There is… an… option.
Well, three if you want to be specific.
The first spring football practice of the year got underway Monday, and mismanaged snaps, fumbled pitches and confusion were apparent themes of the afternoon as the Georgia Southern Eagles put into practice the triple-option offense they’ve been learning on paper for the past few months.
Of course on day one, that’s to be expected.
To me, what was refreshing was the no-nonsense approach taken by, well, everyone.
The offensive miscues were met by the first-year coaching staff with stern correction, but rather than frustration, the team showed a willingness to get back up and do it again.
The players seem to be taking a realistic approach to the new scheme. They didn’t try to do too much with it, they didn’t get down on themselves after running an unsuccessful play and, perhaps most importantly, they took direction.
Communication is probably the most important aspect of installing a foreign system, and there was plenty of that. Every play was followed by communication. Not a single mistake went unaddressed, and not a single read, block or decision went unchallenged and when something went right – a pitch, a pass, a read, or even something as simple as lining up where you’re supposed to – they heard about it.
As early as it is in this whole process, that’s an encouraging sign.
There’s a long, long road ahead, but nobody is mixing words right now. Everyone is in the process of feeling each other out, nobody is sure who will line up where when the season kicks off in September and most guys don’t know what their role on this team is going to be.
The crazy thing about it is, everybody seemed okay with that. After all that’s happened over the past four months, the argument could be made that a bunch of disgruntled guys out there should be understandable, if not expected, but that wasn’t the case.
Sure, we’re only one day into spring practice and you never know what’s going to happen, but to me, that’s a good start.
And you’ve got to start somewhere.
Now that the first impressions have come and gone, it will be interesting to see what happens. The starting backfield at the spring game on April 17 could be Leander Barney, Darreion Robinson, Chris Teal and Brandon Nolley. It could be Russell DeMasi, Zeke Rozier, Nico Hickey and J.J. Wilcox. It could be a combination of any of those guys, or none of them.
And regardless of who starts the Blue/White game, it could be a completely different group in the fall.
The only sure thing right now is that there’s a group of coaches telling the players how they’re going to win, and a group of athletes with no other choice but to take what they learn and believe it will work.
With a future that’s anything but certain, that’s a good place to get the ball rolling.
And for right now, it’s okay if the ball’s rolling, as long as someone picks it up.
Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9408.