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Ross Couch
The Union-Recorder

April 15, 2008 11:29 pm

— The excitement level was high despite the numbers being somewhat low Tuesday at the first spring practice for the Georgia Military College JUCO football team.
Head coach Bert Williams said he has high expectations for the spring workouts.
“We have a bunch of guys returning, and we’ve got a lot of talent,” Williams said. “We lifted and ran all winter quarter, trying to get these guys physically prepared for the increased reps. Now it’s all about polishing the skill. We’re getting these guys ready to start competing.”
The questionable depth on the squad comes mainly on the offensive side of the ball, especially on the line.
“We’re way shorthanded with offensive linemen,” Williams said. “We’ve only got a handful of them right now and can’t get a full unit out there.”
To run 11-on-11 scrimmages, GMC JUCO will place defensive linemen in the offensive units. The ramshackle group may put a strain on certain evaluations, but Williams said he and his staff won’t throw a whole lot on these guys early on.
“We really just want to give these guys the best possible opportunity to succeed,” Williams said. “Scheme wise, we’re simplifying everything right now. We want the guys to focus so their physical abilities can sine through. We’re trying to highlight the abilities of these players.”
The Bulldogs will stray some from the run-dominant offensive playbook that has been the focus in years past, moving more toward a pass-dominant scheme. Williams believes this will get the ball in the hands of the top playmakers on the team.
“We’re definitely going to be putting in some new things, trying to make the offense more pass-oriented,” he said. “We have three major division 1 prospects at wide receiver, and we want to get the ball to those guys. We also have a very experienced and capable quarterback and a solid running back returning, so we have the guys to do some impressive things. The changes we make will highlight the speed and athleticism on the offensive side.”
On defense, Williams’ squad doesn’t have a depth program. The secondary will be three-deep at nearly every position, and the linebacking corps will be solid. Some of those players aren’t at practice right now and won’t report until summer, but Williams is looking forward to seeing how the defense reacts during spring.
“The intensity on defense should be really high right now,” Williams said. “We don’t have the depth problem like we do on offense, but right now we don’t have a lot of the guys we plan on putting on the field. We have a bunch of guys trying to earn a spot. This is the time for open walk-ons, and those guys are going to work hard.”
And making the team comes down to hard quickly each prospective player catches on with the team’s strategy.
“We’re looking at effort, intensity and how fast they catch on to the things we’re throwing at them,” Williams said. “If they struggle to learn these few things early, it shows that they will probably have a really hard time keeping up in the fall. We use a lot of film to show the guys what they need to do to make the team, and we meet with each of them so we can evaluate their progress.”
The evaluations will continue from today until the spring game May 3, but until then the players have a full slate ahead of them.
“These guys aren’t just playing football right now,” Willams said. “They all have a full cadet schedule, a full academic schedule and a full football schedule. They have to work hard. They have to get out here and do what they are told. If they are doing that, that’s a good start.”

Call Sports Editor Ross Couch at (478) 453-1465 or e-mail sports@unionrecorder.com