March 26, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford head football coach Pat Sullivan led his team in its first spring practice Wednesday night at Seibert Stadium. The Bulldogs practiced for about two hours in shorts and helmets.

"I think we had a good first day," Sullivan said. "I thought there was a good bit of retention from a year ago. Obviously, today was a retention day and a learning day, but it was a good day and I'm excited about what's to come."

Samford lost three staples in the Bulldog lineup including a quarterback and two reliable receivers. Sullivan says that the focus of the spring will be to fill some gaps that have been left in the roster.

"We had a good off-season but we've got a lot of holes to fill," Sullivan said. "We've got to find out who our quarterback is going to be. That is always where you start. We've got a few kids that are hurt who should really be going through spring practice but that will give our young guys an opportunity to work and get better.

Samford is working with three quarterbacks during spring play - red-shirt senior Dante Williams, red-shirt sophomore Seth Harkness and red-shirt freshman Richie Fordham. Sullivan worked closely with the trio a few times during the practice and we pleased with what he saw.

"They all did some good things," said Sullivan. "They all have some strengths and they all have some things they need to work on. We don't want to make a decision on that early. We are just going to let them play and go through spring practice and if someone jumps out, which I hope they do, we'll be able to tell."

Sullivan was also impressed with his defense, with two players standing out the most.

"I thought DeMarcus Covington had a good day. Jamael Lett made some nice plays."

Overall, Sullivan was pleased with the progress his team has made over the past year.

"From where we started to where we are now, it is night and day," said Sullivan. "We still haven't gotten where we want to be and we've got a long way to go, but we have made tremendous progress. The kids are excited about it. They see it. The coaches see it. It's just going to take us a little while to get there and hopefully, we can get the other players in here over the summer and get them into things and in a year or 18 months, we'll have some good football."

The Bulldogs will practice again Thursday afternoon and helmets and shorts. The practice will begin at 3:30 p.m. at Seibert Stadium.