CARROLLTON, Ga. – The University of West Georgia football team will finally get back on the field this week with the start of spring practice.
The Wolves have 14 practice dates scheduled, starting on Wednesday afternoon, leading up to the Spring Game on Thursday, March 11, at University Stadium.
West Georgia head coach
David Dean is eager to see his guys in action, even more so given everything they've endured since having the 2020 season canceled due to COVID-19.
"It's always fun to get back out on the grass. I think we've had some good weight workouts, our mat drill stuff we just completed (Monday), I've been very impressed with our guys and how they've attacked that. But I think they're ready to get out there and start doing some football stuff. Throw the ball around and get to running around on the grass a little bit," Dean said.
The veteran head coach noted how the early practices of the spring session will be especially critical for the younger players to see how they handle the transition from fall practice to the spring setting.
"Just the carryover that they take. Obviously, effort is another thing. We harp a lot on effort. Flying to the football and finishing plays and so forth. I want to see that. I want to see us do a better job of that," Dean said. "I thought we did a good job of it in the fall, but we need to be better. Basically, just improvement from every position all the way from the fall."
Obviously, not having a fall season impacted how the UWG coaching staff has gone about its business this year, and Dean is hopeful that the silver lining will be getting out on the field for some quality work over the next few weeks.
"It's been difficult, honestly. Our guys are ready to play a game, they're ready to prepare for an opponent. We were hoping that we would find an opponent this spring that we could scrimmage and just have a chance to hit somebody else. We just can't find anybody to do it with all the COVID restrictions going on," Dean said.
Even without a game or an opponent to prepare for, Dean said his players have handled everything with a positive mindset and an understanding that certain things are out of their control for the time being.
"I've really been pleased with the effort our guys put in every day and the focus that they have despite the fact that they're not preparing for an opponent. But they are ready. They're ready to get back out and play somebody," Dean said.
West Georgia will wrap up the 15-day allotted practice regimen with a Spring Game on Thursday, March 11, at 6 p.m. at University Stadium.
"We'll split the coaching staff up and we'll do a draft so everybody has the opportunity to play a lot more," Dean said. "We're going to shorten the game down to probably about 10 minutes like we did in the fall. We'll work a little bit of special teams, not a whole bunch. But mostly just give the guys an opportunity to get out there and play up under the lights hopefully with a crowd out there. Just see how they react to a game-type situation, as opposed to a controlled scrimmage situation."
