What To Watch For As Spring Practice Begins Tuesday
03/28/16 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
A little over five months out from the 2016 regular-season opener, Sept. 3 in Autzen Stadium against UC Davis, the Oregon football team opens spring practices on Tuesday morning.
The Ducks are coming off a 9-4 season in which they roared back from a 3-3 start to win six straight and reach the Alamo Bowl. Injuries to starting quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. and center Matt Hegarty turned the tide of that game against TCU, which won in three overtimes.
As the Ducks begin their 15 spring practices, spread over five weeks, replacing Adams and Hegarty will be top agenda items. Fans can check out the team's progress at the spring game, April 30 at 11 a.m. in Autzen Stadium and televised by Pac-12 Networks.
Until then, some issues to track in reports coming out of practices over the next five weeks …
1) New-look coaching staff: Scott Frost's departure to become head coach at Central Florida led to receivers coach Matt Lubick's promotion to offensive coordinator prior to the Alamo Bowl. Frost also coached quarterbacks, a position now filled by David Yost. The former Missouri offensive coordinator, most recently a receivers coach at Washington State, brings a wealth of experience coaching quarterbacks and on the recruiting trail to the UO staff. Defensively, outside linebackers coach Erik Chinander followed Frost to Central Florida as defensive coordinator. Former UO defensive coordinator Don Pellum will now coach all the linebackers, with former Michigan head coach Brady Hoke taking over this spring as defensive coordinator. Hoke is installing a 4-3 base package, and he intends to coach a position group come fall, after getting a better feel for the team this spring. Also new to the staff are graduate assistants Ramsen Golpashin, the former UO offensive lineman, and Matt Noyer, a longtime support staff member who was most recently Frost's right hand as an intern.
2) Another transfer at quarterback: Oregon's one season with Adams behind center was a rousing success, when he was healthy. This year the Ducks added another fifth-year transfer, Dakota Prukop, who played three seasons at Montana State. Prukop's credentials at the Football Championship Subdivision level rival those of Adams, though he's considered more of a dual-threat than his predecessor. As was the case with Adams, when a fifth-year transfer enters the program he's probably a solid bet to win the starting job. That said, redshirt freshman Travis Jonsen generated some buzz this winter as he progressed back from an injury that sidelined him last fall. Also, true freshman Terry Wilson has enrolled for spring quarter at the university and will participate in spring practices.
3) New faces, and faces in new places: Wilson is joined on the spring roster by fellow spring enrollees linebacker Eric Briscoe Jr. and tight end Cameron McCormick. They join winter enrollees Prukop, OL Jacob Capra, LB Troy Dye, LB Darrian Franklin, LB A.J. Hotchkins, DL Hunter Kampmoyer and WR Dillon Mitchell. The spring roster also notes several position changes, most of which stem from the switch to a 4-3, and the need for more bodies on the defensive line. Former outside linebackers Torrodney Prevot, Justin Hollins, Cody Carriger and Eddie Heard are now listed as defensive linemen, as is Elijah George, a redshirt junior whose progress his first two years on campus was delayed by injuries. Also, two-way threat Charles Nelson is listed at receiver, where he figures to spend 2016 barring anything unforeseen. And Jhet Janis, a member of the track and field program who showed some promise as a receiver on the scout team last fall, is now at defensive back, where he practiced a bit during the run-up to the Alamo Bowl.
4) Welcoming back two major weapons: Both tight end Pharaoh Brown and receiver Devon Allen remained limited throughout 2015 due to leg injuries suffered late in the 2014 campaign, Brown to the point that he redshirted last season. But both progressed in their rehab throughout the year and should be in better position to contribute in 2016. Brown provides a major pass-catching threat at tight end, and Allen brings his world-class speed to a receiving corps that lost Bralon Addison.
5) Reshuffling the offensive line: Position coach Steve Greatwood typically mixes and matches his unit throughout spring practice, so the Ducks figure to feature a lot of potential new looks on the offensive line. The returning starters are right tackle Tyrell Crosby and right guard Cameron Hunt, who played left tackle and right tackle, respectively, for a stretch of the Alamo Bowl. Redshirt freshman Jake Hanson spent last season as the center with the second unit on offense, and should have a shot to replace Hegarty with the first unit in 2016. At the guard spots, juniors Evan Voeller, Jake Pisarcik and Doug Brenner all have some experience to tap. The wild card will be Zac Morgan, a graduate transfer from Dayton who signed this winter to compete for a starting job in the fall.
For reference, here are position capsules writing after the Alamo Bowl, which don't reflect some changes to the roster made since.
Quarterback
Running back
Receiver/Tight end
Offensive line
Defensive line
Linebacker
Defensive back
Special teams
