Lafayette FB: A trip to Spring camp

Offensive coordinator John Van Dam works with three qiarterbacks at spring camp./

Twelve players who were in the starting lineup the last time Lafayette’s football team played a game – and a good number of others who saw a good deal of action against arch-rival Lehigh last November – are back for 2018, but earlier this week head coach John Garrett said, “Every year, you have to put the team back together.”

What he means is after losing two dozen seniors and several others who left the program early to seek more playing time elsewhere, and after another 18 rising sophomores are coming through their first winter weight training program, are not the same.

“It’s obvious that you lose the seniors and the (2018) freshmen aren’t here yet, but everyone who’s here is a different person (than last fall),” Garrett said. “They could be 10 pounds heavier; they’re stronger, faster, so they assume different roles, too. We have to identify who can handle that and lay out expectations and challenge them to achieve on one side of the ball or some aspect of the game. They are just a year older and more comfortable with the system. They assume roles – leadership roles within a position or a certain side of ball.”

When I visited Fisher Stadium for the first time on Tuesday, the first thing that struck me was the small number of players in pads for the first time this spring. I counted heads during the pre-practice stretch and got just 18 defensive players in white and 31 others in the offense’s maroon jerseys. 

About a handful of players straggled in after completing their afternoon classes, and a number of others were missing with injuries, none of which was serious, I was assured. I wasn’t close enough long enough to put together a missing-persons list, but I can say there were two that I am sure of.

Defensive back Eric Mitchell, who is expected to be perhaps the best of the returning players in the secondary, is practicing while rehabbing a shoulder. The other missing man I noticed was quarterback Reed Aichholz, who was conspicuously absent from the small group working with new offensive coordinator-QBs coach John Van Dam. I got no information about Aichholz’s apparent injury.

“We had more seniors on defense (last year), not by much, then we had some injuries,” Garrett said about the short-handed defense. “We’re a little bit shorter, but we’ll get some guys back who recently got injured. We also had a strong representation on defense that we had to replace, and that’s reflected in our recruiting class. We got four defensive linemen and five defensive backs to make sure we replenish on that side of the ball.”

Since I hadn’t talked to him on either of the signing days, I asked for an overall opinion of the class.

“We feel good about it,” he said – as I was sure he would. “We finished strong. We had a good core group in December and had seven or eight (scholarships) left (for February). We were able to improve strength and size on both lines and improve team speed on both sides of the ball. Guys who can run and be threats. As soon as they show that they know what they’re able to do, we’re ready to play them. We will have good competition with existing guys on team.”

It was a pretty typical Garrett practice, with lots of things going on at all times, no one standing around very long. Sometimes two different groups worked the same drill simultaneously, a practice that Garrett used extensively last year in order to give more players some true reps rather than standing on the sidelines.

My favorite drill was one Garrett called “half-line.” A couple of offensive and defensive linemen, a quarterback and running back on the offensive side, and a linebacker and a defensive back on the other side. Garrett said he had used the drill during the spring and summer practices last year, but I didn’t remember seeing it.

“It’s a good way to get a lot of reps in the run game while not wearing out the offensive linemen,” Garrett said. “Always in the spring, you have less offensive linemen, particularly us, with seniors graduating. You get good reps without causing piles (of players that can lead to fluke injuries) and practice safe, but also get your work in on the running game. We got tons of reps.”

The other interesting drill was something called “lions and gazelles.” According to Garrett, “Basically, it’s a kickoff coverage-and-return drill. You have a blocker and a return guy. It’s a really competitive drill to see who’s athletic in space, who’s tough to take on or deliver a collision and then get off a block or maintain a block. It applies to all aspects (of play); it’s a great drill to see how athletic, how tough and how physical they are.”

The practice ended with about 20 plays of “live” hitting in which the defense had the upper hand. The best plays were a hit that jarred the ball loose from running back Selwyn Simpson after a nice gain and a Colin Thorne interception of a Sean O’Malley pass, which Thorne returned for a “touchdown.”

Simpson, a rising sophomore who had a couple of flashes of promise last season, needs to find a way to protect the ball if he is to become the Leopards’ rushing leader. He put on about 20 pounds over the winter, and Garrett praised his work. He has the tools, but obviously has work to do.

So does O’Malley, whose five pick-6 interceptions and 217 rushing yards lost (most of them on QB sacks) last season tainted a rookie campaign that included 12 touchdown passes and a 60.7-percent completion percentage. Garrett stuck with him through all the inconsistencies, but from what he said to me – and you can read that in the print edition of The Morning Call – he’s looking for sophomore-year gains. 

I never heard the words "no incumbents" but I thought his comment was interesting enough that I made the quarterback situation the focus of the story. Maybe Garrett intended it as a wake-up call.

O’Malley was first in on Tuesday, but after about five plays, Cole Northrup got a shot. I found it interesting that on his first or second play, he faked the ball to the running back and took off on what seemed to be a designed run. Northrup threw for 7,000+ yards and 72 touchdowns in high school and I know the previous Leopards' staff liked his running capability, too. So, what does one play at the end of an April practice mean? Garrett had nice things to say about him, too.

It was a cold, dreary day and I don’t think I got the most out of the practice, but the weather and the football are sure to get better between now and the Maroon & White game on April 21.

EXTRA POINTS – Five returning players have switched numbers for 2018. They are WR Nick Pearson, who is now wearing Rocco Palumbo’s #6; DB Otis Thrasher, who has Josh Davis’ #12; WR Julian Spigner, who has taken Nick Franzese’s #18;  Simpson, who has taken Phil Parham’s #22 ; (a move from defense to offense), and linebacker Ryan Dickens, who has taken Brandon Bryant’s #33 (huge jersey to fill there) … According to SID Phil LaBella, the roster includes four players trying to make it as walk-ons. They are #36 RB Antonio Brewer, #37 DB Clennie Murphy, #47 Logan Whelan and #48 WR Sullivan O’Brien. The latter two are freshmen … The only double number this season is #15, shared by returning QB Michael Lewis and freshman DB Jordan Anderson … The roster stands at 87, three short of the Patriot League maximum ... Check out all the rubber pellets mixed in with the snow on the running track at Fisher. Someone is going to be in for a big job when all that snow melts and the pellets have to be put back on he field somehow.