2017 Spring Practice Schedule and Game

[Coyote Fan]

Of course when it comes to spring practice such as the one at the dome last night for every perceived strength or good play there is an equal and opposite weakness or bad play. Regardless of what happens this spring the key to this team will be the play of the defense and how they compliment the offense. With a D that has so much trouble stopping the run teams are going to want to play ball control offense more then ever against the Coyotes especially as a way to keep the Coyote offense off the field.

I have very little doubt that the offense is going to be lethal but the key is with how this offense is designed they have to keep in attack mode for the entire game or until it is mathmatically impossible for a team to come back within reason. We will see how much Nielson has learning about not letting the finger off the trigger.

The defense cannot afford to just play straight up if teams are moving the ball and keeping them on the field too long. It would be time to go into high risk/reward mode if that were to happen.

I think next season is very simple in my mind. Keep the offense attacking the entire game and keep the defense in a mode that they need to get off the field as soon as possible even if it risks giving up a touchdown. It is not the job of the offense to keep the D off the field, that is the job of the defense itself.

[flagshipU]

Great post obc. The overall depth was a noticeable improvement (even with the injured players out) as this was a major weakness in the past. I believe that Coach Nielson commented that they couldn't have a "red vs white" game last year due to the lack of depth. Overall confidence in the systems was evident as well.

Both Simmons and Streveler have improved their command over the offense and it is apparent that their teammates believe in and respect them as leaders. Simmons got into a groove on a couple of series where every throw was on the money (if only the WR's would have caught them).

RB's will need to continue to improve. All looked capable, but none showed that "it" factor.

Defense definitely looks improved from a size and speed standpoint.

Overall, this will be a fun bunch to watch this fall. I'd look for a few of the incoming freshmen to make contributions as well.

[yotefbfan]

Watched the game live and then got a chance to rewatch the game and thought I would make my observations. Overall, the biggest difference with the team I saw this weekend compared to last spring is their overall size. This looks like a team built for the MVFC. Here are my grades for each position group.

Offensive line: A- I thought this was a much-improved group. They seemed to win most battles with the d-line. They opened up some nice holes and did a terrific job on some of the back side pulls. Loved the overall size here, most of the guys who will see playing time next fall are in the 285 to 305 range. Transfer Cody Jennings and R-Fr Scheidigger stood at as new faces.

Quarterbacks: B Streveler and Simmons did not disappoint and both look physically strong. Tsagalis and Kaiser looked like they have both developed and should push for playing time soon, but until then give great depth. Obviously, without being able to truly run the ball they were limited, but I thought the short passing game looked crisp and the deep game still needs some more work and improved timing. Either way, very confident in this position going into next year.

Running backs: B- Saw limited use of Fredrick, but this was probably intentional since he is the only returner with experience and they need to develop the depth. Klett and Falaniko stood out. Klett gives great size and a quickness and followed his block well. Falaniko is a bull who looks solid for short yards and is tough to bring down, did not see his open field ability? Expect to see 4 or 5 guys see significant playing time next year, more of RB by committee, but lots of hope for the long run with the R-Fr looking good.

Receivers: B- Maybe a tough grade, especially after watching Van Roekel do such a great job adjusting to the ball and running after the catch, but just too many drops overall. Route running looked great as there always seemed to be someone open. The quality and depth at this position make this a strength going into next year. Brooks did not play and he will only give added strength and they also have a big recruit, Crawford who looks like he could contribute?

Offence overall: A solid B to B+. When you put the groups back together, this could be a fun group with tons of depth and athleticism no real concerns going into next year.

Defensive Line: C Maybe the biggest area of concern here. The Defensive End position looks solid. Kam Cline and Greenfield look to be the main guys but the depth of young kids looks good with Richardson, Davis, and Kramer all looking like they can contribute next year. At DT, outside of Headlee, Lambert and Whitcomb I get concerned. Could be a spot for a true freshman to step up or do not be surprised if they go get a JC player or another transfer to provide depth.

Linebacker: B It was difficult to judge this group with Wessel and Matthew not playing in the middle, but I thought Woodward did a good job especially in his drops as a former QB/DB, but not sure on his ability to fill and stop the run. Two that stood out for me were the early HS grad Joe Kordus and R-Fr Andy Aune. Kordos just looked like a natural, hopefully, he can build some size this summer. Aune looked strong and a solid tackler. With returnees like Gray, Litrenta, and Coker we should be fine here in the fall.

Defensive Backs: C As previously mentioned, the receivers seemed to be open often! Our coverage was not great and they benefited by some untimely drops. I noticed Judge was not out there and he was missed. The offence never challenged Rambo, so that is hard to judge, Open field tackles looked good, but the group as a whole needs to continue to develop. A lot of young players to go along with a good returning group, so hopefully, it was just our great passing game and they look better against our opponents.

Defence overall: C+ Still a lot of room for improvement but once everyone is back together they might be much better. Overall depth is a concern for the entire defence, but the coaches seem to recognise this and have recruited to improve the D.

Special Teams: Hard to grade this group. Did not see any glaring issues, but we will see in the fall.

Coaching: A   I Loved the whole event. Nice to have a good tailgate and saw lots of recruits on visits getting a look at the program. Great job of using the day as a recruiting tool. Simple offence and defence schemes in this game, but did not expect to see anything else. Great job to highlight many of the young R-Fr from this staff's first recruiting class. They all had chances to step up and shine and many names emerged as players we will start to see next year contribute and maybe become stars. It was clear, the staff spent the off-season getting the team stronger and developing the depth. The future looks very bright.

My early outlook is this team could sneak up on a few teams. The offence may be as good as any around and the defence will be better than last year and hopefully, can continue to improve. I would not be surprised to see us put up some good numbers next year and I do not anticipate as many overtime games. Opponents with a solid offence will give us issues but we could be looking at a 6-5 and maybe a 7-4 season with a trip to the playoffs a real possibility. Lots to be excited about if you're a Yote fan!

[coyote70]

Good read! Maybe you and obc should be writing for the Argus ... ? Thanks a lot for posting!

[easmus]

Only things I would add are that I believe Judge had surgery after the season, so that is probably why he wasn't playing. I too liked Falaniko and Klett. Looked good. I was unimpressed with Streveler. He still struggles to read defenses and makes up his mind where to throw before he even snaps the ball. Not being able to truly scramble hamstrings him though in this format. Hopefully the offense can put up a lot of points next season to take some pressure off the D.

I spoke with a new recruits dad during the tailgate as we were parked by them. They had traveled from a distance, but could not have been more impressed with our coaching staff. His son had been offered by other MVFC schools closer to home, but said his son thought our guys were very genuine, organized, and the other schools couldn't compare. I was very encouraged by what he was telling me, and welcomed him to the pack and we look forward to seeing his son play.

[obc]

Tonight I just watched the Midco coverage of the Spring Game. We are fortunate to have that type of quality coverage. Shout out to Jay Elsen and the entire Midco staff. Very well done.

During their broadcast they had some information they posted on the screen detailing which players the coaches think really stood out as top performers this spring as well as more detail on some of the players' injuries:

Players the USD FB Staff felt stood out this spring:

QB - Chris Streveler and Austin Simmons
RB - Michael Frederick and Ben Klett
WR - Brandt Van Roekel and Dakari Allen
TE - Aaron Ramsey and Josh Hale
OL - Nick Jensen and Stetson Dagel
DL - Kameron Cline
LB - Jim Litrenta
DB - Danny Rambo

Listed as out for the Spring game with injuries:

Alonge Brooks, WR
Jake Leohr, DE (Shoulder)
John Wessel, LB (Shoulder)
Jake Matthew, LB
Joe Schlager, RB
Ethan Roth, DL
Max Frank, DL
Ed Kennedy, RG (Back)
Luis Peguero, TE (Knee)
Matt Johnson, LB

Marchalo Judge and Trystn Ducker were not listed in the injury report but obviously didn't play. Either it was an unintentional omission or they did not play for other reasons.

Going back and watching the game again, this was a good scrimmage and effort. Hope the improvement continues over the summer.

[yotebewithyou]

i saw pictures of a videoboard on a trailer at the tailgate. how was it and what was it showing??

[Yotes]

Apr 23, 2017 21:51:02 GMT -6 yotebewithyou said:

i saw pictures of a videoboard on a trailer at the tailgate. how was it and what was it showing??

Audio left something to be desired, but it was showing the rosters and spring videos that the athletic department has been putting out this spring. Bob seemed to imply we can expect it to be a part of tailgating this fall. I think it's the video board from the track facility.

[sportschic]

I agree with yotebfan to a point......but we have to remember that all the teams we are going to play in 2017 watched our spring game to scout it. The coaches stayed very conservative on purpose. I believe they did not want to reveal much. I can tell you that the corners played very conservative and it was obvious that the coach just focused on not giving up the long ball. He didn't want emphasis on the short pass. They also didn't press-bail at all or use nearly as many techniques that they know how to play. The coaches intent was to make it as competitive and as fun as possible to a very controlled point. The size, strength and increase in speed overall was the most noticeable part of the spring game. I can see that there are definitely more weapons on offense than last year and more speed on defense. After this spring game I am now even more sure that the close games we lost last year will be our win this year which will make us playoff contenders!! As far as the DL yes the interior line is suspect right now but the incoming freshman class has some what I call "HOGS" coming in which Coach Moose is going to get them ready to contribute in a BIG way!

[obc]

One other interesting fact mentioned on the Midco Broadcast - before the 2016 Spring Football practices only 5 players on the team could squat over 500 lbs. When they tested before the 2017 Spring Football practices 28 could. This number will keep growing and I imagine will show up on the field.

[YoKid]

The corner scheme is conservative anyhow...4-3 zone, not gonna see a lot of press, man, cover 0, and definetly not in the Spring Game. With the starting corners returning I expect that group to be fine. The spotlight will be on the DL...

Not uncommon to give QBs/WRs/offense room to work being defense is usually ahead of the offense; not gonna see many blitz packages or man coverage.