The first spring practice of the year was held at Husky Stadium today on a windy, cold spring day. It was fun walking up to the stadium; the baseball team was starting a game, the softball team was practicing (I only hope Danielle Lawrie saw me and fell in love at first sight) and there were a couple hundred people watching practice. There was a good amount of energy in the air and the players seemed happy to be on the field. The team wasn’t in pads yet and won’t be until next week.
I remember coming to the first spring practice last year and being blown away by the amount of energy the coaches brought. Today was no different. On numerous occasions I watched coaches sprint 20 or 30 yards to a player to either tell them what they did wrong or to give them praise for a good play. I was also impressed by the amount of time the staff puts into one-on-one coaching. From Jake Locker to Clarence Trent, the coaches give a good amount of effort to get their point across to each player in one way or another.
I was watching the quarterbacks for a good share of the time today and it was about what I expected. Jake Locker looked good, Keith Price and Nick Montana had some good moments but also had some shaky moments. The wind gusts blowing off the lake often affected their deep passes. My first impression of Nick Montana is that he has a good arm but is very skinny. He threw some very good balls and will improve as he becomes more comfortable with the speed of practice. Keith Price is an amazing athlete and if he ever develops into a good passer he could become quite the threat at quarterback. Right now he reminds me of Dennis Dixon in his first few years at Oregon.
Alvin Logan was the starting strongside linebacker, as expected. He rushed off the edge many times and looked very quick doing it. The news of the day was Clarence Trent (UW basketball player) walking on to the football team as a defensive end. Nick Holt coached him up numerous times and although Trent looked lost at times, he seems to have some raw talent. For whatever it’s worth, he’s the tallest player on the defense and probably the team.
Greg Christine appears to be the backup center behind Drew Shaeffer. I thought this was interesting at first because he was a starting guard last year but the more I think about it the more it makes sense. Who else do the Huskies have to put there? Christine seems like the best option as a backup and it’s good to have him understand both spots.
A few more notes after the jump on players who had a good day. Continue reading
Andrew Long
dpscansen
Joe Loughery
Matthew
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