So spring practice starts today. Again for those who are looking to head out to Spaudling today or sometime in next few days here is the tentetive schedule from the official site:
- Week One - April 2 (4:00 pm), April 3 (4:00 pm) and April 4 (11:00 am).
- Week Two - April 6 (4:00 pm), April 7 (4:00 pm), April 9 (4:00 pm) and April 11 (12:30 pm).
- Week Three - April 13 (4:00 pm), April 14 (4:00 pm), April 16 (4:00 pm) and April 17 (4:00 pm).
- Week Four - April 20 (4:00 pm), April 21 (4:00 pm), April 23 (4:00 pm) and April 25 (7:00 pm Spring Game at the Rose Bowl).
All of these sessions are open to public. So for those who really want to learn about this team, this is probably the best time.
Dohn starts his spring coverage with a focus on the QB situations. Some interesting comments from Coach Chow re. his two QBs - Prince and Brehaut - who will get bulk of the reps at least in the early going. First, Chow had this say about Prince:
"He's been in the system as long as anybody, so he's got to have it down mentally," Chow said. "Now, he's just got to let his athleticism go. He's got to compete. This is his opportunity. "He's smart, got a good, strong arm. He's very accurate, (has) a lot of leadership factors." Apparently the staff was thinking of putting Prince in during desperate times last season but held off because they didn't want burn his redshirt year. Moreover, they wanted to make sure he was completely healed up from his injury. Meanwhile, Kevin had this to say about coming back from injury (he suffered in the first game of his senior year in high school) and also putting off his mission:
"There were times last year when it was hurting, and I was a little concerned about it during training camp, but as the season wore on it didn't bother me all," Prince said. "It doesn't hinder anything I do. It feels fine. There's no problems, and there haven't been for a while." Prince also said UCLA's quarterback situation also called him to put his mission plan on hold. "I've put it off for now," Prince said. "It's definitely something I want to do in the future, but with the opportunity of possibly being able to play this year this has been my goal for a very long time and I wan to see it through." As for Brehaut, folks don't expect too much out of this kid at least for now. He just got the playbook: "I would say it's about 30 different pass concepts, probably 25 run concepts, and I need to know our protections as well," Brehaut said. "Each page is, `Here's what happens in cover-2, here's what happens in cover-2 Tampa, here's what happens in cover-4, here's what happens in two-man.' "You have to know all that. Ninety-three pages by Day One." At Los Osos High of Rancho Cucamonga, Brehaut said there were approximately 50 plays, and he learned them in his sophomore year. "I've had a lot of meetings with coach Chow," Brehaut said. "I was probably in there four hours (Monday) night and I'm going to meet (Tuesday) for another two hours. We also had a quarterback meeting at 6:30 a.m. (Tuesday)." Again, I would remind anyone expecting too much out of this kid to google "J.P. Losman + UCLA." I think the most important thing for Brehaut will be to first getting used to the rhythm of attending classes and keeping up the pace at practice. Once he gets used to that (in addition to meeting all the basic demands from his staff), I think he will put himself at a good place heading into this Fall. Even Chow isn't expecting much out of Brehaut at this point of time. Here is what he said when he was reminded of Phillip Rivers, the last true frosh who got to start under him: "Rivers was probably as advanced a freshman as you will have," Chow said. "He's the son of a coach. He's been around ball his whole life, and he's a gym rat. Is Brehaut that way? I don't know if they make them that way anymore." LOL @ classic Chow. While we are all going to be intrigued about the QBs, Neuheisel and coaches will also going to very interested to find out how our OL shapes up in next few days: Center Kai Maiava, a transfer from Colorado, is eligible after being a redshirt last season. Ryan Taylor has arrived from Tyler (Texas) Community College and will compete at guard and center. Stanley Hasiak and Xavier Su'a-Filo, upper-crust freshmen, will get a shot during fall camp. From the last reports we read Sheller was fully healthy. For those who are going to practices, would love to hear your observations on Maiava, Sheller and Chandler (along with the rest of OL). Oh and don't forget your cameras. Looking forward to reading some first hand reports here on BN. GO BRUINS.
NCAA rules prohibited Brehaut from getting his hands on the playbook until the first day of classes. So, Monday, he received the book, and by today's 4 p.m. start of practice, he was expected to know 93 pages of plays, which includes formations, signal calls, blocking schemes and receiver routes.
"We got a couple guys who will probably be added to the mix when we get back to two-a-days in fall," Coach Rick Neuheisel said. "The puzzle won't be solved [in spring], but we will come out of spring with seven or eight guys."
Expected to be part of that group are tackle Nate Chandler, a converted tight end who has grown from 260 to 290 pounds, and Jeff Baca, who got some experience as a freshman and tops the depth chart at left guard. Tackle Sean Sheller returns after sitting out last year following a knee surgery.
"A year ago, we were just trying to find bodies. Now we actually get to watch guys compete for jobs," Neuheisel said.