Football | March 15, 2016

CLARKSVILLE—When Austin Peay State University football team opens its 2016 spring practice, Monday, March 21, it will have a decidedly different feel.

Under first-year head coach Will Healy, the Governors have assembled a brand-new coaching staff, with only J.D. Sellers (running backs) remaining in place from last season. In putting together his new staff, Healy has brought in a blend of youth, energy and success, with his coaching staff tallying 13 conference championships, 10 playoff appearances and nine bowl berths among their collective coaching resumes.

So when practice begins next Monday, the Governors will be presented with an effective strategy for future success. The coaching staff isn't placing the Governors on a timeline; the future is now for Healy and Co.

"I'm looking to set an expectation of what a practice is going to be like here at Austin Peay," Healy said. "That's all-encompassing as it concerns enthusiasm, effort, the speed of practice, tempo and our priorities as an offense and defense.

"We're going to play hard and practice hard. We'll be fundamentally and schematically sound. Spring is big for developing young players, and it's big for us as a staff an evaluation process. We don't know a lot about these guys; you can watch them on film from last year, but we promised them all a fresh start and that's how we've evaluated them thus far. We're going to learn a lot about our roster during these 15 practices."

The first step will be to identify consistency at quarterback. Returning for spring ball will be Mickey Macius, who redshirted in 2015 but led the Governors to their last victory two seasons ago against Murray State, along with Darrien Boone and Timarious Mitchell. They will enter their first spring of tutelage with new quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator Wesley Satterfield.

Sellers' retention as running backs coach speaks to what he was able to do with that unit. Returning will be OVC All-Newcomer standout Kendall Morris (695 yards, five touchdowns), while Julian Franklin is back to provide the power to complement Morris' speed. Keep an eye on redshirt freshman Marvin Franklin as well; he followed Morris' path of success by redshirting a year ago and looks to have a similar breakout in 2016.

The Govs have no shortage of talent out wide, as Jared Beard enjoyed a breakout campaign as a sophomore (49 catches, 576 yards, six touchdowns) to establish himself as the top returning target. Rashaan Coleman and Justin Roberson return after seeing action in the slot last year.

At tight end, the Governors enjoyed a renaissance that saw Trey Salisbury, James Coleman and Jim Irwin all contribute in the passing game a year ago; the trio is back this spring and offers a blend of size and speed for Healy to mix and match in formations.

A youthful offensive line last season gained steam as the year progressed; first-year offensive line coach Joshua Eargle returns Byron Glass, Ryan Rockensuess, Jaylen Flye-Sadler, Ethan Self and Darryl Johnson as youngsters who saw plenty of meaningful action a year ago, with senior Tyler Miles around to serve as the unit's anchor.

Flipping to the other side of the ball, the Govs front four will be led by senior Gino Roberson. With Byron Carver, Jule Pace, Tyler Schneider and Hunter Lane back, the Governors defensive line and its new coach, Marcus West, will have plenty of depth to build with after redshirt seasons for Shaun Whittinghill, Steve Pappadakes and Trevor Morehead.

The departure of Adam Noble weakens the linebacking corps, but senior Antonio Turner returns alongside contributors like Zach Stuart, Benedict Louis and Gunnar Scholato, among others.

In the secondary, coaches Brandon Cooper (co-defensive coordinator with West in addition to his defensive back duties) and Eddie Hicks (cornerbacks and nickels) will rely on experience in the form of Roderick Owens, who had an All-OVC  caliber season as a junior and will lead a secondary that returns all five starters from its 4-2-5 alignment a year ago. Malik Boynton, Donovan Jackson and Damien Whitfield lead a host of returners in the secondary that offers perhaps Austin Peay's greatest area of depth.

Maxwell Thurmond, who is pulling double duty as linebackers coach and special teams coordinator, returns Logan Birchfield to handle placekicking duties. Paramount for Thurmond will be finding consistency in the APSU return game; the Governors averaged just 16.5 yards per kickoff return a year ago, although Kyran Moore averaged 21.6 after taking over for the season's final four games.

"It's a clean slate for everybody," Healy said. "I tell people all the time, guys who were really good players for the last staff may not be great for us and guys who weren't good for the last staff may be great for us. It may a difference in how we teach things or a different scheme, but the fundamentals and the mentality we're going to coach up over the next 15 practices."

SCHEDULED APSU SPRING FOOTBALL PRACTICE DATES

March 21-22
March 24
March 29
March 31
April 2
April 5
April 7-8
April 12
April 14
April 16
April 19
April 21
April 23 – Austin Peay Red-and-White Spring Game