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Today was day one of spring football at BYU. That means checking out the roster, seeing number changes, noticing a guy or two missing, learning about possible position changes and wait what's this:
BYU's first spring practice, held at the IPF, is in the books. Taysom Hill did a lot more throwing, etc., than expected.
— Jay Drew (@drewjay) March 2, 2015
Oh?
Coach Peck says Taysom Hill will do every drill this spring except for team drills, which is basically scrimmage
— Brandon Gurney (@BrandonCGurney) March 2, 2015
Well BYU didn't hire Utah high school coaching legend Dave Peck, so that would be QB coach Jason Beck. But "is this real life" ???
Quarterbacks coach Jason Beck expects Taysom Hill do everything in spring camp except participate in contact scrimmages, contact drills
— Jay Drew (@drewjay) March 2, 2015
Keep it coming!
Taysom will not participate in any 11-on-11 work during spring but he will be involved in everything else. #BYU
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 2, 2015
Taysom looked good today throwing the football. He’s ahead of schedule. The plan is that he is 100% in May according to QB coach Jason Beck.
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 2, 2015
May!
Alright, so he's not 100% healthy until after spring ball is over. But all the talk has been about McCoy Hill and Hunter Moore being the only QBs available for spring practice with Taysom hurt, Tanner Mangum not home from a mission until the summer, and Beau Hoge still in high school. There was some consternation about how much the offense could begin to come together with a walk-on running the show and Taysom doing little.
But now, Taysom will be doing everything except full "team" drills -- 11 on 11 -- and anything involving contact. To me, that says "Taysom gets first-team reps" except in those situations. I don't know about you, but I feel a bit better about what the offense will be able to start doing for spring camp.
Add in this little nugget yesterday from ESPN 960's Ben Criddle, and maybe it's time to fire up that hype machine!
Last week #BYUFOOTBALL team had a 300 yard shuttle race. @T_Hill4 beat EVERYONE by 10 yards... #ThisisY #2015optimism
— Benjamin Criddle (@criddler21) March 2, 2015
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If you want to get amped even further, check out this video from day one of practice, feature MAD BRONCO and the man Frank Wintrich running the show and whipping those players into shape.
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I mentioned position changes. The reported changes from day one were presumed nose tackle Jaterrius Gulley being moved to offensive line, and other d-linemen Steve Richards and Tanner Balderee being moved to tight end.
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Other news:
LB Manoa Pikula will not participate in spring football due to an undisclosed problem, presumed to be academic.
Jamaal Williams will not participate in spring camp with his knee injury, but expects to be 100% for fall camp and the season opener.
Bronco Mendenhall said 10 players will be disciplined for the bowl brawl and final decision on punishment will be made on game week.
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Number changes have been leaking out from the photo shoot last week, but of note after BYU posted an official roster ahead of spring camp:
Troy Hinds #2
Fred Warner #4
Trey Dye #6 (he got pop's number back!)
Sione Takitaki #16
Lui Lapuaho #73
We should see Gulley with a number change to suit his position change at some point.
Other numbers issued to the notable additions (via transfer etc)
Squally Canada #2
Kamel Greene #29
Eric Takenaka #33
Darren Denucci #60 (North Texas OL transfer)
Jackson KaKa #84
Lastly, Josh Weeks is not assigned a number on the roster online, but the receiver was wearing #88 in practice today which is open on the offensive side of the ball if that ends up being what he lands on. Tyler Cook has #88, but he's a linebacker (odd choice) so Weeks could wear 88.
FOOTBALL IS BACK!