BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford football team wrapped up spring practice with a workout in full pads early Friday morning at Seibert Stadium.

The Bulldogs concluded the practice with a scrimmage period. During the final period, the team ran some live 11-on-11 work, as well as some 7-on-7 reps.

Samford returns 10 starters on offense and six starters on defense from last season's team that finished 8-4 overall and 6-2 in Southern Conference play. Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said he was pleased with how his team progressed throughout the spring.

"I thought we had a good spring," Hatcher said. "We were able to get a look at a lot of young guys, especially at certain positions defensively. We're going to have a lot of inexperience there, so we were able to get some good work with those guys, to have a baseline heading into summer practice for us.

"The energy was good, the want-to was good and I thought we learned a lot," Hatcher said. "Fortunately for us, we came out very healthy. We had a couple of minor injuries, but I really believe that we got better at the fundamentals and just the base schemes that we need to build upon as we head into next season."

The Bulldogs were unable to scrimmage as much as they usually do during the spring, due to some late-season injuries to some offensive linemen that kept them out of action during the spring. Hatcher said he thought the team adjusted well to the change in how spring practice was run.

"I thought they did really well," Hatcher said. "It wasn't ideal because, due to our lack of offensive linemen that were healthy, we probably ran more skelly reps than anybody in the country this spring. But it allowed us to get in some good work and the guys adjusted well. Each day they did what we asked them to do, they took care of one another."

Hatcher pointed to a couple of positions he was particularly pleased with this spring.

"We've got a good group of guys and I was really pleased at a lot of positions," Hatcher said. "Especially on offense, I was really pleased that I thought those receivers that may have been inconsistent last year, they're not where we want them, but they got better this spring. I feel coming out of spring that may be the deepest position that we have. I thought our defensive line improved a great deal over the course of spring practice."

Hatcher also pointed out a couple of individuals that were pleasant surprises during the spring.

"I thought (defensive lineman) Nelson Jordan really came along," Hatcher said. "I think he is going to be a really, really good football player for us, on the defensive line. I think (offensive lineman) Matthew Pittarelli is a guy that we've been kind of waiting to come along. We moved him to guard and he had a really good spring, so he'll be able to provide some excellent depth on the offensive line. Those are two guys that, I wasn't sure how they would fare this spring that actually had really good springs and improved their stock heading into fall camp."

Friday morning's practice wraps up the spring for Samford. The Bulldogs will open the 2018 season with a home game against Shorter, Thursday, August 30, at Seibert Stadium.