COACH HATCHER INTERVIEW

PHOTO GALLERY

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford football team held its first practice in shells (helmets and shoulder pads) of the spring season Saturday morning at Seibert Stadium.
 
The practice was the third workout of 15 the team will go through this spring. Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said he saw some positives and negatives in the practice.
 
"I thought we had a little bit of a lackluster start to the practice, but it finished up a little crisper as we went through the day," Hatcher said. "We've had three days in a row, so I expected us to be a little bit tired this morning, we just have to learn to fight through it. I thought we did at times, but our consistency was not where it needs to be."
 
The spring is often used as a time for coaches to begin finding out who will fill holes left by graduation. One of the biggest areas for concern for Samford this spring is in the secondary, where they will have to replace several key players, including James Bradberry, Trey Wesley and Cody Brooks.
 
In addition to the losses to graduation, injuries have also taken away from the secondary this spring. Hatcher said the situation has allowed the coaches to give a lot of younger players some much-needed reps during the spring.
 
"We lost some really good players back there," Hatcher said. "And that's a big area of concern for us, especially at the safety position. We have to have some guys step up. Right now, Jamerson Blount is out with an injury and that's kind of put us in a bind on the rotation. But, on the flip side, we're getting to work a lot of young players back there. They're getting a lot of reps, and they're some guys we're going to need in the fall."
 
On offense, Hatcher said he likes where the unit is in terms of learning the changes to the offense. He said, however, the group needs to play at a higher tempo more consistently.
 
"Today was the third day of the install and then next week we'll start fine tuning things," Hatcher said. "I think we're where we need to be, we just have to learn to play at a high tempo, consistently for the entire practice."
 
The Bulldogs will take Sunday off from practice. The team will return to practice Monday afternoon at Seibert Stadium.