ABILENE – With construction on Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium going on behind him, ACU head football coach
Adam Dorrel will begin constructing a new Wildcat way Tuesday when the team begins spring football at the ACU practice field.
The first of 15 spring football workouts is set to begin at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday on the artificial turf field of the
Wally Bullington Practice Facility. The Wildcats will practice at ACU Tuesday and Wednesday before practicing on the 100-yard turf field at the Action Zone for most of March. The Wildcats will then practice at Shotwell Stadium on April 3 and April 5 before the stadium – the Wildcats' home field for 58 years before ACU bade it farewell last November with a win over Northwestern State – hosts its last official ACU football event on April 7 with an open practice in place of a true spring game.
After Dorrel was announced as the Wildcats' head coach last December, one of the first things he said he wanted to accomplish was rebuilding depth along both offensive and defensive lines and in the secondary. His plan to replenish those areas is now coming into sharp focus as the Wildcats will barely have enough healthy bodies in those areas to have a complete spring training.
The Wildcats have just seven offensive linemen, 10 defensive linemen and eight defensive backs going through spring drills, which will severely limit the amount of 11-on-11 work the team will get done over the next few weeks.
However, that hasn't dampened the spirit of either Dorrel or his coaching staff, of whom all but
Ray Brown,
Derron Montgomery and
Danieal Manning are new to ACU.
"The first couple of days will be spent working on how we practice," Dorrel said. "We're going to work on our expectation level, tempo, transition from drill to drill, etc. We're going to be upbeat and up-tempo in everything we do. We're going to work on doing things The Wildcat Way."
Dorrel said his goal is to eventually get 40 "live" snaps in each practice, although most of those will come without benefit of either the offensive or defensive lines. However, the Wildcats' head coach said the 6-on-7 drills will still allow ACU's skill players on offense and linebackers and secondary to work on checks at the line of scrimmage and other elements of the game that lead to wins in the fall.
"I'm very encouraged that we'll be able to get our work done and get a lot of things accomplished this spring, even without the bodies we need to have," Dorrel said. "We're trying to be smart about how we handle the guys on those two lines and make sure we don't lose any more of them through the spring."
Dorrel said that winter workouts with strength coach
Jeff Bourque and his staff have been encouraging, as has film study and work put in by players on a voluntary basis.
"What I've seen is that, honestly, we've got about 85 percent of the team doing things the right way in terms of what we expect in the classroom, in the weight room, and in terms of accountability," he said. "The other 15 percent had better start figuring it out. For those guys who are on board with us, I've been very encouraged."
One of those "on board" has been quarterback
Dallas Sealey, who had a solid season in 2016 as the Wildcats' starter, throwing for 2,773 yards and 19 touchdowns while also rushing for 247 yards and a team-high six touchdowns.
"We're trying to help Dallas step out of his comfort zone and become more of a vocal leader," Dorrel said. "I've learned he's not that comfortable doing that yet, but we need him to be that guy for us. But he's coming around and he's been great in the weight room and in the locker room."
Dorrel also said when he was hired that he wanted to re-make the Wildcats into the most physical team in the Southland Conference, and hoped to get started on that process in the spring. But without the bodies up front on both sides of the ball, he knows implementing that style will be more difficult over the next month.
"The lack of depth certainly sets that plan back a little bit," Dorrel said. "We've talked as a coaching staff about how we take those reps when all 11 are on the field on each side and what we want to do. I know this: most of the plays we'll run wihen all 22 are on the field together will be running plays. But the lack of depth won't hurt us when we're in position groups teaching technique. We still want to be very physical with our hands and at the point of attack, and we can work on that in those smaller groups."
Dorrel said that even though National Signing Day has come and gone, his coaches are not done recruiting for the 2017 roster. He said earlier this month on signing day that he had held a few scholarships back for drop-down Division I transfers, and after the spring he and his coaching staff will be back on the recruiting trail seeking players to help the Wildcats in their inaugural season in Wildcat Stadium.
"We're certainly not done recruiting, and we knew that after signing day," Dorrel said. "We'll look at where we are and what we have after spring ball and determine where we need help. We signed a number of high school linemen on both sides, but it's no secret that we're going to try and go get some more of those guys to help us this fall."
The Wildcats will open the 2017 season on Saturday, Sept. 2, at New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M., before taking on Colorado State in its new on-campus stadium on Saturday, Sept. 9, in Fort Collins, Colo. ACU then opens Wildcat Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 16, when it hosts Houston Baptist in a Southland Conference contest.
SPRING FOOTBALL NOTES
• Senior middle linebacker
Sam Denmark will miss spring practice after undergoing minor shoulder surgery last week. He's not expected to be out past spring practice.
• Center
Austin Hisler injured a foot last week in winter workouts and will miss a couple of weeks of spring drills.
• Offensive linemen
Chance Rieken and
Dakota Laws are each coming off shoulder surgery and will miss spring training.
• Dorrel said tight end
Cody Ennis will enter spring football as the punter, although the team will be looking for a punter this summer. Two of the biggest positional needs are at holder and deep snapper. Former quarterback
Parker McKenzie was the holder the last three seasons, while
Hayden Brodowsky was the deep snapper the last three seasons. Finding replacements for those departed seniors will be a point of emphasis this spring.
• Dorrel also announced the signing of former Midland Lee quarterback
Sema'J Davis to a binding national letter-of-intent. Davis compiles more than 3,000 passing yards, 2,000 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns in two seasons as the Rebels' starting quarterback. He was a two-time second team all-District 2-6A selection and was an honorable mention academic all-state selection as a senior in 2016.
• Here are the dates for ACU Football spring training:
• Tuesday, Feb. 28 -- 4:15 p.m. at ACU practice field
• Wednesday, March 1 -- 4:15 p.m. at ACU practice field
• Friday, March 3 -- 4:15 p.m. at Action Sports practice field
• Monday, March 6 -- 4:15 p.m. at Action Sports practice field
• Wednesday, March 8 -- 4:15 p.m. at Action Sports practice field
• Friday, March 10 -- 4:15 p.m. at Action Sports practice field
• Tuesday, March 21 -- 4:15 p.m. at Action Sports practice field
• Wednesday, March 22 -- 4:15 p.m. at Action Sports practice field
• Friday, March 24 -- 4:15 p.m. at Action Sports practice field
• Monday, March 27 -- 4:15 p.m. at Action Sports practice field
• Wednesday, March 29 -- 4:15 p.m. at Action Sports practice field
• Friday, March 31 -- 4:15 p.m. at Action Sports practice field
• Monday, April 3 -- 4:15 p.m. at Shotwell Stadium
• Wednesday, April 5 -- 4:15 p.m. at Shotwell Stadium
• Friday, April 7 -- Time TBA at Shotwell Stadium
