Spring install continues for new look McNeese Cowboys

LAKE CHARLES – McNeese Football wrapped up Day 5 of spring drills on Thursday as the team continues to adjust to the pace of the workouts and installation of the offense and defense as well as the new coaching staff.

The Cowboys slipped on full pads for the first time on Tuesday and will do so again on Saturday morning for practice No. 6. The first scrimmage of the spring is scheduled for 10 a.m. on March 26 in Cowboy Stadium.

Q&A with head coach Gary Goff:

Question: You have several practices under your belt. What are you seeing out there and how is it coming along?

Goff: “I’m really encouraged by the guys hard work. I mean, they’ve been working extremely hard. They’re excited about the new schemes on both sides of the ball. There’s a lot of mistakes right now as can be expected. You’re not going to master an offense or defense or special teams after 15 practices but I’m really encouraged of how hard the guys have been working and their attitudes. They’ve been excited to come to practice every day, excited to come to meetings and they’re going out there at practice and giving their best effort.”

Question: Tuesday was the first day in full pads. Was there any hitting going on?

Goff: “We’re real thin at a lot of positions so we’re not really going to go live. We might have a small live period this weekend, getting maybe 10 or 15 plays in going live. We won’t do a lot of that until next Saturday in the first scrimmage. We’re teaching these guys some of the fundamentals with the offense and defense and prevent some injuries right now. If we have a couple injuries here and there, it might be very difficult for us to have a spring game.”

Question: How has the learning been with the new schemes for the team?

Goff: “Offensively, we put a lot on the quarterback’s plate. We want to train the quarterback to be able to have the tools to, if he doesn’t like, or if he sees this, he can audible to something else. We’re nowhere near to that phase yet. So for us to train our quarterbacks, they have to learn through some failures on the field and learn why they’ve got to change a play or why they can’t throw into that coverage. They’re coming along. This week is the second time going through the install for us.

“Defense has done a great job of pursuing the football. And as long as you do that and can get 11 hats to the ball every play, you’re doing a great job.”

Question: Going into any spring and fall camp, quarterback is the one position that gets a lot of attention. How is this group doing?

Goff: “They’re still learning. Kind of up and down. I think all of them have some really good periods and all of them have had some periods where they have to improve some. It’s an ongoing battle. There’s no clear front runner right now. We have four guys that are very capable. The guy in spring practice who will get an edge on the others will be the one who learns the offense and starts going out there and pulling the trigger with a lot of confidence.

“I don’t expect anybody to master this after 15 workouts, but we do need a trigger man. Someone who will lead the offense, lead the team and be extremely confident in what he’s doing.”

Question: What position or positions would you say are the strength of the team right now?

Goff: “Probably the running backs and defensive line. Those two positions are doing really well. We’ve had a really good defensive line here for quite some time so that’s a welcomed tradition that we’ve had here. I’m really pleased with the running backs. We’re still learning a lot of stuff at other positions.”

Question: How would you describe the spring so far?

Goff: “We’ve absolutely seen improvement every day. The first week, the team is trying to figure out tempo and what the different drills are. As we get to each practice, the comfort level will rise. Mistakes will happen and we expect that. As long as they’re improving and learning from the mistakes, that’s what we want to see. We’re now starting to repeat the install but adding in new formation and motions. We’ll start tweaking things at the pace of the guys and if they start picking up that play really well, then we can add another tag to it or add a new motion or a new formation defensively.