Spring Football Underway
4/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
KENT, Ohio - Kent State kicked off its 2007 spring football season this week. With the loss of only six starters, the Golden Flashes bring high expectations into 2007. Kent State Head Coach Doug Martin gave his thoughts on the beginning of spring practices, goals for the upcoming season and position reviews.
Head Coach Doug Martin
Pre-spring Comments
Overall assessment of 2006 season
We obviously showed great improvement, specifically at the skilled positions. The one disappointment was the way we finished. That's going to be a real focus for us. We need to be more consistent in the kicking game as well.
Pre-spring statement
I'd really like to build a lot more depth, specifically at the offense and defensive lines. We've got some holes to fill at linebacker, and those could be filled by freshmen. I think this spring is a great opportunity to develop a backup quarterback that can win games for us.
I don't think our injured kids will be too far behind because they've all played. I would have loved to have Edelman this spring because he didn't have one last year. I think it will help us develop more depth.
On the 2007 schedule
It's very demanding, especially the out-of-conference games with three BCS teams in Iowa State, Kentucky and Ohio State. That's a daunting task. I think we're at the point program-wise where we've got to grow up and decide as a 1-A program we can go compete and win those games. The conference is about the same. Our cross-over games are tough playing at Northern Illinois and of course Central Michigan won the whole thing last year.
On not getting complacent from 2006 success
They can't just expect it to happen just because they made some progress. I think they're still a hungry group because we didn't get what we were after. We've got a very experienced, mature group and good leadership.
On the possibility of high 2007 expectations
Well it's nice to have some expectations. I hope we are picked very high in preseason. I want our players to feel what it's like to be in that position. We're going to still have to go gain some respect from people.
On not being able to surprise teams in 2007
That's a little bit overrated. I think players from other teams will take us a lot more serious. Everyone knows we're much improved team but our deal is just to worry about ourselves and we've go to be a better team than we were last year.
On returning all members of the coaching staff
I don't remember the last time Kent State returned the entire staff. I think that's a huge advantage for us. It's obvious every coach here believes in what we're doing and we've put a lot of work into building a program; not just having one good team, but building something that's going to last.
Offensive Line
We've got a lot of experience there. Gus Parrish has been a really good player for us. We're going to move Travis McGraw to left tackle and let those two kids compete. Having Kiff Kinkaid back in the mix is really going to help us build some depth. We're going to be a lot bigger up the middle. We're going to move Joe Marafine into guard from tackle. That's a very solid group for us right now.
Quarterbacks
I want people to go compete with Julian for the job, but he's pretty much a returning starter in our minds. We do have to have another guy who can win games for us. Darren Rogers has been impressive so far. Anthony Magazu was out most of last year with a back injury and we red shirted Jon Brown last year. Those three guys will get the work.
Running Backs
Eugene Jarvis was just what we thought he was. He has tremendous vision and makes people miss. Jon Drager does the same thing. You can't teach that. We're also going to move Greg Keys back to running back to give us a little more speed and depth back there.
Tight Ends
Tommy Sitko is really bright, and he understands the game really well. He can do a lot of things. Jake Parsons has been a good role player for us. John Simpson is a tremendous athlete and he'll be the fastest tight end we have.
Wide Receivers
We're faster at wide receiver than we have been. I think Phil Garner is ready to step into his own. He's gotten a lot stronger. Coleman Lynn is right behind him. Shawn Bayes is a guy who needs to step up for us. He's got to be more consistent. We moved Derek McBryde over to wide receiver to give us more speed. Aaron Robinson is a kid we gray shirted. He has tremendous ball skills and is a great route-runner. This is the group we need to make more progress than any other position.
Defensive Line
We couldn't keep Kevin Hogan off the field last year. We tried to red shirt him but he was just too good. He's got a great motor. Lester Troutman is a guy we're really high on. We're going to have three starting defensive lineman out this spring with injuries so this group will get a lot of work.
Linebackers
This is the area where depth is a little bit of a problem for us. We do have some experienced guys there in Jameson Konz and Stevon Moss. We're going to move Anthony Mirando to inside linebacker and move Tim Flores outside and see if a position change might help us get a little bigger and more athletic inside.
Defensive Backs
We have some big shoes to fill, but most of these guys have played. Danny Sadler was red shirted last year. Rico Murray played on a lot of special teams. Fritz Jacques and Jack Williams are returning starters. Kirk Belgrave is one of the best athletes on our team. Dan Hartman and Brian Lainhart are two really big, physical safeties we're really high on. Curtis Eaton ran with the track team in the off-season and has unbelievable speed and size.
Special Teams
We have been good in our coverage teams. We've covered and returned kicks really well. Our return game could be even stronger. The big issue for us is the placekicking. Nate Reed has a great leg and gets a good lift on the ball; he just needs to provide some consistency. Jake Kilroy's confidence was affected in the Ohio game. We need Reid Macko to fall back into form also. We're going to work hard on that this spring.
