2008 Woodie Awards
Football team begins spring practice with high hopes
Stefan Hunt
Issue date: 4/6/06 Section: Sports
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Fresh off the heels of the program's first winning season in nearly a decade, the Chattanooga football team started spring drills in hopes of taking the program a step further this season and compete for a playoff berth in the rugged Southern Conference.
Spring practice gave the returning players a chance to get accustomed to three new coaches and their new philosophies.
"Having new coaches on the staff in the spring is not difficult," head coach Rodney Allison said. "There are very few situations where we are not on the same page. We are all thinking the same way about 99 percent of the time."
First-year running back coach Jay Graham has introduced different drills to his talented group of runners that focuses on agility and holding onto the football.
The former University of Tennessee star should have no trouble with depth this season as Chattanooga returns all-conference senior Eldra Buckley to go along with Josef Rutley and newcomer Travis Evans who arrives this fall.
Allison and Graham also made the decision to move wide receiver T.T. Harper to tailback due to his explosiveness, and they are eager to see him in the backfield.
The spring practice also brought some bad news as defensive lineman Brian Lomax broke his leg and will more than likely miss the upcoming season.
Lomax is a huge loss to an already thin defensive line, and Allison will surely miss his non-stop motor.
Chattanooga is also thin on the offensive line this spring as evident when senior kicker Estaban Lopez served as the snapper to the quarterbacks during skeleton passing drills.
Though don't look for Lopez to be making his debut at center anytime soon, as he was just helping out during the non-contact drills.
The team went through several 9-on-7 drills with nine defensive players and seven offensive players and also worked on game-like situations in full gear.
Tailback Buckley showed that last year was no fluke as he scored on a 17-yard dash despite the presence of extra defenders.
Spring practice gave the returning players a chance to get accustomed to three new coaches and their new philosophies.
"Having new coaches on the staff in the spring is not difficult," head coach Rodney Allison said. "There are very few situations where we are not on the same page. We are all thinking the same way about 99 percent of the time."
First-year running back coach Jay Graham has introduced different drills to his talented group of runners that focuses on agility and holding onto the football.
The former University of Tennessee star should have no trouble with depth this season as Chattanooga returns all-conference senior Eldra Buckley to go along with Josef Rutley and newcomer Travis Evans who arrives this fall.
Allison and Graham also made the decision to move wide receiver T.T. Harper to tailback due to his explosiveness, and they are eager to see him in the backfield.
The spring practice also brought some bad news as defensive lineman Brian Lomax broke his leg and will more than likely miss the upcoming season.
Lomax is a huge loss to an already thin defensive line, and Allison will surely miss his non-stop motor.
Chattanooga is also thin on the offensive line this spring as evident when senior kicker Estaban Lopez served as the snapper to the quarterbacks during skeleton passing drills.
Though don't look for Lopez to be making his debut at center anytime soon, as he was just helping out during the non-contact drills.
The team went through several 9-on-7 drills with nine defensive players and seven offensive players and also worked on game-like situations in full gear.
Tailback Buckley showed that last year was no fluke as he scored on a 17-yard dash despite the presence of extra defenders.
