping that his abs and flowing locks take a backseat this year to his uncontrollable 5-o'clock shadow. If we could just harness this man's testosterone...

byucougar1--thanks so much for all your wonderful reporting. It's great to get a picture of how camp is progressing.

jonnylingo wrote:

Love Nelson's statement as well but it brings up this uneasy feeling in the back of my mind that Lark could outperform Nelson moving the ball which would be horrible in my opinion because I don't think I can take a qb controversy again. Lark moved the ball better than Nelson on day one. Lets hope that doesn't continue. I really hope that Nelson has some serious separation between him and Lark.

I really don't expect Riley's practice numbers to be better than Lark's. In fact I would not be surprised if Lark's practice numbers were better than Riley's throughout spring and fall camp.



Riley's a 'gamer'. He needs a game environment for him to thrive in. It's that ability to 'will' the team to success that makes Riley our best option. I don't think he has ever been or ever will be the practice QB that Jake was. Bronco knows this, Brandon knows this, there will be no controversy. Riley will be our QB.