BOONE, N.C. — Some of the snow remains on Miller Hill at the south end of Kidd Brewer Stadium, but the start of spring practice officially arrived Tuesday for App State Football with high levels of energy and execution.
Under the direction of third-year head coach
Shawn Clark, this year's spring practice schedule for the Mountaineers runs through the rest of February and concludes in the first week of March. They took the field for Day 1 with the Sept. 3 home opener against North Carolina just 207 days away.
"I loved the energy today," Clark said with his breath visible in the chilly conditions. "Typical Boone weather here in February — a little cool — but our players came out and had a lot of energy. I thought the tempo of practice was very good. We had a bunch of young guys come out and compete today and show off all their hard work from last year, from not getting many reps, to come out and compete for a spot."
Seven offensive starters, five defensive starters and 18 total players who started at least one game in 2021 return from a team that enjoyed a 10-win regular season and captured a Sun Belt East Division title.
With a lot of departures from 2021 standouts at receiver and in the secondary, Tuesday was an opportunity for some younger or less-experienced players to make an impression. Clark noted the efforts from
Dalton Stroman, who made an impressive catch along the sideline during 11-on-11 work, and
Jacoby Pinckney, while
Da'Shawn Brown had a strong catch in traffic in his healthy practice debut after rehabbing an injury as a true freshman.
Christian Wells again showed off the speed that allowed him to be a productive threat behind several departed super seniors last season, but App State's defense also got in its fair share of stops and takeaways.
KeSean Brown followed a breakup with an interception that he carried to the end zone, and Clark praised some of the plays made by
Milan Tucker and fellow cornerbacks
Ethan Johnson and
Omari Philyaw — two early enrollees.
Jordan Favors, who redshirted as true freshman in 2021, also intercepted a pass.
So there were wins on each side of the ball, although one athletic cut from running back
Nate Noel in an open-field drill drew spirited reactions from offensive and defensive players alike.
"All spring long, what we're trying to accomplish is technique and fundamentals," Clark said. "A big part of the spring is going to be getting lined up and doing the right things. Our guys came in, they were focused and had very few mental mistakes, very few dropped balls. I thought our defense flew around, and it was fun to be out here with our players again."
