Tulsa Begins Spring Football Practice on Sunday

TULSA, Okla. –– The Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team will be on the field this Sunday for the first of 15 spring practices.

Tulsa returns 47 lettermen and a total of 30 players who have had starting experience in their collegiate careers with the Hurricane. A number of returnees will be sidelined during spring competition, while still rehabilitating from injuries.

The Hurricane will have seven practices before taking a week off for the schools' spring break, which begins March 17. Tulsa will return to the practice field on Tuesday, March 27 and hold its annual spring game on Saturday, April 7 at 11:00 a.m., at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

Since returning for the spring semester in January, Hurricane players have gone through their winter conditioning program. Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery has been pleased with the way winter workouts have progressed.

"I think our guys have worked extremely hard this winter off-season, and I've seen great improvement in them. We had to play a lot of young players last year, and for them to get another winter workout under their belt to get bigger, faster and stronger is important. I'm excited to see how they'll react when they get on the field," said Montgomery.

"We still have some guys who had injuries from last fall that will not be cleared in time for spring ball, especially on defense, so we'll have to make some concessions and adjustments according to that –– understanding that this guy we think will play at this position, but have to see how he'll recover –– so there's a lot of pieces out there," Montgomery said.

Among the missing players this spring will be safeties Manny Bunch, Jordan Mitchell, McKinley Whitfield and Keidrien Wadley.

"Spring ball is when you start to put those pieces into place and get an opportunity to start building the type of team that you'll be next year," added Montgomery. "This is the exciting part of it. You're putting all the ingredients in the pot, and you're starting to move it around a little bit, and see where you need to continue to grow and where you need to make adjustments. This is an exciting time."

In addition to the returnees, Tulsa had eight players enroll in January that will be participating in spring practice. Among the group is six junior college transfers, including five on defense. Linemen Cade Baumann, JaJuan Blankenship and Cullen Wick, linebacker Yohance Burnett and cornerback Malik Welch will shore up the defensive depth. The offensive newcomers to the lineup this spring includes JUCO lineman Judge Hartin, and quarterbacks Davis Brin, a high school senior who graduated early, and Baylor transfer Zach Smith, who will have to sit out the 2018 season due to transfer rules.

"We also have quite a few early enrollees, and seeing how those pieces will fit into the puzzle," said Montgomery. "When you look at our early enrollees, the majority is on the defensive side of the ball, and getting on the field with them to see how they'll fit to what we do schematically is exciting."

Tulsa will practice Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and again on Sunday of the coming week.

MONTGOMERY ON THE OFFENSE…
I want us to be more consistent on offense. Especially from the mid to latter part of the season, I thought we lost a lot of our explosiveness offensively that we need to get back. We still had big plays, but those big plays have to turn into points on the scoreboard. A lot of times that big play needed to turn into a touchdown, and that's where we lacked some of that explosiveness last year, so we need to get back to that.

We played a lot of young receivers. We had young quarterbacks. Those guys have now been through some wars and have another chance to develop.

Schematically, you're always looking to change some things. We're going to do some things differently on both sides of the football to try to make sure we're putting guys in position to be explosive and make plays. We'll adapt and continue to change as our personnel changes. I think that's the uniqueness of what we do. The base plan of what we're going to do stays the same – we'll be a fast, up-tempo team and we're going to push the envelope when it comes to those things. We have to get back to pushing the ball down the field a little bit more.

At quarterback, Chad (President) won't be back for much of spring. Luke (Skipper) is coming back and got some really good experience last year, but that being said the position is open. Everyone in that quarterback room knows that, so it's going to be a really good spring for them to compete. I'm excited about the competition at quarterback, and we'll just see how it progresses. What we're looking for is a guy who can consistently move the chains, make the right decisions, operate within the offense but also continue to push us to another level.

MONTGOMERY ON THE DEFENSE…
We had so many injuries that occurred on the defensive side of the ball, and some of those guys will be back for spring ball, and some won't. Some guys we were able to red-shirt on both sides of the ball, but especially defensively. With these injured guys not being back for spring, the red-shirts and new guys will be able to get a lot of reps this spring, and get some experience.

When you look at our early enrollees, the majority is on the defensive side of the ball, and getting on the field with them to see how they'll fit to what we do schematically brings excitement. Guys like Yohance (Burnett), JaJuan (Blankenship), Cade (Baumann), Cullen (Wick) and Malik (Welch), we'll get a chance to plug them in and see how they're working and adjusting.

Schematically, we have to make vast improvement on both sides of the ball. Defensively, we have to do a better job preventing explosive plays, and have to do a better job of creating turnovers. I know we can get back to that, and our guys are hungry to get on the field and prove that.

TULSA 2018 SPRING PRACTICE DATES
Sunday, March 4 (Helmet Only)
Tuesday, March 6
Thursday, March 8
Friday, March 9
Sunday, March 11
Tuesday, March 13
Thursday, March 15
SPRING BREAK
Tuesday, March 27 (Helmet Only)
Thursday, March 29
Friday, March 30
Saturday, March 31
Tuesday, April 3
Thursday, April 5
Friday, April 6
Saturday, April 7 (Spring Game), 11:00 am

Tulsa Begins Spring Football Practice on Sunday

Players Mentioned

Jordan Mitchell

Keidrien Wadley

McKinley Whitfield

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