WONDER BOYS TO OPEN SPRING FOOTBALL DRILLS THURSDAY

        RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech Football is set to open its run of 15 spring practices with between 80-90 players and a renewed enthusiasm starting with a non-pad workout Thursday at Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field.

“We are ready to start with our spring practices,” Tech Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Steve Mullins said. “Our players worked hard during our offseason workouts and are excited to get back out on the field.”

Mullins said that he has two goals this spring for his football team.

“We’re looking to establish our two-deep roster heading into next season and we’re looking to develop some confidence with our new defensive scheme,” the 12th-year Tech coach said.

After running a 3-3 defensive scheme the past few seasons, Tech Defensive Coordinator Benyard Jones has decided to switch back to a scheme he was more comfortable running.

“We are going to try and switch to more of an 8-man front this season, as opposed to the 3-3 we’ve been using the past several seasons,” Jones said. “I’m more comfortable with an 8-man front and I feel like it is a better defensive scheme for our personnel.”

Jones’ defense returns eight starters from last season’s team, but two of those starters, junior defensive end Josh Govan (Crossett, Ark.) and junior defensive end Cedric Cursh (Foreman, Ark.) will miss all of spring football drills. Govan will miss spring football as he is playing with the Wonder Boys baseball team and Cursh will sit out the spring to preserve his remaining one semester of eligibility.

“We will be missing several players on defense this spring, who will be counted on to help us this fall, but I’m excited to see how this new scheme works out,” Mullins said.

Another new aspect this spring with the Wonder Boys will be its practice times. Mullins and his coaching staff decided to practice in mornings this spring. All but five of Tech’s practices will begin at 6:30 a.m. this spring.

“We told our players to not register for any classes before 10 a.m. in the spring semester, so we could conduct all of preseason workouts and our spring drills in the morning,” Mullins added. “So far, the players have liked the idea of our morning workouts, so I’m interested to see how this experiment works in the spring.”

While Tech’s defense is learning a new scheme, the Wonder Boys offense will continue to run the spread attack that was installed last spring by Offensive Coordinator Scott Preston. In Preston’s first season last fall, Tech’s offense averaged 31.7 points and gained nearly 355 yards per game, including gaining 1,555 yards and averaging 518.3 yards per game over its final three games of the season.

“Our offense needs to continue to make improvement and that will be benefited by the return of several starters, including at quarterback, running back and receiver,” the Tech coach said. “We need to find some depth at tailback, establish who our back-ups are at quarterback behind Cole (Barthel) and establish positions on the offensive line.”

Tech’s offense returns junior quarterbacks Cole Barthel (Decatur, Ala.) and Justin Ray (Benton, Ark.), along with sophomore running back Tim Childress (Batesville, Ark.) and junior receivers Tracey Stiger (Russellville, Ark.) and Landon Turner (Destrehan, La.).

Mullins said that Barthel, who suffered a knee injury against North Alabama last season and missed Tech’s final five games, will go through spring workouts, but will not participate in any contact drills.

One area of concern for Mullins is offensive line where only three starters return from last season. The returning starters are junior tackles Jeremy Ashcraft (Marshall, Texas) and Shannon Dixon (Tiller, Ark.) and sophomore Torrance Wright (Sulphur Springs, Texas). Mullins said Wright will move to center this spring after playing both guard and center last season.

“We have some talented young men that contributed some last season returning, but it is important that we develop and establish positions on the line heading into the fall,” Mullins added.

 The Wonder Boys enter the spring also looking to improve its kicking game from last season, according to Mullins.

Tech returns sophomore placekicker Travis Cockerham (Bryant, Ark.) and signed a kicker, Kyle Lusinger, in February during National Signing Day, who will be freshman in the fall.

While its kicking game needs to improve from last season, Tech looks solid in its other special teams entering the spring, according to Mullins. The Wonder Boys return junior All-America Michael Podobnik (Frankfort, Ill.) and junior Nick McCaskill (Camden, Ark.) at punter, along with its top return specialist in Stiger and both of its deep snappers from a year ago.

Last season, Podobnik earned All-America honors after setting a new GSC and school record for single-season punting average (45.2 yards per punt). The 45.2 yard average was the top punting mark among all NCAA D-II punters last season.

Another change this spring is the addition of former graduate assistant coach Garren Rockwell to the team’s staff as an assistant coach. Rockwell replaces Greg Williams who left in December to become an assistant coach on Dave Wannstedt’s staff at the University of Pittsburgh. With Rockwell’s addition to the coaching staff, Tech has moved Ryan Wallace from receivers coach to defensive backs coach and has made Rockwell the running backs coach.

The Wonder Boys will conclude spring ball with the annual ‘Senior Bowl’ on Tuesday, April 29. The Senior Bowl is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at Thone Stadium. In addition to the Senior Bowl, Tech will also conduct scrimmages on Friday, April 18 at 7 a.m. and will have its annual Green and Gold Spring Scrimmage on Saturday, April 26 at 10 a.m.

Listed below are the dates of all 15 of Tech’s spring football practices.

Thursday, April 3 – 6:30 a.m. (non-pad)

Friday, April 4 – 6:30 a.m. (non-pad)

Saturday, April 5 – 9 a.m. (non-tackle)

Monday, April 7 – 6:30 a.m. (tackle)

Wednesday, April 9 – 6:30 a.m. (tackle)

Friday, April 11 – 6:30 a.m. (non-tackle)

Saturday, April 12 – 9 a.m. (tackle)

Monday, April 14 – 6:30 a.m. (tackle)

Wednesday, April 16 – 6:30 a.m. (non-tackle)

Friday, April 18 – Scrimmage #1 – 7 a.m. (Thone Stadium)

Tuesday, April 22 – 6:30 a.m. (tackle)

Thursday, April 24 – 6:30 a.m. (non-tackle)

Friday, April 25 – Link-It-Up Golf Outing at Lions Den Golf Club

Saturday, April 26 – Green and Gold Game – 10:00 a.m. (Thone Stadium)

Monday, April 28 – TBA (non-pad)

Tuesday, April 29 – Senior Bowl – 7 p.m. (Thone Stadium)

 -- Tech Athletics --